Hancock claims surprise win

Gollob dominates meeting but is undone at the final hurdle

By Steve Pass   Last updated: 13th September 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hancock claims surprise win

Hancock: Surprise win

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Greg Hancock sprung a surprise to win the Polish Grand Prix at Bydgoszcz on Saturday.

Tomasz Gollob had won at the venue six times in the past ten years and looked to be heading towards another victory after winning his five heats and then the first semi-final.

But riding from Gate one in the final, the Polish ace pushed World Champion Nicki Pedersen wide on the first bend.

This allowed Hancock, riding from Gate four, to come up the inside and claim the lead.

Pedersen and Gollob tried to get back on terms but Hancock stayed out in front to claim an unlikely win, the eighth GP victory of his career.

Valuable points

British rider Scott Nicholls reached the final but could make no impact back in fourth, although he earned a valuable ten points for his evening's work.

Afterwards, a delighted Hancock dedicated his win to his late friend Darren Boocock.

He told Sky Sports: "What a night, I have been struggling all year to get the win - and things go wrong in a final or semi-final - tonight I wanted to get a ride.

"This place is something special and to beat Tomasz Gollob here is quite an achievement and for me it's a big achievement, but, you know, the guy (Gollob) is still the master of this track but tonight I got one."

The win enabled Hancock to keep his third position in the series standings, with the American saying he is "going for everything that I can."

"Winning is everything so I am just going to keep fighting for it," he added.

Lead extended

Pedersen earned the most points on the night - 21 - to extend his lead at the top of the series standings to 28 points with only two meetings to go.

Second-placed Jason Crump started the evening 16 points behind but he could not progress from his semi-final, finishing with nine points in total.

This means Pedersen now has one hand on the trophy despite only winning one GP this term. He has been a model of consistency, though, reaching all nine finals so far.

British ace Nicholls was another be pleased with his night's work after earning ten points to move up to ninth in the series standings - just one point behind Rune Holta in the all important final automatic qualification place for next season's Grand Prix schedule.

"It is all good positive steps in the right direction. I felt on the pace tonight - I didn't quite get on the rostrum but it is all going in the right direction for me," he said.

Fellow Brit Chris 'Bomber' Harris sits in 11th place in the overall standings after earning five points to take his overall total to 54.

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