Finland welcomes the Long Trackers

Swiftly following this week’s event in Holland, the Long Track World Championship moves to Finland where the third Final will be held on the 1000metre Pilvenmäki harness racing track in Forssa, a small town in the south of the country about 130km from Helsinki.

The draw has been made for this meeting and can be found here

Current leader and former champion Erik Riss is enjoying a comfortable lead in the series after the first two rounds and is looking favourite to regain the title he lost last year. Those who were present when Riss led the German team to victory in the Team championship two years ago will have no doubts about his abilities on this track. Current champion Jannick de Jong has not enjoyed the best of starts to this year and currently lies in third place 11 points behind Riss.

Dmitri Berge has hit a rich vein of form on the Long Tracks this year and his superb performance in Eenrum has hoisted him into second place in the Intermediate Classification. The 19 year old from Marmande will expect to be amongst those standing on the podium at the end of season and a good performance from him in Finland will be essential to that aim. Mathieu Tresarrieu will also represent France and although elder brother Stephane is still absent from the series through injury it is hoped that Theo Di Palma will be fit to return.

Aki-Pekka Mustonen will be celebrating his 26th birthday on Saturday and it would be a fairy tale story if he were to win his home round. The prospect seems far away if Appe’s zero score in Eenrum is taken into account but riding in front of his home fans might just provide the extra spur needed to take him to first place. Younger brother Jesse will be the Wild Card in Forssa and will be encouraged by a promising performance in Holland where he collected 6 points on his debut despite a puncture in one race and a fall in another.

Great Britain saw another solid performance from Richard Hall in the last round, which has left him poised for a challenge for the medal positions. On his day Hall is a match for any of his opponents and a good score here is essential if he is to maintain his championship ambitions. Sadly neither Andrew Appleton nor Glen Philipps have displayed their best form so far and seem unlikely to figure in the top half of the standings this year.

Germany, so dominant in this competition in the past have not, with the exception of Riss, been able to make a major impression. They are represented by Jorg Tebbe, Stephan Katt and Matthias Kroger who have struggled so far and a good performance from all of them is overdue.  Josef Franc continues to fly the flag for the Czech Republic and although outside the top six his experience and determination cannot be overlooked.

Current standings after two rounds:

1.    Erik Riss (Germany) 51 points
2.    Dmitri Berge (France) 40
3.    Jannick de Jong (The Netherlands) 40
4.    Richard Hall (Great Britain) 32
5.    Mathieu Tresarrieu (France) 29
6.    Theo Pijper (The Netherlands) 26

Racing on Saturday will be under the watchful eyes of FIM Jury President Christian Bouin from France and Referee Chris Durno from Great Britain. The first race starts at 17.30 local time on Saturday.