The European Individual Grass Track Championship Final was a very hard fought competition staged on an extremely hot evening at the Circuit Jacques Rossignol, at Tayac in the South of France. With each of the 20 riders competing in four qualifying heats, before earning their place in one of three Finals (C, B and A), racing was always going to be hard and fast on the 400 metre track. Unfortunately one of the pre meeting favourites – young Dutchman Romano Hummel – crashed in his first heat, and after receiving medical attention on the track, was then taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg. With the winner and second placed rider of the B Final being elevated into the main A Final, this race was always going to be one of the toughest of the evening. However Czech rider Martin Malek leapt from the tapes, chased by defending European