P34
IN
THE
WIND
Hampel went into heat 20 of
the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Final tied on 38
points with Denmark and knowing he needed to finish ahead of
FIM Speedway Under-21 World
Champion Michael Jepsen Jensen to clinch Poland's sixth title
in nine years.
And the FIM Speedway Grand
Prix rider didn't disappoint – jetting
from gate three to pull clear of his
competition, while Jensen could
only battle past Czech skipper Ales
Dryml and Australian captain Troy
Batchelor for second place.
Hampel finished with 15 points
from six races, including six from
his tactical joker win in race 16, as
Poland triumphed on 41 points.
Denmark finished with an agonizing 40, while Australia claimed
bronze on 33 and the Czech Republic was fourth with 12.
Hampel has been involved in
all six of his country's Speedway
World Cup wins in 2005, 2007,
2009, 2010, 2011 and now 2013,
so he had no fears about taking the weight of a nation on his
shoulders in an epic finale.
"I had lots of pressure in the
last race, of course, but I handled that," he said. "It was really
tough. But I had a good gate –
gate three – and I did everything
to make a good jump from the
start. My bike worked well. It was
really fast. I knew I had to do everything the best I could to make
a good jump from the gate and
make the right choice of line on
the first turn. I did it and I'm really
happy because it was an amazing
night. It was really tough."
Team USA's 1 Ricky Wells,
Gino Manzares, Ryan Fisher and
Greg Hancock failed to advance
to the final after losing out in a
race-off earlier in the week.
John Hipkiss
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON
REED
AND MOTOGP
C
had Reed is a huge MotoGP fan so he made
the trek to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on
Sunday after racing in Washougal on Saturday.
Reed was reacquainted with Valentino Rossi,
Nicky Hayden and some of the other MotoGP
stars. Here's he's seen with the oldest of the
Hayden class, Tommy.
AND MCGRATH
TOO…
J
eremy McGrath is a huge Valentino Rossi fan.
And vice versa. The two were able to converse
prior to Rossi getting third in Sunday's Red Bull
U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.
