Oxford Cheetahs' duo of Leigh Adams and Todd Wiltshire made promising starts in the opening Grand Prix speedway meeting of the season at the Viking Stadium, Hamar, Norway on Saturday.

Leigh Adams in action

Both reached the semi-finals, while there was also an encouraging GP debut for Lukas Dryml who was unfortunate to be eliminated in his final ride.

However, there was no holding the classy Tony Rickardsson who sailed through the meeting unbeaten to again stamp his mark on the GP in chasing his fifth world title.

The Swede had to endure a re-run of the final after the gutsy Jason Crump fell while chasing Rickardsson and was excluded.

Premier League star Carl Stonehewer was the top Brit, securing a superb joint fifth spot with Adams.

Dryml was the first in action for Oxford and showed his fighting qualities by shoving aside Greg Walasek to gain a fine second spot behind Greg Hancock.

And it wasn't long before he chalked up his first GP win after Andreas Jonsson hit a rut with Dryml upsides. In the re-run, Dryml made a superb start from the outside and cruised to the chequered flag from Lars Gunnestad.

His next outing in heat 14 saw him miss the gate, but he soon passed Niklas Klingberg to secure the inside draw in heat 18, along with Wiltshire and Hancock.

The unsatisfactory start added to the tension, but he was up for the challenge and soon tucked in behind Wiltshire.

Dryml was looking comfortable ahead of Hancock before he overcooked things at the top bend and came to grief, costing him a place in the closing decisive heats.

Adams opened his account in heat nine up against Rickardsson, Wiltshire and Sullivan. But there was no luck for Wiltshire who touched the tapes.

Although Adams was left in the re-run, he cut inside Sullivan to gain second spot.

Adams got his act together with a fine victory over Tomasz Gollob and Mark Loram in heat 15, which earned him another outing against Rickardsson in heat 19.

Again he had to play second fiddle and, despite bucking and rearing on the rough track throughout, he passed Mikael Karlsson.

The second semi-final was an all-Aussie affair in which Adams had no answer to Crump and Sullivan, while Wiltshire finished last.

Scorers: Rickardsson 25, Sullivan 20, Karlsson 18, Crump 16, Adams 13, Stonehewer 13, Hamill 11, Wiltshire 11, Loram 8, Gollob 7, Walasek 7, Gunnestad 6, Laukannen 6, Klingberg 5, Dryml 5, Smith 4, Cegielski 4, Nicholls 3, Jonsson 3, Pedersen 2, Ulamek 2, Holta 1, Ferjan 1.

OXFORD RIDERS' HEAT DETAILS

Heat 3: Hancock, Dryml, Cegielski, Walasek.

Heat 8: Dryml, Gunnerstad, Smith, Jonsson (f/exc).

Heat 9: Rickardsson, Adams, Sullivcan, Wiltshire (exc/Tps).

Heat 15: Adams, Loram, Gollob, Laukannen.

Heat 16: Hamill, Stonehewer, Wiltshire, Gunnestad.

Heat 18: Wiltshire, Hancock, Laukannen. Dryml (f/exc).

Heat 19: Rickardsson, Adams, Karlsson, Stonehewer.

Heat 22: Wiltshire, Stonehewer, Loram, Walasek (f).

Heat 24: Crump, Sullivan, Adams, Wiltshire.