OXFORD Cheetahs trio Todd Wiltshire, Brian Andersen and Leigh Adams kept their Speedway Grand Prix hopes on course with battling displays on a wet and soggy night in the opening round at the Friedrich Ludwig Jan Stadium in Berlin on Saturday, writes JOHN GAISFORD.
Wiltshire finished sixth to claim 14 points, while Adams was a place behind with 12 points.
Cheetahs' other hope, Brian Andersen, excelled himself with some superb riding before bowing out in heat 20 to finish with eight points for ninth place.
The meeting was won in dramatic fashion by world class Tomasz Gollob (Poland), who can count himself very lucky.
Nikki Pedersen had the meeting won, only for Tony Rickardsson (Sweden), to pull a gigantic unforced wheelie, due to the bumpy track bringing the Dane down in the mud.
The Swede was excluded for that, but English referee Tony Steele ordered a re-run when there was never a better case of awarding the heat. Pedersen, the youngest rider in the round, and a little shaken up, could not get to the Pole in the re-run.
Heavy rain throughout the previous night and day almost wiped out the meeting, but the newly-laid track, with a series of bumps and hollows, made for some exciting action
It was a lottery at times with the reigning champion Mark Loram going out after two rides, as did Billy Hamill, Jason Crump, Jimmy Nilsen and Chris Louis
Adams opened his account in heat 13 and was at his scintillating best in the re-run after the bumpy track saw Rickardsson throw a chain. Matej Ferjan and Sullivan held sway until the last lap where the Oxford No 1 swooped from third to first in a flash.
He had to settle for third after passing Stonehewer, and produced another stunning move when relegating Hancock to third in heat 19 behind Gollob to grab his semi-final slot.
Like Wiltshire earlier, he missed out on the A final after a third place, but made the consolation final, which was won by Peter Karlsson with Wiltshire second and Adams third.
It means all three Oxford riders go through to the main event at Cardiff next month.
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