FIM Long Track World Championship, Final 5
Morizes, France, 2nd September 2017
Mathieu Tressarieu is the new Long Track World Champion after the meeting in Morizes went to the final race before the title was decided. Tresarrieu, youngest of three racing brothers, held his nerve to maintain the four-point lead he held going into the last round to become the first Frenchman to win this competition.
Winner of the Final 5 was 19-year old Romano Hummel from The Netherlands who led the final race from the start, fighting off challenges from Michal Hartel and Josef Franc to collect 23 points and a guaranteed place in the 2018 championships. His achievement is particularly impressive as he did not take part in the first two rounds.
Tresarrieu had reached the final knowing that he needed only one point to secure his place in history and his experience was evident when he was content to sit in fourth place and follow the battle at the front as Hartel’s challenge faltered. A fall in Heat 9 leaving him pointless was where his championship aspirations were dashed but Hartel can feel satisfied with a silver medal on his very impressive debut season. Like Hummel, at 19 he has a bright future ahead of him on the Long Tracks and is clearly a champion of the future.
Runner up on the day to secure the Bronze medal in the series was Czech Josef Franc. Thanks to strong performances in the second part of the series he was able to overhaul James Shanes, another debutant with a bright future whose fourth place is another significant achievement and an optimistic pointer to the future of this track racing discipline and the next generation of racers.
Stefan Katt slipped further down the classification after another unhappy performance. Having appeared to be in contention for a medal place earlier in the season, his scores here and at Eenrum saw him slide to fifth place. Chris Harris qualified for the final for the second meeting in succession to put his early season mechanical problems behind him. His 17 point haul was enough to take him to 8th place overall and an automatic slot in the 2018 title chase.
Final leading positions in the 2017 championship:
1. Mathieu Tresarrieu (France) 105 points
2. Michael Hartel(Germany) 101
3. Josef Franc (Czech Republic) 86
4. James Shanes(Great Britain)78
5. Stefan Katt (Germany)72
6. Theo Pijper (The Netherlands) 63
7. Romano Hummel (The Netherlands) 56
8. Chris Harris (Great Britain)50
So the end of another successful Long Track season sees a new World Champion but one who can expect some strong competition from the younger generation when the series starts again next summer.
Graham Brodie