Russia predictably lead the field after the first day’s racing at the 2020 FIM Ice Speedway of Nations in Berlin on Saturday, but they did not have the easiest of passages as for the first time since 2016 they did not achieve maximum points.
Individual champion Daniil Ivanov took wins in all three of the races he started but both Dmitry Khomitsevich and Igor Kononov were pushed into third place to end a three year unbeaten run. Johann Weber was the first to break the spell when he came from behind to overtake Khomitsevich in Heat 13 then Martin Haarahiltunen led both Russians in Heat 20 before a burst of speed by Ivanov on the back straight took him into a winning position.
Weber was the hero of the local fans; named as reserve he was given all six of Marcus Jell’s rides scoring a massive 14 points and hoisting the German team into third place. Team Manager Bernd Sagert has stated that a bronze medal is his target and his squad is well placed to achieve that goal.
The Swedes provided an all-round performance to take them to second spot with the two Svenssons giving good support to top scorer Haarahiltunen.
Austria supplied the other top individual performance, but Harald Simon’s 14 points needed greater support. Franz Zorn was a disappointment and withdrew after his three pointless rides and it was left to Charley Ebner to add five points to the total.
Leading scores after Day 1:
Russia 28 (Ivanov 12, Khomitsevich 8, Kononov 8)
Sweden 25 (Haarahiltunen 12, N.Svensson 9, S. Svensson 4)
Germany 22 (Weber 14, Niedermaier 8)
Austria 19 (Simon 14, Ebner 5, Zorn 0)
Czech Republic 12 (Klatovsky 6, Hutla 6, Divis 0)
Racing on Day 2 commences at 14.00 on Sunday afternoon
FIM Communications