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Greg Hancock topped the qualifying scorers on 13, had first choice of gate in semifinal, but was outgated by Crump and then passed, and repassed, by a never-say-die Bjarne Pedersen. Nicki Pedersen missed the cut for semis on six points, and is now 50 points shy of Crump with five rounds remaining. And for those of a Polish persuasion, this was a night to rapidly forget. Tomasz Gollob, Jaroslaw Hampel and Piotr Protasiewicz finished 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively. A record of sorts, but an unwanted one. A dry and rough track looked worse than it turned out to be in the initial stages, and though the meeting won't be filed in the drawer labeled "classics," it did, nonethe- less, maintain plenty of interest. The racing was nothing to write home about, though the two semifinals were worth waiting for, and the battle to the finish in the top eight certainly added some bite to the later qualifying races. Early doors belonged to the Brits with Lee Richardson detonating from the tapes to lead all the way as Rickardsson had to battle past both Hampel and Matej Zagar in Heat 1, and Scott Nicholls barging across from the outside to see off Nicki Pedersen's challenge down the back straight in Heat 2. Both Zagar and Lindback in the first couple of races looked disconcerted with the surface, though the Swede had enough about him to pass Pedersen for what became the first of five second places in Heat 2. Crump followed the example of Nicholls with a domi- nant win off gate four in Heat 3 - with Andreas Jonsson excluded when his bike stalled at the tapes - and Adams took the flag in Heat 4 when Andersen messed up at the start, and had to fight tooth and nail to snatch third off compatriot Bjarne Pedersen. The twitchiness at the start became endemic, and Zagar was excluded for plowing into the tapes in Heat 5, though Jonsson wasn't without some culpability. In the rerun Jonsson was left at the back, as Adams shot clear and Lindback had an entertaining dispute with reserve Charlie Gjedde for third. Gollob had to turn sideways to avoid repeating Zagar's indiscretion at the start in Heat 6, which was won by Hancock from Richardson as Nicki Pedersen struggled to stay in front of the peeved Pole - and Heat 7 went to Niels- Kristian Iversen, much to the delight of the Parken patrons. Rickardsson was chasing hard when he came down on lap two, sportingly clearing himself off the track to allow the young Dane a win to savor. Andersen picked off his first win in Heat 8, but not before an eventful contest had seen Hampel relegated from first to last, the Pole losing his line totally as Andersen and Nicholls attacked him in unison going into the second circuit, with Crump recovering from being shoved wide on the first two turns to also rescue a point. Andersen claimed a second win in Heat 9, Nicki Pedersen almost coming to a stop to lose third place to Zagar on the final circuit, and Crump, nursing a finger injury from his opening ride, ran another third in Heat 10 when he looked for, but couldn't quite find, a way between Bjarne Pedersen and Lindback. Try as he might, and as is his wont, Crump tried everything - he was left with five points from three starts. Jonsson belatedly sprang to life to take Heat 11, and Adams made it a maximum nine points, when he beat the three Poles in Heat 12. Hampel made a big effort to catch the Aussie, but it proved in vain. So Adams had nine, Iversen was keeping pace with Hancock and the threatening Andersen on seven, and Nicholls and Lindback were both on six. The next batch of four races were won by Hancock, the seemingly unbeatable Adams, Andersen and Nicki Pedersen. Nicholls briefly challenged Adams in Heat 14 before settling for second, and the real Nicki Pedersen finally announced himself to his adoring Danish fans with his typical thrusting overhaul of Jonsson to win Heat 16. Adams, Hancock and Andersen were now through with four heats left, but two points separated the next six. One of those was Bjarne Pedersen, and his victory in Heat 17 added his name to the semifinal roll call. Behind him Nicholls slid off riding at full pelt to try and catch Zagar, and it meant he finished on eight. Richardson muscled to the front in Heat 18 to book his semifinal place and Crump, needing two points, finished on a high with a second win in Heat 19, with Nicki Pedersen clipping the fence as he tried to come up the side of the Aussie on lap one. Iversen also required two points from the final qualify- ing heat to oust Nicholls from the frame and Hancock also needed victory to finish on top of the qualifiers. While the American duly did what was required of him, Iversen couldn't get past Lindback and so Nicholls got the nod on count down to his meeting with the Dane in Heat 14. Hancock, having finished on 13 points, had first choice of gate and went for two in the first semifinal. Two had supplied the winners of five of the previous seven races, but the downside was that it gave Crump the inside. Crump powered away, and though Hancock was quickly up into second, Bjarne Pedersen barged under him on turn three. Back came the Californian on lap three, but again Pedersen repaid the compliment on the same straight. "Bjarne was very hard on me and perhaps it showed he wanted to be in the final more than I did," Hancock said. "Jason [Crump] has a fantastic lead now, but there are still five rounds to go and it is not over yet. It is going to take some serious stuff to happen to stop him now, but you never know what can happen in this sport. I feel I could have easily won three of the first five GPs, so who knows what can happen in the last five." Adams was nonplussed by the track in losing out to Lindback in the second semi, but the final belonged to Andersen, who was fully focused off the inside to leave Crump in his wake and complete his own Danish fairytale. Controversially overlooked for a seeded invite into this year's series in what was a clear case of sporting politics, Andersen showed that actions can often speak much, much louder than words. CN PARKEN STADIUM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK RESULTS: JUNE 24, 2006 DANISH GRAND PRIX: 1. Hans Andersen (25); 2. Jason Crump (20); 3. Bjarne Pedersen (18); 4. Antonio Lindback (16); 5. Greg Hancock (13); 6. Leigh Adams (12); 7. Lee Richardson (9); 8. Scott Nicholls (8); 9. Niels-Kristian Iversen (8); 10. Andreas Jonsson (7); 11. Nicki Pedersen (6); 12. Tony Rickardsson (5); 13. Matej Zagar (4); 14. Tomasz Gollob (3); 15. Jarek Hampel (2); 16. Piotr Protasiewicz (1); Kenneth Bjerre (1); Charlie Gjedde (1). WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Jason Crump (115); 2. Greg Hancock (74); 3. Nicki Pedersen (65); 4. Tomasz Gollob (55); 5. Andreas Jonsson (50); 6. (TIE) Bjarne Pedersen; Jarek Hampel (48); 8. Leigh Adams (46); 9. Matej Zagar (44); 10. Tony Rickardsson (41). UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 6 - Lonigo, Italy, July 29 Round 7 - Malilla, Sweden, August 12 C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 5, 2006 37 Antonio Lindback leads Andreas Jonnson in one of the heat races. Jason Crump fills Anderson with bubbly after the final.