After the three elimination meetings held this week the qualifiers for the FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship are now known as the top four from each meeting qualify for the Final series which opens in Kings Lynn, Great Britain on 18th June.
On the fast track in Pardubice, Czech Republic, Maksym Drabik was the comfortable winner. The Pole, who had been Reserve at the Warsaw Grand Prix a week earlier set the fastest time and raced to an unbeaten 15 points maximum ahead of Russia’s Victor Kulakov. Patrik Hansen from Denmark won a run off for third place beating Great Britain’s Adam Ellis after both had tied on 12 points. There was disappointment for the two Ukrainian riders as well as both Swedes who were eliminated.
Pardubice Scorers (qualifiers in bold):
Maksym Drabic (Poland) 15
Victor Kulakov (Russia) 13
Patrick Hansen (Denmark) 12
Adam Ellis (Great Britain) 12
Joel Andersson (Sweden) 10
Kenny Wennerstam (Sweden) 10
Dropping only one point during the meeting, Aussie Max Fricke enjoyed his second victory in Germany within a week when he took the honours in Pocking only five days after winning the Grand Prix Qualifying Round in Abenbserg. Pole Bartosz Smektala beat Czech Eduard Krcmar in a run off for second place and the final qualification place was secured by Josh Bates from Great Britain.
Pocking scorers:
Max Fricke (Australia) 14
Bsartosz Smektala (Poland) 13
Eduard Krcmar (Czech Republic) 13
Josh Bates (Great Britain) 12
Andreas Lyager Hansen (Denmark) 10
Krystian Pieszczek (Poland) 10
In a rain-curtailed meeting at the new National Speedway Stadium in Manchester it was Frenchman Dmitri Berge who was leading the scorers when the meeting was abandoned after Heat 12. He was unbeaten with 9 points having twice broken the track record and he proceeds to the next stage ahead of Australian Jack Holder, brother of Speedway GP current leader Chris. Earlier this week, Erik Riss was lying in a Bavarian hospital after a bruising crash in the Abensberg GP qualifier but he shook off his injury worries and gathered 7 points, enough to take him into the Finals alongside Dane Mikkel Andersen. Surprise non-qualifiers from this round were Britain’s Robert Lambert and Australian Brady Kurtz.
Manchester Scorers:
Dmitri Berge (France) 9
Jack Holder (Australia) 8
Mikkel Andersen (Denmark) 7
Erik Riss (Germany) 7
Robert Lambert (Great Britain) 6
Nike Lunna (Finland) 6
The top four riders from each round now move forward into the Final Series where these twelve riders will be joined by three permanent Wild Cards selected by the Under 21 Commission Bureau of FIM and one rider nominated by the national federation from each country staging a Final meeting. Details of starters and the series calendar will be published shortly on the FIM website.
Graham Brodie