Defending champion Martin Haarahiltunen dominated today’s opening Final of the 2026 FIM Ice Speedway World Championship powered by HKC Koopmann, Anlas, Kineo and KW at Inzell in Germany, sweeping all five of his Heat races before powering to a conclusive victory in the Grand Final.
- Inzell opener for 2026 FIM Ice Speedway World Championship
- Defending champion Martin Haarahiltunen dominates in Bavaria
- Scandinavian stars fill top four places in Max Aicher Arena
The superstar Swede – who this season has his sights set on a fifth straight crown – had not raced since a crash five weeks earlier left him with broken ribs and a bruised spleen, although the huge turnout of fans packing the immaculate Max Aicher Arena in Bavaria were given no reason to suspect he was anything other than one-hundred per cent fit as he raced his way to the top step of the podium.
Completing a Scandinavian clean sweep of the Grand Final places, the thirty-five-year-old was joined on the podium by the Finnish pairing of Max Koivula and Heikki Huusko with Sweden’s 2025 silver medallist Niclas Svensson coming home fourth.
Evergreen Austrian Franz ‘Franky’ Zorn got the programme under way with victory in his opening Heat ahead of Germany’s Max Niedermaier before Koivula opened his account with a win from home rider Johann Weber. Illustrating the strength in depth of this year’s field, Weber, Zorn and Niedermaier won a silver medal apiece between 2022 and 2024 and Koivula claimed championship bronze last year.
Huusko, himself a bronze medallist in 2024, then won his opening Heat ahead of Germany’s Luca Bauer with Haarahiltunen moving into a joint share of the lead with a win from his fellow countryman Ove Ledström.
Victories in their second Heats ensured Haarahiltunen and Huusko maintained a share of the early lead, but Koivula lost ground when he followed 2025 vice-champion Svensson across the line after Bauer, who races under an Italian licence, had taken his first win of the day from Niedermaier.
Maintaining his momentum into the third block of racing, Bauer won again – this time from Ledström – with fifty-five-year-old Zorn staying in contention thanks to a victory ahead of Jasper Iwema from the Netherlands. Koivula then led home Niedermaier and moved into second when Huusko trailed home third behind Haarahiltunen and Svensson.
With a rule change for 2026 fast-tracking the leading two after the Heats directly into the Grand Final with the next four contesting a Last Chance Heat to decide the remaining two qualifiers, tensions were rising around the Max Aicher Arena as the main contenders jostled for an all-important place inside the top six.
The fourth block got under way with Dutch racer Sebastian Reitsma leading home Sweden’s Filip Jäger before Haarahiltunen won from Koivula – guaranteeing his position in the top two – and Huusko moved into joint second with Koivula after claiming victory ahead of Ledström. Svensson climbed from sixth to fourth with his second win, but Weber saw his championship aspirations effectively ended with a third consecutive fall.
Victory in his fifth Heat ensured Koivula transferred directly to the Grand Final at the expense of Huusko who followed him home in second. Then, after Reitsma had taken his second win of the programme, Haarahiltunen completed his sweep of the Heats ahead of Niedermaier whose second-placed finish was good enough to put him through to the Last Chance Heat alongside Huusko where they were joined by Svensson and Bauer who ran one-two in the twentieth and final Heat.
Svensson’s holeshot in the Last Chance Heat from the favoured inside gate and was never headed as he booked his place in the Grand Final with Huusko fighting off a determined late challenge from Bauer to take second – and the final qualification position – by a wheel.
Incredibly, the field for the Grand Final was identical to last year’s line-up at Inzell’s opening round, but this time there was to be no fairytale victory for Koivula as Haarahiltunen, in his twentieth career Grand Final and his thirteenth in a row, reacted quickest when the tapes went up and hugged the inside line into the first turn.
Koivula slotted into second ahead of Huusko and Svensson, but Haarahiltunen never looked threatened as he cruised clear to claim his seventh Grand Final victory, seize the early championship lead and throw down the gauntlet to his title rivals.
Focus now switches to tomorrow (15 March) when the action will resume in the Max Aicher Arena with the second of this year’s three scheduled Finals set to get under way at 14:00 (local time).
Podium Final 1, 2026 FIM Ice Speedway World Championship in Inzell, Germany © Good-Shoot
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