Rising British star Jake Mulford put in a polished and almost perfect performance in the German city of Vechta on Friday night, dropping just two points on his way to the prestigious FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup.
- Jake Mulford wins 2024 FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup
- Bright British talent drops just two points all night
- Steven Labouyrie and Mika Meijer complete Vechta podium
Bringing together competitors aged between sixteen and twenty-three, the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup made its debut on the calendar last season and is an exciting example of the FIM’s forward-thinking approach to encouraging, inspiring and developing young talent.
The twenty-year-old got his challenge off to a flying start with victory in both his opening Heats and despite then dropping successive points to Dutch racer Mika Meijer and fast Frenchman Tino Bouin, he rallied to win his fifth and final Heat which tied him at the top of the leaderboard with France’s Mathias Trésarrieu.
Trésarrieu – whose uncle Mathieu is a two-time FIM Long Track World Champion – took a slightly different route to the Grand Final after starting with second-placed finishes behind Bouin and Mulford before winning three Heats in a row.
French racer Steven Labouyrie kicked off his evening with victory ahead of Meijer, but was pushed onto the back foot with a disqualification second time out before backing up another Heat win in front of home hero Mario Niedermeier with a pair of seconds behind Trésarrieu and Meijer.
Meijer’s victory over Labouyrie was his third win of the programme and one that guaranteed him the third and final automatic transfer place into the Grand Final, meaning Labouyrie was forced to line up behind the tapes for the Last Chance Heat alongside Niedermeier, Denmark’s Patrick Kruse, Bouin and Sem Ensing from the Netherlands.
The final rider placed between fourth and eighth following the Heats to make the cut for the Last Chance Heat, Ensing kept his hopes alive after emerging on top of a four-way tie with compatriots Nigel Hummel and Jeffrey Sijbesma and France’s Théo Ugoni who was third in last year’s FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup.
With the remaining two starting places for the Grand Final up for grabs, victory in the Last Chance Heat went to Niedermeier ahead of Labouyrie who completed the five-rider line-up for the deciding race to determine the 2024 champion.
Choosing the outside gate, when the tapes went up Mulford was just four laps away from his biggest career achievement and he had his travelling group of fans on their feet as he raced to victory from Labouyrie with Meijer claiming the final step of the podium.
With the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup decided for another year, focus now shifts to tonight’s fourth and penultimate round of the 2024 FIM Long Track World Championship powered by Anlas, Kineo and HKC Koopmann with the first Heat in the Reiterwaldstadion Vechta due to get off the line at 19:30 local time. For more information click here.
All five of this season’s Finals along with the FIM Long Track of Nations can be streamed LIVE onFIM-MOTO.TV for just €34.90. To sign up click here.
Results
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Race Report by FIM – Images by Jesper Veldhuizen
