The Germans Leif Lampater and Christian Grasmann won the final Madison on Sunday night at the Hollywood Championship Cycling event by adding an extra lap to their total count.
The USA Team of champions Bobby Lea and Jackie Simes had been in the lead when the Germans went off the front with 11 laps to go.
The action made for spectacular entertainment for the crowds who came to see in the half Six Day race in Carson, CA.
Just within 4 laps to go, Germany lapped the field, and despite a last ditch attempt to gain another lap, the USA riders could not add another for themselves despite holding the most cumulative points.
Because of having one lap up, Germany automatically won the “sprint,” and USA came in second because they came over the line first after them.
All of the teams put in an aggressive ride in the final night of the half Six Day race, the first to be held in the U.S. in forty years.
The Hollywood Championship Cycling event is the start of en effort to return Six Day bicycle racing to the level of its heyday as the premier sporting event in the country – an honor it held until about the time of World War II.
“Tonight they were hammering,” said John Chaki who was working as a whip at the Hollywood race and is previous New York State 1979 and 1980 time trial champion, and the longest standing whip in the country.
In addition to the two leaders, the Euro All Stars and the Austria/ Denmark Teams raced extremely aggressively, with the Euros
putting in an effort that began to look like they might take the night’s laps.
Many of the attacks had to be chased by the leader, USA, so that when Germany attacked from the top of the banks with about 19 laps to go, they couldn’t keep up the unrelenting pace.
Flying Lap Challenge Shows Strengths of Other Teams
Earlier in the evening, in the Flying Lap Challenge, the top five teams from the previous two days raced for the final competition, with Philadelphia posting the best time of 13.53, and USA coming in second at 13.54.
Ian Moir and Zak Kovalcik whom had posted the fastest times yesterday were only able to do a time of 13.69, and they were third.
The Miss N Outs offered a different type of racing that was both entertaining and a chance to learn something. In this race, the last wheel to cross the finish line in every other lap gets eliminated until it’s down to one.
The red numbers went first, and Jesper Morkov of the Austrian/ Danish team appropriately dressed in red played the devil by lagging at the back, then tricking the riders by coming around the top before the finish line.
But quickly, the devil had his due and he was out, leaving the Germans to take on the role of devil.
The red numbers left Argentine Seba Donadio to compete with the winner of the black numbers who turned out to be none other than his own teammate, Walter Perez, who triumphed in the final Miss N Out against the “singer-cyclist,” Donadio. Team Argentina collected all the available points by sweeping the top two spots.
The final night of the three-day race was broadcast on the Internet, with a 2 to 3 minute lag, and was directed by award-winning producer Kent Gordis. Viewers flocked to the Internet from all over the world, with the most viewers in the United States, but many from South America, and Europe.
The video of that race is still available on the Internet and can be seen here.
