Dmitry Koltakov maintained his lead in the FIM Ice Speedway World Championship after an eventful evening in Berlin. He won the Final in style from Dinar Valeev and took an eighteen point score into Sunday's second event. This was despite suffering a disqualification in his first race after he was judged to be the cause of a fall as he battled with Valeev. Dmitry Khomitsevich took third place in the Final to maintain his position in the intermediate classification but it was Valeev who took a major step forward as he rose to second place only four points behind Koltakov.
After the withdrawal of Gunter Bauer, German hopes rested on Stefan Pletschacher but he was forced to pull out after his second ride, still feeling the effects of his recent illness. He hopes to take his place on the second day. Johan Weber brought some consolation to the home fans with a spirited performance which took him into the Final but he was not able to match the Russian trio for a podium place. Wild Card Tobias Busch failed to score and Max Niedermaier was also below his best being unable to add to his win in heat 7.
Martin Haarahiltunen was again in the thick of the action but was involved in a major crash in Heat 4. He was taken from the track by ambulance but declared himself fit and returned for his remaining heats before a retirement in his semi final marked the end of his racing for the day.
Franky Zorn was a disappointment failing to win a race and was clearly not at his best on a tricky track which produced a number of incidents during the meeting.
FIM Communications