A healthy crowd watched as Mathieu Trésarrieu laid down a huge marker to his rivals by winning his second successive FIM Long Track Final on Sunday in Scheessel, Northern Germany when world championship racing returned there after 20 years. Qualifying direct to the Final the French former champion stormed ahead of Romano Hummel and Jacob Bukhave to post another 20 points onto his overall score and increase his lead to 13 points.
Race Report by FIM Communications – Feature Image courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen
Defending champion Hummel enjoyed a successful afternoon and was unbeaten through the qualifiers and the fastest of all the riders but in the crucial last race he made a poor start and had to battle his way through the field. Faster than Tressarrieu he was close to catching him when the chequered flag signalled the end of the race. However, his 19 points take him into third place in the Intermediate Classification and in a good position for a late season challenge.
Jacob Bukhave took a surprise third place in the final and is looking to eclipse Kenneth Kruse Hansen as the most successful Danish rider. Hansen is likely to miss most of the season through injury and is only two points ahead of his compatriot.
Chris Harris had a poor result by his recent standards and could achieve only ninth place missing a podium place for the first time this year. An innocent party to a serious fall in Heat 3 in which Stefan Katt was injured led to a delay of nearly one hour and in the restart Harris was able to take only third place. Once again machine problems played their part with a crucial failure in the Last Chance final costing him a place in the Final. His fourth place in the Consolation Final left him with only 8 world championship points and although he still retains second spot in the overall standings there is now significant distance between him and leader Trésarrieu.
Katt’s injuries caused his withdrawal from the meeting and the local fans were left to cheer former champion Lukas Fienhage who responded with a fourth place in the Final
By contrast the other Brit in the competition, Zach Wajtknecht had his best result of the season so far, reaching the Final and collecting 13 points to move himself into eighth position in the standings. Dutchman Theo Pijper continued his consistent run with a steady 11 points and remains in a strong position to continue his challenge for a medal.
With the continued absence through injury of Josef Franc and the late withdrawal of Martin Malec the Czech Republic were represented only by Hynek Stichauer who was not able to improve on his previous record and lies in 10th place with only a slender chance of a medal.
Results
Championship Standings
1 Mathieu Trésarrieu (France) 57 points
2 Chris Harris (Great Britain) 44
3 Romano Hummel (Netherlands) 37
4 Lukas Fienhage (Germany) 33
5 Theo Pijper (Netherlands) 32
6 Kenneth Kruse Hansen (Denmark), 32
7 Jacob Bukhave (Denmak) 30
8 Zach Wajtknecht Great Britain) 27
The series now moves on to Morizes on 3rd September where Tresarrieu is sure to have huge support from the local French fans.
