The draw for the final round of the 2012 FIM Ice Speedway Gladiator World Championship has now been made and with the destination of the title still undecided there is the prospect of some great racing on the artificial track at Uppsala in Sweden. Local officials have welcomed the return of ice racing to this venue are hopeful that a successful meeting here will result in regular racing and a permanent revival of world championship ice racing at Swedish tracks.
As the contenders go into the final round, current champion Nikolay Krasnikov leads fellow Russian Dmitry Ivanov by a slender 4 points and the championship could be undecided until the final race of the season. Krasnikov is seeking his 8th consecutive world title, an unprecedented record, but Ivanov has been ‘snapping at his heels’ for the last three years and would dearly love to take over the ‘top dog’ mantle. The two will come together in Heat 20 of the first day when Dmitry Khomitsevitch, currently number three in the standings, will also be in the race which could determine the destiny of the 2012 World Championship.
Full Draw is:
Ballot N° Riding Number Rider Country
1 11 Jan Klatovský Czech Republic
2 14 Max Niedermaier Germany
3 13 Mats Järf Finland
4 4 Dmitry Khomitsevich Russia
5 2 Daniil Ivanov Russia
6 16 (Wild Card) Per Olof Serenius Sweden
7 9 Grzegorz Knapp Poland
8 15 René Stellingwerf The Netherlands
9 6 Sergey Karachintsev Russia
10 5 Eduard Krysov Russia
11 10 Harald Simon Austria
12 12 Antti Aakko Finland
13 8 Robert Henderson Sweden
14 1 Nikolay Krasnikov Russia
15 7 Franz Zorn Austria
16 3 Dmitry Koltakov Russia
17 Reserve Stefan Svensson Sweden
18 Reserve Joakim Söderström Sweden
Local favourite ‘Posa’ Serenius is the Wild Card and will make what could be his last World Championship appearance as he moves towards the end of a long and illustrious career. 23-year-old Robert ‘King Kong’ Henderson, one of the Swedish hopes for the future will also be racing to uphold the proud tradition of ice racing in this part of the world and with veteran Stefan Svensson and Joakim Söderström as reserves there will be much for the local fans to support.
Austria’s Franz Zorn, a silver medallist as long ago as 2000, will be hoping to put memories of a disappointing season behind him with a strong finish and together with Harald Simon and Antti Aakko from Finland will be battling to be the ‘best from the West’ in a meeting which promises to provide some very competitive action.
FIM Jury President will be Ilkka Teromaa, Finland and FIM Referee Marek Wojaczek from Poland.
Follow the FIM Ice Speedway Gladiators world Championship results online on the FIM homepage FIM-LIVE.COM
The heats scores, results and timing will be online on Saturday 31 March at 18:00 CET and Sunday at 14:00 CET.
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2012 FIM Ice Speedway Gladiators - Uppsala
