A powerful Dutch side swept to victory in front of home fans at the Speed Centre Roden on Sunday afternoon to reclaim the coveted FIM Long Track of Nations (LToN) crown in a dramatic Final showdown with defending champions Great Britain who had led throughout the Heat races, but came up just short when it mattered the most.
Race Report and Images by FIM Track Racing – Images courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen
Winners of the title for just the second time last season, the British quartet of reigning individual champion Zach Wajtknecht, Chris Harris, James Shanes and Jake Mulford had looked impressive all afternoon, progressing to the Final on a total of sixty-five points out of a possible seventy-two.
However, Dave Meijerink, Romano Hummel, Mika Meijer and William Kruit had also been in fine form for the Netherlands to qualify in second on fifty-nine and when Harris pulled out of the Final with a technical issue, the LToN title was back in Dutch hands for the first time since 2023 and the fourth time in total.
Great Britain got its title defence off to a flying start when Wajtknecht, Harris and Shanes filled the top three positions in the opening Heat of the programme against the Finnish trio of Jesse Mustonen, Ossi Rantala and Tero Aarnio before a relatively inexperienced French team comprising Anthony Chauffour, Noah Urda and Tino Bouin ran out winners by eight points to seven over Denmark’s Kenneth Kruse Hansen, Patrick Kruse and Jacob Bukhave.
With Meijerink, Hummel and Meijer completing the opening block with maximum points against Norway’s Glenn Moi, Truls Kamhaug and Robert Langeland, it was all-square at the top between the two main pre-event favourites.
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The stalemate did not last long and after Lukas Fienhage, Timo Wachs and Dominik Werkstetter had defeated the Danes by eight points to seven to get the German effort off to a winning start, Harris led Wajtknecht and Mulford to another maximum score – this time against France – before the Dutch defeated Finland by ten points to five.
Despite Werkstetter suffering a disqualification for exceeding track limits, a one-two for Fienhage and Wachs gave Germany victory over Norway by nine points to six and France then defeated Finland by the same margin. Great Britain, this time with Wajtknecht leading Harris and Shanes, concluded the third block with a maximum score against Denmark.
The fourth block got under way with France defeating Germany by nine points to six with Fienhage claiming his third straight Heat win and the Dutch – with Kruit replacing Meijer – then beat the Danes by ten points to five before Great Britain made it four maximums in a row when, with Mulford in for Shanes, it outclassed Norway.
After Kruse Hansen led the Danes to a ten-five win from Finland, a nine-six victory over Germany – despite Fienhage maintaining his one-hundred per cent unbeaten record – kept the Netherlands firmly in contention and Chauffour then claimed his second win of the programme as he spurred the French on to an eleven-four defeat of Norway.
Great Britain, with Shanes again rotated in to replace Mulford, saw its perfect afternoon ended when Meijerink and Hummel went one-three to defeat the reigning champions by eight points to seven and Denmark then brushed aside the challenge of Norway by eleven points to four before Finland claimed its first win of the day when it led home a two-rider German team by nine to six.
With Hummel replaced by Meijer for the concluding block of Heats, the Netherlands booked its place in the Final by collecting ten points to France’s five and Great Britain joined the Dutch after seeing off Germany by the same amount – with Wajtknecht handing Fienhage his first defeat of the afternoon – before Finland beat its neighbours Norway by nine points to seven.
With the French team assured of bronze, when Meijerink led the Final away from the tapes with Harris second ahead of Wajtknecht and Shanes it looked as though the title was heading back to Great Britain for the second successive season until, at the end of lap two while contesting the lead, Harris abruptly slowed and pulled over.
Reduced to two riders, the writing was on the wall for the defending champions and although Wajtknecht and Shanes stayed solid in second and third, victory for Meijerink combined with fourth and fifth for Hummel and Meijer meant the title was back in Dutch hands by eight points to seven.
Results
Final Standings
Race Results
