For the last four years Daniil Ivanov has been stalking eight times winner Nikolai Krasnikov but was never able to catch him. With Krasnikov’s retirement this year he was presented with the best opportunity to achieve his goal and in Uppsala, Sweden on Sunday he finally secured the coveted gold medal having dropped only 11 points during the whole series.
Around 8000 spectators attended the two day event and the pattern was set when Ivanov beat his close rival Dmitri Koltakov in the very first race. By the end of the day he had extended his lead to an almost unassailable 17 points and this was confirmed on the second day as he sailed to an immaculate 21 point maximum to take the title with a total of 199 points, an emphatic 21 ahead of the rest of the field. Koltakov had a disappointing meeting dropping 9 points on the first day to bring his challenge to an end.
Once again, the Austrians were the only nation to challenge the Russian domination and with Harald Simon withdrawing through injury it was left to Franky Zorn to carry the flag for the western nations. Top riders in the Final Results after 10 rounds:
1. Daniil IVANOV RUS 199
2. Dmitry KOLTAKOV RUS 178
3. Dmitri KHOMITSEVICH RUS 162
4. Vitaly KHOMITSEVICH RUS 119
5. Pavel CHAIKA RUS 107
6. Franz ZORN AUT 104
7. Eduard KRYSOV RUS 82
8. Harald SIMON AUT 76
This meeting brings to an end another exciting season for the Ice Speedway Gladiators and while the Russians will be celebrating another successful year, the remaining competitors will spend the summer trying to find the secret formula that might break their dominance. We shall see how successfully in 2014 <media><strong>2013 FIM Ice Speedway Gladiators World Championship Standings</strong></media> Photos FIM/Good-Shoot
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Ivanov wins his first title
