On Saturday 18th November the FIM Europe Supercross Championship, promoted by Sportainment, was held in the modern stadium of Ergo Arena in Gdansk, with the main races on Eurosport shown live.
8.000 enthusiastic spectators were presented with a spectacular show by our new Supercross promotional partner Sportainment with 55 riders from 16 different Nations competing in the 4 championship classes, SX1, SX250, SX125 and SX85.
SX1 – The premier championship was decided by 2 semi-finals, 2 last chance races and the main final to decide the 12 riders who would compete for the title of European Champion and King of Poland. Semi-final 1 was a comfortable win for Cole Martinez from the USA who took the lead early on and maintained his advantage to the end. In semi-final 2, French rider Boris Maillard also had a comfortable victory but not before an early battle with German Dominique Thury. Tensions were high as the 12 riders took their positions for the main 15 lap final and the last race of the evening. Boris Mallard took the holeshot and was closely shadowed by Cole Martinez for the early stages of the race but Martinez executed a clean pass to take the lead and to extend the lead on each lap to the chequered flag. 2nd was Maillard from the German Thury in 3rd place. A race long battle to decide the 4th place took place between Hugo Basaula from Portugal and British rider Jack Brunnel with Basaula eventually clinging on to 4th place by 0.3 seconds from Brunnel.
SX250 – This class was decided by 2 races of 8 laps each and was dominated by British rider Gradie Featherstone who won both races to end with maximum points. But it was not easy as in the first race he had to battle with German Paul Haberland for the entire race with Featherstone just taking the lead with 100 meters to go on the final lap. Haberland was second overall with 2 second places, and much to the delight of the spectators, the Polish rider Symon Staszkiewicz took third overall with a third and fourth place in the 2 races.
SX125 – This class was also decided by 2 races of 8 laps each and resulted in a double win for British Rider Adam Collins taking maximum points. Both races were fiercely contested throughout and big battles took place with much overtaking amongst the riders which kept the spectators on their toes. Belgium Bo De Clercq was second overall with a third and second, and Axel Boldrini from France taking the bronze medal with 5th and 2nd place.
SX85 – Again this class was decided by 2 races of 8 laps each and the gold medal winner, Carl Ostermann from Germany, taking maximum points from fellow countryman Nick Domann with 2 second places. Both races were race long battles between the 2 young Germans with continual place changes nearly every lap with the first race being won by 0.5 of a second by Ostermann and 1.7 seconds in the second race. Bronze medal winner was Karlis Alberts Reisulis from Latvia with 2 third places but some distance behind the 2 Germans.
Overall a great evening’s sport and entertainment for a very enthusiastic crowd with many battles and rivalry on the track which was demanding and challenging.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/480
