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/128631
W o r ld Cha m p io n s h ip S p e e dwa y Grand Prix Ser ies R o u n d 5 : Vojerie S p e e d w a y C e n t e r By hard, try ing to get things tog ether and I've been throug h some reall y frustrating times. But th ings a re coming back to g et he r , my b ik e s a re going great, I'm going good , so e ve rything' s click ing together. From th e beginning of the year thi ngs didn 't c lic k, a nd th en th ings ju s t seem ed to get pro gressi vel y wors e . I di dn 't g e t a ny more points, or any les s , it ju st wasn 't go ing in the direc tion I fe lt was righ t. I fina ll y got to th e po in t wher e I thought I' v e g ot to do so m e t h in g about thi s , I've got to get ba c k to th e po int where I was . So I wat ched s ome vid e os of when I was w inn in g , we J O HN HIPKISS VOJENs; DENMARK; SEPT. 2 m e ric a ' s Greg Hancock con firmed his retu rn to top form with a specta cul ar win in speedway's Dan ish Grand Prix, round five of the World Ch a mp io ns ip Gra nds Prix, at Vojens Speedway Ce nter. Hancock, the 1997 World Champion , has been in great form in lea gue raci ng in Eng land , Poland and Sweden, and th is win goes a lon g wa y to ward his a im of avoiding the need to rac e in the Grand Prix Chall enge next month. "It ' s b e en a lo n g t im e c o m in g ," Ha n c o c k said . "I' v e been wo rk ing A 36 SEPTEMBER 20, 2000' cue • e n eVIl's Former World Champion Greg Hancock finally broke through for a victory in the World Championship Speedway GP Se ries, acing the final at the Danish GP to cement his return for the 2001 GP Series. made so m e c ha nges to the bik e setup and from that point on, th ing s wer e gr aduall y co mi ng ba ck. It's better late than never." Ha ncock' s brilliant victory a s ide , the m a in talk ing po int wa s the race fo r the ti tl e with England' s Mark Lo ram n ow just one m e eting awa y from his first ever wor ld c rown . Th e Malta -born rider now has a 12-point c ush ion over nea rest c hallenger Tony Ric kardsson , the reign ing c ha m pio n, who blame d re fe re e To ny Ste el e fo r hi s d is ap p oint in g re t u rn a fter an e xcl us ion in he at 19 . The world number one ha d a rrived there via a n unimpressive ope ning la st p lac e , the n a brillia nt sweep outs id e To masz Gollob to win hea t 15 . As the 19th he at unfolded, Leigh Adams was a c lear le a de r while his co untry ma n Rya n Sullivan was ma king a mov e on seco n d -placed Rickardsso n. As th e two drove into the pit tum, the Swe de took S ullivan wid e and last -placed Stefa n Da nno sensed an o pp ortunity up the va ca nt white line . But two into three doe sn 't te nd to ~qua te o n a speedway straig ht a nd Ric k a rd s s o n ap p e a re d to ha ve his fr o n t w hee l t a k e n from him b y Da n n o ' s m an eu v er , wit h t h e in e vitable resu lt. It was a n in cident rem in is c ent of t he infa mo us Jason Crump/Toma sz Gollob cla sh in Sw e d en , a nd th o s e b le s s e d w ith th e adva nta ge of TV replays s uggest it could ha ve be en a 5 0/50 call. From th e slo pes of Vojens , it loo ked harsh. But as fa r as Rickardsson wa s con cerned , it wasn 't just his body , but his wh ole wo rld th at c a m e crashing down in th at sp lit se co nd . S ti ll in ward ly seething a t Wo lfga ng Gla s ' int epreta tion of his fall in the second round a t Link opi ng ba c k in June , th e sig ht of h is e xcl us ion ligh t th is time aro und rea lly did m ake him see red . "I've put so mu ch time a nd ene rgy into th e Wo rld Ch amp io nsh ip , a nd I feel that it' s a ll s lippi ng away from me. I fe e l so a ng ry a nd b itt er a bout t he dec is io n , a n d m y c ha nce h as now gon e. I don't even feel like riding aga in, th a t' s m y g ut rea ct io n . It' s a ll gone a ga in st m e, a nd it wasn ' t even m y fault. The inciden t is the re for everyone to see . Th e referee has got it so badly wrong , a nd I can hardly. believe it. All m y effo rts ha ve bee n c ha nneled into m y World Cha m pionsh ip progra m, and th e y ha ve be e n ru ined by d ec is ions beyon d m y co ntrol." Wh ich e ve r wa y yo u vie w th e inc ident , it's hard to d isag re e that t hi s expulsion could go a long way toward costing him his wo rld c row n. Inde ed , had Loram not chosen Voje ns for th ree of his worst starts of the 2000 se ries , the title rac e could alread y hav e reached its conclusion . An overa ll Loram victory would not o n ly h a ve be en a de adly accurate punch to Rickardsson's solar plexus , it would ha ve left the English man 22 points clear with a guaranteed five m inimu m to come in Bydgoszcz provided he makes the trip. Ins te a d , Loram d id an ex t re m e ly good defe nsive job in thi s on e , sa lvag ing as much as possible from the co nsolation fina l aft e r a night when he had to wo rk ov ertime in e very race . " I c a n ' t rem emb e r c o m in g to Vojens and ma king good sta rts, so a ll is not lost," Lor am s aid. "I was riding good and keep ing m y head . It was unfortuna te th at in th e vita l ra ce I ran a fourth , but as soon as you hit traffic o ut there , it was reall y difficult. It