The first weekend of October is the traditional time for the annual Golden Helmet meeting in Pardubice (CZE), one of the highlights of the speedway calendar. The weekend’s ‘speedfest’ opened with the final meeting of the FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship on Friday and, to the delight of the visiting Polish fans produced a new World Champion in Jakub Miskowiak.
Carrying a two-point lead going into this final round, Miskowiak had headed the points scorers in the qualifying races dropping only two points in Heat 7. He eased his way into the final with a start to finish win from the favoured inside gate ahead of local favourite Jan Kvech in the first semi-final. His nearest rival Mads Hansen, fifth here last year, had also looked comfortable in the preliminary races but had a harder route to the final. In his semi-final he clashed with Norick Blödorn at the first attempt and in the restart had to fight off a strong challenge from Mateusz Świdnicki after he had found his path blocked at the first bend. He finally passed the Pole on the third lap but was not able to catch the impressive Blödorn although both claimed a place in the final.
Hansen’s only chance of the overall gold medal was to beat Miśkowiak in the final to force a run off for the title but the Pole made no mistake, taking the lead entering the back straight on the first lap and Hansen was unable to catch him. Kvech finished in third place.
For Wiktor Lampart it was an afternoon of mixed emotions. The former European under 21 Champion had only two heat wins and finished in seventh position but was still able to claim the bronze medal at the end of the series by virtue of his scores in the previous rounds
Final championship scores:
Jakub Miskowiak (Poland) 58 points
Mads Hansen (Denmark) 54
Wiktor Lampart (Poland) 40
Mateusz Swidnicki (Poland) 31
Petr Chlupac (Czech Rep) 29
Jan Kvech (Czech Rep) 28
Norick Blödorn (Germany) 28
Francis Gusts (Latvia) 28
Alexander Woentin (Sweden) 25
This championship has again demonstrated the wealth of young talent not only in the established nations but also in developing speedway countries such as Latvia, Ukraine and France. With plans to extend the competitions for young riders next year the future of the sport seems secure.
FIM Communications