Mathieu Trésarrieu has won the FIM Long Track World Championship Final 2 in La Réole, France, on Saturday, heading on the podium Dutch rider Romano Hummel and fellow French Dimitri Bergé.
A warm summer evening greeted spectators at the second round of the FIM Long Track World Championship at La Reole and the thousands that were there along with some 10,000 YouTube viewers saw some spectacular action on a well prepared track.
Current champion Mathieu Trésarrieu has won the La Reole round for the last four years and after a slow start in his first two races he was unbeaten in his last five rides winning the final comfortably and recovering some of the points lost in a disappointing first round. Second in the Final was Dutchman Romano Hummel who scored consistently through the meeting and is now within touching distance of the leaders although he will reflect on points lost in Heat 14 when he allowed both Dmitri Bergé and Théo Pijper to pass him.
Bergé took third place but still leads the field and has a ten-point lead over Trésarrieu with Czech Republic’s Josef Franc maintaining his consistent form to move into third place.
Germany’s contribution suffered a major blow when their two top contenders met in Heat 13. Martin Smolinski, winner in Herxheim, clipped the safety fence bringing down Michael Härtel in a spectacular way in a high speed crash which ruled both riders out of the remainder of the meeting. Smolinski appears to have escaped with minor injuries but Härtel sustained a fractured right forearm which may require surgery.
Britain’s James Shanes nursing a speedway injury made a faltering start to the meeting but improved to qualify for the semi-final and Chris Harris, once again off the pace in the early stages also made the semi-final after a storming win in Heat 15. However there was disappointment for Jesse Mustonen whose 4th place in Herxheim promised well, but a series of starting problems limited his points to only 2 on this occasion.
Leading scorers after 2 rounds:
1. Dmitri Bergé (France) 48
2. Mathieu Trésarrieu (France) 38
3. Josef Franc (Czech Republic) 30
4. James Shanes (Great Britain) 29
5. Bernd Diener (Germany) 29
6. Martin Smolinski (Germany) 29
7. Romano Hummel (Netherlands) 26
8. Michael Härtel (Germany) 24
The next round of the championship will be on July 15th in Roden, Netherlands.
FIM Communications
To Relive the Final 2 in La Réole (FRA) on FIM YouTube channel CLICK HERE!