The title chase moves to France

The draw has been made for the Final 2 of this year’s championship which will be held at the famous Marmande track in wine producing country near Bordeaux on 13 July. The following day is Bastille Day when nationals mark the start of the French Revolution and the local fans will be hoping that they will have something extra to celebrate this year in the form of a home winner. France is well represented by the Tresarrieu brothers; Mathieu currently lying fourth in the standings was the first ever French winner of the Final in Marmande back in 2007 and would dearly love to repeat that feat. His elder brother Stephane also has a good record in this competition dating back to 2000 although injuries have limited his recent progress. It is unfortunate that France’s young hope Dmitri Berge is still suffering from the injuries he sustained in a speedway accident earlier in the season and is unlikely to be fit to resume track action before the end of July so he will once again be replaced by Aki Pekka Mustonen from Finland. The current World Champion Joonas Kylmakorpi holds a three point lead over Jannick de Jong despite the Dutchman having won the Final at the first round in Herxheim in May. Joonas is using a new frame and with engines tuned by Swiss wizard Marcel Gerhard must be favourite to increase his lead. However De Jong is currently in splendid form and was a clear winner of the European Championship in difficult conditions at St. Macaire last month so some tough competition between these two can be expected. Current star of the German squad is 19 year old Erik Riss son of legendary multiple champion Gerd. Erik achieved a stunning third place in Herxheim and with his pedigree surely has a great future ahead of him. Stefan Katt is recovering from an injury to his left hand sustained at the European Final in a clash with Richard Speiser and both will be looking to improve on disappointing first round performances which left Katt in eighth place. Gearbox and transmission problems at Herxheim limited Speiser’s scoring and his 11th place in the standings does not reflect his effort and experience. Tough veteran Jorge Tebbe the top ranked German last year overcame injury to take a brave fifth place in the first round. Wild Card Theo Pijper will be a popular addition to the field. Riding with a French licence he has an enviable record in this competition and missed out on automatic qualification only through a series of mechanical problems during 2013. His experience demands that he cannot be ignored as a serious contender for a podium place. Great Britain has two representatives both of whom are capable of taking a place on the winners’ rostrum. Richard Hall has had a difficult start to his season but was a winner here last year and will be keen to repeat that result in 2014. Andrew Appleton has still to consistently translate his considerable talent to the World Championship and currently has only 8 points to his credit. Cameron Woodward is Australia’s sole representative in this year’s competition and his results have improved each year since finishing sixth in 2012. From Mildura, the cradle of Australian talent, he is beginning to emulate the performances of the many track racing legends from that famous circuit. Josef Franc will be flying the flag for the Czech Republic. One of the few riders performing with equal success on the Long Track and Speedway, ‘Pepe’ is a regular in the Czech teams for both disciplines. Fourth in last year’s series, he will be working hard to pick up a medal when this year’s competition ends in Muhldorf in September. The meeting on 13th July starts at the traditional Marmande time of 21.00 and promises to provide some memorable racing action. FIM Jury President is Wolfgang Glas from Germany with Referee Englishman Dan Holt. See the starting list <media 36077>HERE</media>