Huntington Beach’s Moran Wins InterContinental Final : He Establishes Himself as the Favorite for World Final

Speedway motorcyclist Shawn Moran of Huntington Beach continued his impressive pursuit of the world championship by winning the InterContinental Final on Saturday night with 14 points in Vetlanda, Sweden.

Moran, 23, dropped only one point to Denmark’s Hans Nielsen in his final heat to emerge as the favorite to win the World Final scheduled for Aug. 31 at Odsal Stadium in Bradford, England.

All four American riders entered in the InterContinental Final, the last qualifying round for the world championship, were successful. Lance King of Fountain Valley finished tied for second with Denmark’s Hans Nielsen and then defeated him in a four-lap runoff.

Both Sam Ermolenko of Cypress and John Cook of Roseville qualified for their first World Final. Ermolenko tied Tommy Knudsen of Denmark for sixth place with nine points and Cook tied Kelvin Tatum of England for eighth place with eight points.

The top 11 riders in the 16-rider field at Vetlanda advance to the World Final along with five Eastern European riders.

The big surprise of the meeting was the performance of defending world champion Erik Gundersen and two-time British champion Kenny Carter.

Gundersen barely qualified by finishing 10th with only seven points in five rides. He had suffered a cracked vertebra in a practice session for the semifinal round of the world long track championships a week ago in Denmark and wore a back brace for Saturday night’s race.

Carter collided with John Davis on the first corner of his second heat race, crashed on the wet track and suffered a broken right leg. He was scheduled to captain the British team in the World Team Cup on Aug. 10 at Long Beach but will be replaced by either veteran rider Dave Jessup or newcomer Andy Smith.

Moran, the 1983 world long track champion, has now won the two European qualifying rounds to reach the world championship. He scored 14 points to tie with Carter in the Overseas Final last month and then defeated Carter in a runoff.

An overnight rain delayed the start of the meeting for 30 minutes and made racing conditions difficult, but the inclement weather didn’t seem to bother the four Americans.

“I came to qualify and realized I had a chance to win,” Moran said. “I just went for it and it paid off. I couldn’t be happier.”

King, who finished third in the world championships last year, thinks he can win the title this season. He would become only the third rider ever to win the title without competing in the British Speedway League. Anders Michanek of Sweden won the title in 1974 and Egon Muller won in 1983 without competing in the league.

“I’m happy with the way things are going,” King said. “I think I can win the World Final, and I’m going for it full bore. I like the race track at Bradford and that’s a bonus.”

Ermolenko justified his selection to the American team for the World Team Cup with a strong showing in Vetlanda. He qualifies for the championship race despite only one season of international experience.

“It (qualifying) hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m very happy,” Ermolenko said. “I just hope I continue to make a good showing in the World Team Cup and then the World Final.”

Finally, the four Southern California riders who qualified were the most ever for the United States in the 48-year history of the World Final. Three Americans--Bruce Penhall, Dennis Sigalos and Kelly Moran--competed in the 1982 World Final with Penhall finishing first, Sigalos third and Moran fourth.