The track held up well after a full day of qualifying. Good weather ahead of the event continued into the weekend, and that greatly helped track conditions.
Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
There had been a large and enthusiastic crowd attending on Saturday, so there was great expectation of even bigger numbers on race day. The rider’s presentation and autograph session preceded the action under a sunny sky before an appreciative crowd. Three races for each discipline were scheduled with Quads kicking off the action.
Race One (Groups A/B)
Two rows and the mass start gave us a huge thrill as the pack streamed into the first right-hander, with local rider Lukas Cerny with Bastien Chopin grabbing the lead. Again, just the same as in qualifying, there was a pile-up on the straight, with five teams tangled up. Cerny made the most of his start, but a battling Stuart Brown/Josh Chamberlain fought like terriers on the few early bends to muscle into second place. Brown knew he had to get out front, and they were very impressive all race long. Etienne Bax had a sluggish start, down in sixth pace first time around, with work to do. The Swiss team of Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart slotted third for an amazing race, but the Vanluchene/Bax Belgian train was coming. From a second-row start, Marvin was incredible, and picked off first Heinzer, then Brown. It was not easy, but once in front he held a five-second margin over Brown. Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak were also making progress through a very fast pack, eventually becoming involved in a race-long fight with Heinzer/Betschart. The Swiss was having none of it, losing out to Bax, only to reclaim the place. This went all the way to the flag with Bax eventually nailing third ahead of Heinzer.
Gert van Werven/Ben Van Den Bogaart were another crew playing catch-up and fought through to fifth place ahead of a great ride by the young Latvian Daniels Lielbardis/Kostas Beleckas. The French Prunier brothers were next, with Gordejev/Stupelis strong for Estonia.
Great Britain sat well in the table behind the impressive Netherlands team after the close of play in this race.
Result
Race Two (Groups B/C)
It had become decidedly colder after lunch, with the large crowd enjoying life in the beer tent and food facilities spread around. The much-publicised rain had not materialised, and extensive track repair work was carried out during the lunch break. This race was for Groups “B/C” so there was new talent on show.
An amazing hole shot by Koen Hermans/Robbe de Veene gave them the platform for a gate to flag victory in impeccable style. That did not reflect the terrific scrap going on behind. After yet another big crash off the line involving Team Italy, all the main players were safely through and fighting hard. Varik/Kunnas gated fourth behind Stuart Brown/Josh Chamberlain. The British crew did not have such a clear run as the earlier race and had to work a bit harder. They were passed by Varik, but that was it. Jason Van Daele/Eduard Soenens were attacking fiercely in second place and looked very strong once more. Despite Gert Van Werven coming from eighth place through to fourth, he could not close the gap to Brown/Chamberlain, and that is where he finished. A strong ride by Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard had us all thinking he might ride home in tandem with Brown/Chamberlain, but it was not to be. A very rapid Gert Gordejev and Kaspars Stupelis made great progress, defeating Wilkinson/Millard on the penultimate lap. Jason Van Daele slowly faded but still scraped home in ninth place.
There was little more to be said of Hermans/De Veene other than their victory was immaculate. In the post-race interview, Koen said “once we got the holeshot we could ride our own race, and that is what we did”.
The Netherlands were heading for team honours once again, but with one race to go, team Great Britain sat second.
Result
Race Three (Groups A/C)
The third and final race in what had been an amazing weekend needed to be a good one to close proceedings. Barring mishaps, team Netherlands was on target to retain the title.
It was going to be hard to beat them, but Kert Varik was going to give it his best shot as he led the pack from the word go. He charged away with full steam, followed by the omni-present Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart. This Swiss crew had been a thorn in the side of the establishment all weekend, and that was not about to change. Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak were fourth, but not for long. They steamed by Varik on lap three, with Vanluchene/Bax doing the same thing one lap later. The pattern was then set, with Koen Hermans playing catch-up into fifth. Daniel Lielbardis/Kostas Beleckas claimed sixth initially, and as the race wore on, converted that to fifth after overhauling Heinzer. At the front, Vanluchene twice passed Bax, only to be retaken moments later.
This was a copybook ride by the new world champions, and as the race came to a close, they dropped Marvin away slightly. Varik stayed strong, with Koen Hermans climbing to fourth with his stand-in passenger.
Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard did not start well but chipped away lap after lap gaining ground. A very creditable seventh place, with Dan Foden/Nathan Cooper eleventh, meant that team GBR finished runners-up. This was a great result and shows great promise for the new young team members.
Result
Overall result
