The battle for supremacy in the 2024 FIM Long Track World Championship powered by Anlas, Kineo and HKC Koopmann reaches the halfway mark this coming Sunday afternoon (18 August) with the third Final of the year and with three riders tied at the top of the points table it could not get any closer heading into the Eichenring Scheessel in northern Germany.
Following the opening two Finals of the year – at Herxheim in Germany in May and last month at Marmande in France – it is all square in the championship chase with reigning champion Martin Smolinski, Lukas Fienhage and Zach Wajtknecht leading the way on thirty-eight points each before a gap of eight back to fourth-placed Chris Harris from Britain.
Both Smolinski and Fienhage will be racing on home soil on Sunday which could be an advantage over British rider Wajtknecht, although all three are so well traveled it could be argued that the geographical location is no longer important for these supremely talented riders. The incredibly passionate German fans may, however, disagree and they certainly made their presence felt at this fixture in 2023 when they cheered Smolinski all the way onto the podium and are sure to be extremely vocal again this time around.
It was Smolinski, who was also champion in 2018, who drew first blood in Herxheim with the thirty-nine-year-old from Munich getting his title defence off to the best possible start with Fienhage third. The positions were reversed at Marmande and with Wajtknecht separating them both times with a pair of second-placed finishes there is nothing to split the leading three riders heading into the third of this year’s five scheduled Finals.
At just twenty-four years old, Fienhage – who was champion in 2020 – is the youngest of the leading trio although Wajtknecht, who has not won a Grand Final since the last round of 2022, is just two years his senior and after finishing second two years ago and losing third on a tiebreak in 2023 remains determined to achieve the ultimate accolade of winning an FIM World Championship.
Of course, with such talent in depth across the world-class field these three are by no means the only riders to watch and Harris – who led last year’s competition until the final round – knows he needs to start scoring major points to stay in contention, as does Dutch racer Romano Hummel – champion in 2021 – who currently lies sixth and will be aiming to move ahead of his compatriot Dave Meijerink who is fifth, but will not compete on Sunday.
Denmark’s Kenneth Kruse Hansen is another rider to watch. The winner of two Grands Prix in 2023 – including at Scheessel where he remained unbeaten last season – has yet to make a Grand Final this year and while his place behind the tapes in 2025 is assured following his third-placed finish at the FIM Long Track Challenge event at Mühldorf in June, the thirty-six-year-old will be fighting for a podium at the very least.
The action from Scheessel gets under way at 14:00 local time on Sunday 18 August when the tapes are scheduled to go up on the opening Heat. For more information click here.
All five of this season’s Finals along with the FIM Long Track of Nations can be watched LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV for just €34.90. To sign up click here.
Start List
43fcfc14-cfe2-41f8-88aa-e5fc7dd18029_SL
Words by FIM Long Track – Images by Jesper Veldhuizen
