EKO-DIR FIM Speedway Under 21 World ChampionshipFinal 2, Güstrow, Germany. Friday 8th September 2017
Maksym Drabik holds a slender lead at the top of the classification after a dramatic end to Final 2 in Gustrow which leaves the title race wide open for the last meeting in three weeks time.
Rain which had fallen persistently over the previous twenty four hours caused the cancellation of the morning’s practice and had threatened the running of the meeting itself but the Gustrow staff had organised covers for the track and made an impressive job of preparing a raceable surface. Conditions were tricky for the earlier heats but although rain continued to fall, racing improved as the evening progressed.
If the Poles had dominated the First Final in Poznan it seemed that the Australians might perform as similar feat in Final 2 as first Max Fricke then Brady Kurtz took the first points from Drabik that he had dropped in the competition this year and both looked to be in impressive form. Drabik’s fall in Heat 11 might prove costly when the final totals are calculated. The main drama came in the semi finals when Drabik again took a heavy fall which ruled him out of the Final and resulted in a trip to hospital for a check up. Defending champion Fricke must have been confident of overhauling his rival until he too fell in the second semi final, thankfully without injury but, equally marking the end of his meeting. Lambert, using his experience of the track, progressed to the final along with Kurtz, Bartosz Smektala and Kasper Woryna. The scene was set for a nail biting final and the dampened spectators were treated to the best race of the night as Smektala, Lambert and Kurtz passed and re-passed before finishing in that order and setting up the prospect of a nail- biting Final 3 in Pardubice, Czech Republic on 29th September. Leading scorers going into Final 3 :1. Maksym Drabik (Poland) 31 points2. Bartosz Smektala (Poland) 303. Max Fricke (Australia) 284. Robert Lambert (Great Britain) 245. Brady Kurtz (Australia) 246. Andreas Lyager (Denmark) 197. Dominik Kubera (Poland) 178. Jack Holder (Australia) 179. Kacper Woryna (Poland) 1610. Jevgenijs Kostigovs (Latvia) 15 Graham Brodie