CONTROVERSIAL Polish speedway ace Tomaz Gollob was at the centre of more Grand Prix drama in Pocking, Germany.

Gollob, a member of the flying Ipswich Elite League squad, was accused of rough riding in the Hackney round three years ago and was thumped by Craig Boyce in front of TV cameras.

And he was at it again on Saturday.

The problems all started in heat 17. First, he went for a gap that didn't exist and sent American Billy Hamill flying, then in the re-run, he appeared to ram Hamill off the track deliberately. Somehow, both riders stayed on their bikes.

There were punches thrown in the pits as both riders returned before the situation was quickly dealt with.

How Gollob was not thrown out by referee Frank Ebdon was a mystery. Sky TV pundit Kelvin Tatum said: "Gollob left his brain in his toolbox", while Hamill added: "The first offence was forgiveable, but not the second."

The meeting was a nightmare for Ebdon - the man Hans Nielsen claims cost him the title here in 1992. He upset his chances again when he threw out the Dane in the first semi-final. The former Oxford skipper protested in vain before slamming the phone down on the referee.

Meanwhile, Oxford's Jason Crump again failed miserably. He was brought down by Boyce in the opening heat, but again Ebdon saw it differently and excluded the Oxford star despite his protests. Crump bounced back to win his next heat, but was last in heat 10 for another early exit on a slick track that saw plenty of crashes and more upsets.

Shining above all the drama was Sweden's Tony Rickardsson who repeated his opening round Prague success. Best of the Brits was Andy Smith.

Heat 1: (re-run) Boyce, Kasper, Nielsen, Crump (exc).

Heat 2: Gustafsson, Karlsson, Protasiewizc, Barth. Heat 3: Adorjan, Kryzaniak, Smith, Riss.

Heat 4: (re-run) Castagna, Hancock, Loram, Ulamek. Heat 5: Nielsen, Smith, Barth, Ulamek.

Heat 6: Crump, Loram, Riss, Protasiewizc (e/f).

Heat 7: Karlsson, Hancock, Boyce, Adorjan (e/f). Heat 8: Gustafsson, Castagna, Kasper, Kryzaniak. Heat 9: Nielsen, Loram, Boyce, Kryzaniak.

Heat 10: Adorjan, Smith, Kasper, Crump.

Heat 11: Rickardsson, Karlsson, Adams, Castagna. Heat 12: Gustafsson, Hamill, Sullivan, Hancock.

Heat 13: Nilsen, Smith, Nielsen, Danno.

Heat 14: Louis, Gollob, Loram, Adorjan.

Heat 15: Nielsen, Hancock, Adams, Adorjan.

Heat 16: (re-run) Sullivan, Loram, Danno, Castagna (f/exc).

Heat 17: (re-run) Rickardsson, Hamill, Gollob, Nilsen (exc/tps) .

Heat 18: Gustafsson, Smith, Karlsson, Louis.

Heat 19: Nielsen, Gollob, Louis, Loram.

Heat 20: Hancock, Nilsen, Karlsson, Sullivan (f).

Heat 21 1st semi-final: (re-run) Rickardsson, Nilsen, Smith, Nielsen (exc).

Heat 22 2nd semi-final: Hamill, Gollob, Gustafsson, Hancock.

Heat 23 consolation final: Hancock, Gustafsson, Smith, Nielsen.

Heat 24 final: Rickardsson, Nilsen, Hamill, Gollob.

Current standings: Rickardsson 50pts, Hamill, Nilsen 38, Gollob 32, Gustafsson, Louis 23, Nielsen, Danno 20.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.