FIM Long Track World Championship – Final 5
RODEN (THE NETHERLANDS) – 22.09.2019
The 2019 FIM Long Track World Championship reaches its climax as the final round takes place in Roden on Sunday when the new champion will be crowned. With only one point separating the top two riders Dmitri Berge and Martin Smolinski the gold medal will almost certainly land with one of them as Mathieu Trésarrieu is unlikely to be able to recover the 13 point difference that stands between him and Berge.
Smolinski and Berge have traded the lead throughout the series and this last meeting showdown will bring back memories of the 2018 when Berge with a three point lead at the start surrendered to pressure allowing Smolinski to snatch a dramatic win and claim the championship in the last race of the competition. This year Berge, boosted by his part in the French victory in the FIM Long Track of Nations in Vechta last weekend, will hope to put last year’s experience to the back of his mind and concentrate on winning his first world title.
Although the main interest will centre on the top two riders there is much to anticipate in the fight for the minor places where Josef Franc and Lukas Fienhage are level with local favourite Theo Pijper close behind in the classification. Fienhage in particular is on good form as the young German demonstrated with his third place in the Morizes round earlier this month and his top score for Germany at Vechta.
An exciting battle can also be expected for the seventh-place position which carries automatic qualification for next year’s world championship. Finn Jesse Mustonen has seen a surge in form take him up the table but experienced racer Chris Harris will not want to rely on a wild card nomination for 2020 and will not easily let this opportunity slip. Germany’s Max Dilger lies only one point behind the pair and ready to take advantage of any slip.
Injury problems mean that European champion Zach Wajtknecht rides again in place of Romano Hummel with Jörg Tebbe in for James Shanes.
Leading scores after four rounds:
1. Dmitri Bergé (France) 95 points
2. Martin Smolinski (Germany) 94
3. Mathieu Trésarrieu (France) 82
4. Lukas Fienhage (Germany) 57
5. Josef Franc (Czech Republic) 57
6. Theo Pijper (Netherlands) 53
7. Jesse Mustonen (Finland) 37
8. Chris Harris (Great Britain) 37
9. Max Dilger (Germany) 36
Racing in Roden starts at 13.30 local time and will be supervised by FIM Jury President Thierry Bouin from France and Referee Aleksandr Lyatosinskyy from Ukraine. As usual live results can be found on this link: https://www.longtrack-live.com/
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