Czech Lukáš Hutla dethroned Austrian Franz Zorn and became the new Individual European Ice Speedway Champion. Luca Bauer of Italy took the second place while third was taken by Finn Max Koivula, who was undefeated in the regular session of the Texom European Individual Ice Speedway Championship – Sanok 2025. It was an incredibly exciting afternoon in the Podkarpacie region, a record audience on the “Błonie” ice track had great time.
During the week, there were some concerns about whether the European Ice Speedway Championship would take place at all. A spring wave hit Poland, with temperatures forecast to reach 18 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which could have thwarted the plans of ice speedway riders. The Dutch chairman of the FIME Jury, Jacob Alkema, dispelled all doubts on the eve of the competition, assuring that everything would go according to plan.
And then the great racing began. Let’s start from the end, from the final race – according to the competition regulations, the medals were decided by the last race of the Texom European Individual Ice Speedway Championship – Sanok 2025.
For riders made the final: Max Koivula of Finland, previously undefeated who took full amount of 15 points, Italian Luca Bauer, who had 14 points, and two riders who advanced to the final from the play-off race – German Max Niedermaier and Czech Lukáš Hutla. It seemed that it just had to be Koivula and Bauer who would triumph, but unexpectedly Hutla jumped from behind the Czechs danced a wild dance of joy. They had the right to be happy – the gold medal of the European Championships is something to celebrate!
The competition started and ended in a similar way. The first and last races were won by Hutla, who was among the wide group of favorites, but other competitors’ chances were put higher.
The Czech won the first race, in the second there was a surprise – in the repeated race (in the first one the Dutchman Sebastian Reitsma fell) the Italian Luca Bauer triumphed, overtaking the previous European champion, Franz Zorn, over the distance. It turned out that the Austrian, who had previously been the best 3 times on the continent, did not win any race and abdicated from the European ice speedway throne, not even entering the play-off, in which the riders from places 3-6 after the main phase took part. Zorn had recently struggled with an injury, so his poor form was no surprise.
The sole representative of Poland did not do well today. Michał Knapp won his first and last points in only his fourth start, when he finished second.
Knapp wasn’t the only one lying on the track, especially the initial phase of the competition was full of falls. One of them ended the participation of the German Maximilian Niedermaier junior, who was forced to go to hospital. Fortunately, nothing serious happened to him.
For a long time Finnish fans had biggest reasons for joy. Their two riders Max Koivula and Aki Ala-Riihimäki rode spectacularly and effectively. The former scored a full set of 15 points and lost only once today – in the final race. Koivula is a relatively young rider, so everything is still ahead of him, and today’s first medal in his career in the European Ice Speedway Championships will be a huge motivation for the future.
Also young in spirit is the almost 59-year-old (!) Aki Ala-Riihimäki, who won the hearts of the Sanok audience with his spectacular riding style on a low-slung motorcycle, riding like a Harley-Davidson. Race no. 11 was the highlight of today’s Texom European Individual Ice Speedway Championship – Sanok 2025. Ala-Riihimäki was first in the lead, then overtaken by German Max Niedermaier but he finally came first. It’s a shame that Aki Ala-Riihimäki didn’t make it to the grand finale, but that’s how sport is – beautiful and cruel at the same time.
Final standings of Texom European Individual Ice Speedway Championship – Sanok 2025.
- Lukáš Hutla (Czechia) – 11 (3,1,3,3,1) – 1st in the play-off – 1st in the final
Luca Bauer (Italy) – 14 (3,2,3,3,3) – 2nd place in the final
3. Max Koivula (Finland) – 15 (3,3,3,3,3) – 3rd place in the final
4. Max Niedermaier (Germany) – 10 (2,3,2,1,2) – 2nd place in the play-off – 4th place in the final
5. Aki Ala-Riihimaki (Finland) – 11 (1,3,3,2,2) – 3rd place in the play-off
6. Jimmy Olsen (Sweden) – 11 (2,3,2,2,2) – 4th place in the play-off
7. Jimmy Hornell (Sweden) – 9 (w,2,2,2,3)
8. Franz Zorn (Austria) – 8 (2,2,2,1,1)
9. Sebastian Reitsma (Holland) – 7 (w,1,0,3,3)
10. Andrej Divis (Czechia) – 6 (1,2,1,0,2)
11. Josef Kreuzberger (Austria) – 5 (3,1,1,0,w)
12. Jasper Iwema (Holland) – 3 (w,w,1,1,1)
13. Michał Knapp (Poland) – 2 (w,w,w,2,0)
14. Maximilian Niedermaier (Germany) – 2 (2,w,-,-,-)
15. Niek Schaap (Holland) – 2 (1,0,1,0,0)
16. Jo Saetre (Norway) – 2 (0,1,w,w,1)
17. Lukas Hromadka (Czechia) – 1 (0,1)
18. Reinhard Greisel (Germany) – 0 (0,0)
