EMX Quad European Championship:
Tveraen and Saar shone in Estonia
The 2022 FIM EMX Quad European Championship arrived in Lange, Estonia at the half-way stage, with home hero Kevin Saar on target to retain his title.
Race 1
The Norwegian Tveraen took initial control in this opening quad race but the reigning champion Saar, as ice-cool as ever, stayed in his wheel tracks, shadowing for the early laps. Gwiazda sat third ahead of Rick Haverdil from the Netherlands. At this stage there were four nations across the first four places.
Joakim Granli also from Norway was in a good fifth place and these five riders were going away from the rest of the field. The geographic location of Lange, and the sheer travel distance had taken its toll on the entry list, keeping many of the other series contenders out of the equation.
Six laps in and Saar had closed to within two tenths of a second on the race leader. Remember, there was not a huge gap in points coming into this second half of the season and Saar would have been acutely aware of that fact. Over half-distance, and the scrap for third was very much on as Granli closed on Gwiazda.
Nine laps gone and still Tveraen held a three second edge over the defending champion. If it stayed this way, Saar’s lead would be reduced to seventeen points, with Gwiazda doing himself a power of good in terms of his series status. The lap times had extended somewhat due to the deterioration of the track, although they were still circulating faster than the sidecars as you might expect.
With three laps remaining, Kevin Saar was pushing again, having taken a second out of the Norwegian’s lead. One lap later and they were neck and neck, so clearly this would go down to the wire. Little had changed behind them, so it was all about these two and what would be the outcome.
Into the last lap, and there was nothing between them. Tveraen hold on with the rest of the field almost fifty seconds in arrears of this duo.
Results: 1. Christopher Tveraen, 2. Kevin Saar, 3. Roman Gwiazda, 4. Joakim Granli, 5. Rick Haverdil, 6. Lars Holmen, 7. Matiss Palevics, 8. Tarrald Hellebust.
Race 2
Sunday’s two races would be run in much cooler conditions, with overnight rain settling things down and making the track almost perfect.
Kevin Saar’s lead had shrunk slightly after giving away three points to his title rival.
That must have given him impetus, as the Estonia led the charge on the opening lap. Tveraen was a close second with Gwiazda again third. Granli and Haverdil were fourth and fifth. Lap two and Saar’s lead was three seconds with the top five once again pulling away from the pack.
The sidecar activity had loosened the surface and times were fractionally slower than in race one. The four-times European Champion was not going to let his crown slip easily as he stretched the gap each lap.
Gwiazda and Granli were scrapping hard for third, with the Pole holding on and giving as good as he got. On lap six Saar was five seconds clear in the lead, with no sign of his Norwegian rival having an answer. This position would negate the good work done in the opener.
Rick Haverdil’s fifth place would lose him ground to Gwiazda, with the Pole having a good weekend thus far. The Dutchman seemingly could not do anything about it as Gwiazda extended the advantage.
With two minutes left on the clock, Saar had opened a ten second gap and was just bringing it home to redress the balance. Gwiazda now had more trouble as Rick Haverdil got second wind and closed in for fourth place. The challenge seemed to evaporate as Gwiazda found a bit more speed.
Final lap and it was all down to Kevin Saar cruising to the line with a comfortable winning margin.
Results: 1. Kevin Saar, 2. Christopher Tveraen, 3. Joakim Granli, 4. Roman Gwiazda, 5. Rick Haverdil, 6. Lars Holmen, 7. Matiss Palevics, 8. Mihkel Salujo.
Race 3
It was holeshot for Roman Gwiazda chased Christopher Tveraen and Kevin Saar at EMX Quad European Championship. The pack was very close as they thundered down the back over the succession of jumps. Before lap one had ended, Tveraen was further back having had a moment which allowed Saar and Gwiazda through.
That set the pattern for the race with Kevin Saar once more superior in his speed and race craft. At half race distance he had opened a fifteen second lead over Gwiazda and never looked threatened in the slightest. At this point in time, he looked every inch the champion he is. The Norwegian Joakim Granli caught and passed Gwiazda as Tveraen made up ground again, going past Rick Haverdil into fourth place. All would not be lost for Tveraen, but he would leave Estonia in a worse points state than when he arrived.
Saar was now twenty seconds clead at the front, with little or no hope of anyone catching him. Having said that, the Norwegian was coming but time was running out.
Into the closing stages, Tveraen was up to third and closing on Joakim Granli for second place having wrestled past Roman Gwiazda. He was now within twenty-five seconds behind the race leader, facing a mountain to climb if he had any hope of catching him. But given the drama in the previous sidecar race, nothing is over until it’s over.
Second place was on, but victory against the four-times champion, might be a bridge too far.
Sensationally, as they entered the final two laps, he had chopped the gap to just over two seconds. Saar must have had an issue out of sight somewhere for this amount of time to be lost. Tveraen’s time was the fastest, but not that much faster. Then Saar was back in front, this see-saw battle would go all the way to the wire. Saar took the victory and extended his tile lead.
Results: 1. Kevin Saar, 2. Christopher Tveraen, 3. Joakin Granli, 4. Roman Gwiazda, 5. Rick Haverdil, 6. Matiss Palevics, 7. Wiktor Kusmierczak, 8. Tomasz Jamroy.
