Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. : : :Cu~ Final SPEEDWAY ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _--.:..:W-=:orl:.:....:d :..::ea=-m T ~ USAallthe • way In Sweden By John Hipkiss KUMLA, SWEDEN, SEPT. 19 eam captain Sam Ermolenko shrugged off a nasty scare to lead the American team to a storming victory in the Speedway World Team Cup in Sweden. .After trailing England in the early stages, the Americans stepped up a gear in the closing heats to top the score chart on 39 points, six better than host nation Sweden, with England a further two points behind and Denmark, last year's champions, at the bottom of the list. Ermolenko was lucky to escape serious injury in his second race when Danish rider Gert Handberg, third in the World Individual Final in Poland three weeks earlier, lost control coming out of the second bend. His bike looped, throwing him off, and then hurtled across the track, crashing into Ermolenko and hitting him in the chest and face. Ermolenko had to have treatment on the track and it was some miilUtes before he was able to get to his feet. He looked a little unsteady, but apart from the bruising he was unhurt and able to complete in the rerun after Handberg was excluded for causing. the stoppage. Still shaken, Ermolenko could only finish third but after having time to recover he emerged to score two fine wins before clinching the American triumph when he surged from last to second place in his final race. Proud of his team's performance, Ermolenko said later: "We had some bad luck in the early heats and many teams would have folded but we stuck at it and things worked out right. "It was a great all-round show from the American boys and following our win in the World Pairs earlier in the season I guess we have proved we are now the world's best." Having also led the USA to victory in the three-match international series against Eng~and, Ermolenko's only regret is that he failed to complete the clean sweep by taking the World Individual Championship in Poland. He was the pre-match favorite and finished a disappointing eighth, but as the American team captain he did a magnificent job in regaining the trophy they won two years ago. England were the pace-setters in Kumla, revelling in the deep track conditions and were five points ahead of the USA after each rider had had one race. Greg Hancock was America's only winner. Although Ermolenko picked up a third place after being overtaken by England's Joe Screen. and Ronnie Correy als9 collected a point, Billy Hamill failed to score. Hancock was again the sole winner for the USA in the second round when Ermolenko had his confrontation with Handberg's flying machine, and reserve Bobby Ott replaced Correy, who was having machine problems. r Team USA celebrates their win in the Speedway World Team Cup. The Americans were still in third spot but then, with the track surface becoming slicker, the tide began to change. Ermolenko scored his first win and so did Hamill, while Hancock picked up a second place and Correy added another point. The pressure was on and the greater experience of the Americans began to tell on the young English squad led by recently crowned World Champion Gary Havelock. After four rides each the USA had edged in front with 30 points to England's 29, and Sweden had slipped to third, three points further adrift. The greater all-round strength of the Americans proved decisive. Correy finally found his touch, grabbing his only win of the meeting, Hamill followed up with another three points and Ermolenko 's second place in heat 19 was .enough to put the team out of reach of the chasing pack. Hancock, who had done the initial work and had broken the track record in his opening race, could finish only third in his last outing, but the trophy was already secure and his one point put him on top of the American score chart. "We had a rough time for a while, but the team spirit was great," said Hancock who also played a major role in the World Pairs final. "We rode hard and we came good." England were disappointed to finish third after making such a promising start. While America collected nine points from the final round England gained only three and were overtaken by Sweden, "The track changed so much during the meeting and I don't think we had enough experience to handle the last few heats, but we have a young team and we shall get better," said Havelock. Although England faded, the big letdown went to the 1991 winners, Denmark. Without the injured Jan Pedersen and Tommy Knudsen, who was having an operation to replace his broken collarbone, they were never in contention. Three times World Champion Hans Nielsen scored 11 of his team's 17 points but Handberg, this year's bronze medalist, did not get on the score chart. CN Results SCORES: I. USA 39 (Greg Hancock II. Sam Ermolenko 10. Billy Hamill 10, Ronnie CoTTey 5. Bobby Ott 3); 2. Sweden 33 (Henrik Gustafsson 12. Per Jonsson II, Tony Rickardsson 7. Peter Nahlin 2. Jimmy Nilsen I); 3. Denmark 17 (Hans Nielsen II. Brian Karger 3. Brian Andersen 2. John jorgense I. Gert Handberg 0). Den,?ark's Gert Handber~ crashes in Sweden with his bike hitting England's Marttn Dugard and American Sam Ermolenko; Ermolenko got the worst of it with Hanberg's bike hitting him in the face. He was lucky to escape injury. '19

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