FIM Long Track World Championship, Final 5
Morizes, France, 2nd September 2017
The 2017 FIM Long Track World Championship reaches a conclusion on Saturday when the final round is held on the 520m track at Morizes in south western France. The venue may be situated in picturesque surroundings but the peace of this small rural town will be shattered by the roar of 500cc engines as the top fifteen riders of this discipline battle for medal honours.
As there are no former champions in the field this year a new champion will be crowned on Sunday and leading the field is Mathieu Tresarrieu, local boy and a firm favourite of the French fans. He will have some moral support from brother Stephane who scored strongly at La Reole earlier in the series and is the nominated Wild Card for his meeting but will need to put in a good performance if he is to stave off the challenge from the young German Michael Hartel who stands only four points behind the leader. Hartel, along with James Shanes and Romano Hummel has been one of the successes of the season representing the next generation of this superfast discipline. Shanes retained his European Championship last month and has improved steadily throughout this series and Hummel’s exciting style has taken him into the top eight despite missing the first two rounds.
Whilst the Gold and Silver medals seem destined to be shared between Tresarrieu and Harte, there is a tight battle for the bronze with only one point separating Shanes, German Champion Stephan Katt and Czech Josef Franc who won the Challenge meeting in Germany last weekend. Fans will also be closely following the scramble for the remaining places in the top eight which bring automatic qualification to the 2018 competition.
Leading positions after Final 4 are:
1. Mathieu Tresarrieu (France) 86 points
2. Michael Hartel(Germany) 82
3. Stefan Katt (Germany) 65
4. James Shanes(Great Britain)64
5. Josef Franc (Czech Republic) 64
6. Theo Pijper (The Netherlands) 54
7. Richard Hall (Great Britain) 34
8. Romano Hummel (The Netherlands)33
9. Chris Harris (Great Britain)33
As a prelude to the main event the Morizes club will be staging the FIM Track Racing Youth Gold Trophy 125cc during Saturday evening. 18 enthusiastic young riders aged between 12 and 16 nominated by six federations will compete for the trophy and, if previous meetings are any guide, will provide their own style of excitement.
Jury President at both events will be Sweden’s Tony Olsson with Christina Turnbull from Great Britain as referee. Gold Trophy races start at 18.30 with the senior event roaring off at 20.45.
Graham Brodie