Franz Zorn won the first of the two final rounds of the Texom European Individual Ice Speedway Championship in Sanok. The Austrian won the final race ahead of Max Niedermaier (Germany), Jimmy Olsen (Sweden) and Luca Bauer (Italy), who was leading after the main phase. Sunday’s second instalment of the competition for medals on the “Błonie” circuit promises to be exciting. The numerous spectators didn’t even mind the distant place in the classification of Pole Michał Knapp.
The first series of races in Sanok already fired up the audience. A lot of the much-loved “passing” was witnessed. Knapp, among others, was successful in his attack for one point, but Bauer, who beat Zorn, as well as the two Finns Max Koivula and Heikki Huusko, were the most impressive in terms of speed. All three had a set of victories after two rounds of starts.
In the third series, the drama of Huusko began. The ambitious young Finn was excluded due to a fall, and a similar incident also occurred in his fourth start. He already rode out for the last two points on Koivuli’s reserve equipment, but it was not enough to ride in the barrage.
Equipment troubles also reached Knapp. The Pole had increasing problems from his third race onwards and the two points he won were only enough for fifteenth position. – We will be looking for the cause, because the motorbike clearly lost power. It simply came to a standstill in my third race,” said a visibly shattered Knapp.
Bauer and Zorn secured their place in the final after the main stage. Max Niedermaier and Olsen, who were getting faster race by race, as well as the solid Lukas Hutla and Koivula, made it to the bar. The first two easily made it to the final. There, quite unexpectedly, Bauer lost the start decisively and rode at the back from the beginning of the race. Zorn tried to chase down Niedermaier, who was clearly faster than Olsen. This brought the Austrian closer to defending his championship title, but everything will be decided on Sunday. The competition on the “Błonie” circuit will start again at 14.00.
– The track in Sanok was very fast today, you could accelerate to the maximum – admitted Zorn. – I felt a lot of support from the audience and of course I am very happy with the win. However, this is only the halfway point – added the defending champion.
Results of the Final of the 1st Texom Individual European Ice Speedway Championships
1. Franz Zorn (Austria) – 14 (2,3,3,3,3) + 1. miejsce w finale
2. Max Niedermaier (Germany) – 9 (2,2,d,2,3) + 1. place in the bargain + 2. place in final
3. Jimmy Olsén (Sweden) – 11 (1,2,2,3,3) + 2. place in the bargain + 3. place in final
4. Luca Bauer (Italy) – 14 (3,3,3,3,2) + 4. place in final
5. Lukáš Hutla – (Czech Republic) – 11 (3,2,1,3,2) + 3. place in final
6. Max Koivula (Finland) – 11 (3,3,2,2,1) + 4. place in final
8. Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) – 8 (1,1,2,1,3)
9. Jimmy Hörnell (Sweden) – 7 (2,w,3,2,w)
10. Martin Posch (Austria) – 7 (1,0,3,2,1)
11. Andrej Diviš (Czech Republic) – 6 (2,1,1,1,1)
12. Sebastian Reitsma (Netherlands) – 4 (0,2,2,0,0)
13. Maximilian Niedermaier jr (Germany) – 3 (0,w,0,1,2)
14. Franz Mayerbüchler (Germany) – 3 (0,1,1,1,0)
15. Michał Knapp (Poland) – 2 (1,0,d,0,1)
16. Joakim Söderström (Sweden) – 2 (0,1,1,0,0)
17. Radek Hutla (Czech Republic) – 0 (0)
Top of the general classification after Final 1
1. Franz Zorn (Austria) – 17 pkt
2. Luca Bauer (Italy) – 14 pkt
3. Jimmy Olsén (Sweden) – 12 pkt
4. Max Niedermaier (Germany) – 11 pkt
5. Lukáš Hutla – (Czech Republic) – 11 pkt
6. Max Koivula (Finland) – 11 pkt
