IN
THE
WIND
P26
HANCOCK WINS FOURTH SPEEDWAY WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP
A
merican Speedway great
Greg Hancock is deter-
mined to continue making his-
tory, insisting, "I've never put a
timeframe on this game," after
earning FIM Speedway World
Championship number four in
Melbourne, October 22.
The 46-year-old signed off
another chapter in his storied
career when he won heat four
of the QBE Insurance Austra-
lian FIM Speedway Grand Prix
at Etihad Stadium to clinch the
sport's biggest prize, with Great
Britain star Tai Woffinden seeing
off Bartosz Zmarzlik in the final
for World Championship silver.
Hancock is now one of the
top six riders of all time in terms
of world title wins, pulling level
on four with New Zealand icon
Barry Briggs and Danish team
manager Hans Nielsen.
Hancock is already an SGP
legend, but he has no plans
to slow down as he plans to
continue his winning ways in the
coming years.
"Well that's the idea," he
said. "I love what I am doing. As
it is now, I'll keep fighting and
I am trying to find that little bit
extra every year to be a little bit
quicker. I can't beat these guys
on sheer aggression. I have to
be a little smarter and a little
quicker."
Hancock was elated to seal
gold in his opening ride after
winning a terrific tussle with Piotr
Pawlicki. Hancock said: "That
first heat was exciting, nerve-
wracking, emotional, everything.
I realized after the first lap that
the tire was warm enough and
the bike took off. I managed to
reel in Pawlicki. I'm ecstatic.
To look back now on the year
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JOHN
HIPKISS
Forty-six-year-old Greg Hancock hasn't slowed down one bit. He
claimed his fourth FIM Speedway World Championship in Australia.
