FIM Long Track World Championship
Final 4 Morizes (France) – 19th September 2015
Dutchman Jannick de Jong is the new Long Track World Champion after winning the final round in Morizes France on Saturday to steal the title from Erik Riss by a seven point margin in the last race of the season.
Reigning champion Riss had entered the meeting as favourite but in a reversal of the previous year’s finale it was de Jong who held his nerve despite an early setback when he took third place in his first ride followed by two second places. Riss meantime had scored two impressive wins and looked set to retain the title he won for the first time last year. However the second half of the meeting saw a reversal of fortunes as de Jong strung together a series of wins and Riss faltered under the pressure. As both qualified for the Final it was the Dutchman who held a three point advantage and he secured his win in spectacular fashion by rounding local star Mattieu Tressarieu in a fence scraping manoeuvre to take his third consecutive win and secure the title for the first time. A disappointed Riss trailed in last, his overall silver medal little consolation for his lost opportunity.
Final 4 result:
1. Jannick De Jong 24 points
2. Mathieu Tresarrieu 22
3. Dimitri Berge 23
4. Josef Franc 16
5. Erik Riss 15
The hugely popular 28 year old de Jong is the first track racer from the Netherlands to hold a World title and his success erased the memories of last year’s final. After the meeting the hugely popular de Jong admitted
“I went into the final round in 2014 with a small points advantage, couldn’t handle the pressure and cracked allowing Erik Riss to snatch the title from me. This year the roles were reversed and it was Erik the held a small lead coming to Morizes. I thought I had blown it again when I started so poorly tonight, but then together with my team we eventually got the bike set up sorted out and I got stronger as the night went on and when Erik slipped a little I wasn’t going to let my chance pass by for the second year in a row. To win that the final race was simply the greatest feeling in the world knowing I was now the new World Champion, I can’t really describe what I am feeling right now.”
For the 3,500 local spectators there was some consolation with Tresarrieu taking second place in the Final and Dmitri Berge continuing his return to form with a third place and a bronze medal in the overall classification of the series. Theo di Palma prom ised well but was forced to withdraw injured after a clash with Dirk Fabriek in his second race.
Josef Franc’s consistency continued and in reaching the final secured his qualification for next year’s series along with Theo Pijper, Mathieu Tresarrieu, Richard Hall and the unlucky Joonas Kylmakorpi who finished in seventh place despite competing in only two rounds.
Final championship standings for 2015:
1 Jannick de Jong Netherlands 75
2 Erik Riss Germany 68
3 Dimitri Berge France 64
4 Theo Pijper Netherlands 61
5 Josef Franc Czech Republic 53
6 Mathieu Tresarrieu France 50
7 Joonas Kylmakorpi Sweden 46
8 Richard Hall Great Britain 44
9 Michael Hartel Germany 36
10 Stephane Tresarrieu France 31
With the completion of another successful Long Track Championship there will be much anticipation concerning the Wild Card riders and venues for next year and the FIM Track Racing Commission will be giving full attention to this during the winter months. We shall look forward to another exciting series in 2016
Graham Brodie, Lydia Robin and Chris Durno