Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128626
Worl d Cha mpio n s h ip Spe edw a y Grand Prix S erie s R oun d 4: Cov e n t ry Speedw a y S T O RY A N D P HOT OS in the early stages and. in certa in situa tions. they obviously deliberatel y fin ished a race with that in m ind. Hancock started the ev en t with a suc cess ion of se cond pla c es, but th ese wer e good enough to take him th rough t o the main e v e n t as h e wen t about his busi ness in a professional m ann e r . Hami ll entered th e action in h eat 12 but re ti red after working hard to pass Henka Gustafsson . It wa s c rue l on Hamill as h e was in th e l ast l a p a nd r ead y for th ird p lac e. The only consola tion was tha t he qua li fi ed in gate three for Heat 15 and th is should h ave g iven h im co nfi d enc e t o go out and ha v e a g o od ride. But dis ast er struck wh en he fell awkwardly , and h is n ight w as over . He seemed to los e control in the firs t turn and his d isappo i ntm ent was understandable. The next race saw a spectacular crash invo lv ing Peter Karlsson . Ste fan Danno and Chris Louis, and th e fact that th ey wer e all ab le to get up and walk away w as a tribute to the revolu t ion a r y a ir f en c e empl o y ed in th e Grand Prix th ese days. A ll three piled int o th e fenc e at high spe ed and the resu lt w as a m ess of both men and m a c hin es. Ka rl s son w al k e d a way almost immed iate ly and. afte r a lo ng spe ll of tr eatm ent. Danno and Lo u is we re able t o wa lk away and p repare for the rerun. An d in that re-r un som e spectacu l ar raci n g follow ed with Lou is just By J O HN HI PKI SS COVENTRY, ENGLAND, JULY 29 il l y Hamill saw his hopes of a second world title t ak e a seve re k nock w hen h e cra shed o ut of th e Briti sh Grand Prix on his home track , Coventry . Ha mill last ed only two race s and was clearly too upset to talk t o the m edi a after the event as he gathered his th oughts o n wha t was a m assiv e disappo intment for th e Californian . Hi s Am er i c an c olleag ue, and fe l low Cov entry r ider, G reg Hancock enjoyed a much more satisfying night with a superb d ispla y to work his way through from the pre-ma in event to the semi -finals. The meeting was fu ll of shocks and surprises , w ith Eng land ' s w ild card entry Martin Dugard w inning in sensational style ahead of Auss ie Ryan Su llivan , who enjoyed the best GP of his c are er . A midweek car cra sh k ep t wo r ld number t wo T oma sz Gollob i n the hospita l w ith th e Po le having surgery o n a broken coll arbo ne. Series leader Mark Loram pull ed fo ur-po ints cl ear of m ain rival T on y Rickardsson with a h ard - f ou ght p erformanc e t o f inish th ird , and lat e re p l ace m en t Jas on Lyons was fo urth . Th e early stages of the m eeting were subdued with passing opportunities at a premi um . Rid er s we re keen to ta k e advantage of th e outside gate positions B 36 A UGUST 16. 2000 ' eye • e n e vv s gettin g Danno at th e li ne to stay in th e co m peti tion . Reigning champion Tony Rickards son was forced into a thrilling move in heat 19 and get the be tter of Chris Louis to m a k e progress . He wo rked Billy Hamill petti came Int o Coventry poised to take over the World Championship lead at the British GP. Instead, the American may have crashed away h is chances at the title. Here. Hamill Is captured Just a blink before the fateful fall. hard to catch his fo rm er Ipswich co l league, Lou is clea rly still fee li ng th e d a sh ed wi t h a br ill i an t m o v e fro m effects of his earlier crash. Jason Lyo ns . who was o n ly ca lled Dugard and Lo ram q ualified for the into t he m eet in g tw o days earlie r final by f inishing f irst and sec o n d re spect ively in the first semi -final at Ric kardsson passed his man, on ly for the expense of Hancock and Adams. Lyons t o bounce ba ck and cut inside Th en i n th e se cond sem i , Rickard sson saw his hopes of success to take a pl ac e in th e fina l by ha lf a because of Tomasz Go ll ob ' s inj u ry . wh eel. There was traction aplenty on the beautifully groomed Coventry track. Sweden's Jimmy Nilsen testifies.