World Motorcycle Championship Qualifying : Ermolenko Wins in England; Moran Advances, Too

It was a day of triumph and disappointment for six Southern California speedway motorcycle riders on Sunday in the Overseas Final in Coventry, England.

Sam Ermolenko, 24, of Cypress, won the meet with 14 points. Two British riders--Jeremy Doncaster and Neil Evitts--finished second and third. Doncaster scored 12 points and Evitts 11.

The race was the second qualifying round that ultimately leads to the world championship. Only Kelly Moran of Huntington Beach advanced along with Ermolenko to the next round, the InterContinental Final on July 20 in Bradford, England.

Moran had only five points after three heats, but he won his next heat and finished with eight points. The top nine riders advance to the next round. Bobby Schwartz, Lance King, Shawn Moran and Rick Miller failed to advance among the international field of riders.

Shawn Moran, the favorite to win the race and a strong contender for the world title, was carried off the track on a stretcher and taken to a hospital after crashing in his first ride. Moran tangled with Evitts on the first turn of the four-lap race.

He hit the wire crash wall after being catapulted 15 feet into the air. Moran was riding with a broken right ankle suffered in a crash at Oxford only two weeks ago. He left the track clutching his ankle.

Ermolenko wrapped up the title on the third round, defeating Doncaster in heat 12. Both riders came into the race with perfect scores but Ermolenko’s quick start was too much for Doncaster to overcome.

Ermolenko dropped his only point of the meet in his last race to reserve rider Rick Miller. Riding on his home track, Miller made the most of two reserve appearances to earn five points.

Winning the meeting was more important than beating Miller, Ermolenko said.

“I thought I could have beaten Ricky, but I only needed two points to win the meeting and I didn’t want to do anything stupid,” he said. “My engines were right and everything just clicked today.

“The entire U.S. team was behind me. But I’m still learning, and being beaten by Ricky in my last ride just shows you that anything can happen in this sport.”

Schwartz knows that all too well. The veteran rider with eight years of experience in the British Speedway League has never qualified for a World Final. He scored only five points and blew his chances on Sunday when he finished last in his third ride.

“I don’t know what to say,” Schwartz said. “I’m not nervous. I wasn’t overprepared. I was confident of qualifying.”

King was also a disappointment with only one point. He had qualified for three consecutive world championships, finishing third in 1984 in Sweden. He said he was unhappy with his engines before the meeting started, and it was obvious that his bikes were not up to par for the critical starts.

“I blew a good engine in a meeting Saturday night and settled on the motor that I rode at Long Beach,” King said. “I wasn’t making the starts. I think my lack of racing and the fact that I’m 10 pounds heavier was why I did so poorly.”

King crushed two vertebrae in a crash two months ago and began riding again only last week. He said his back injury did not affect his riding ability.

“My back injury was no problem,” he said. “But I was suffering from hay fever, and I’m very disappointed.”

Kelly Moran said the crash involving Evitts and his brother momentarily took his mind off the race.

“When I saw Shawn go down, I laid my bike down,” he said. “I had to go and see how he was. I thought, ‘I can get into a World Final another year.’