The FIME Individual Grass Track championship commences this coming Sunday (26th April) with the first of two Semi Finals being staged at Swingfield in the south east of England.
This semi-final will be a hotly contested event, with eighteen riders representing six nations – all of whom will be competing for the nine qualifying places available at the European Final – which will be staged at Staphorst in the Netherlands on the 18
th July.
Although the host federation for Sunday’s event (the ACU), has a strong field of five riders, the home favourite must be former European Champion – Andrew Appleton. However the other four ‘Brits’ are not planning for Andrew to have an easy time and he will be put under pressure by Scunthorpe Speedway’s leading rider David Howe. 18 year old James Shanes is one of the England’s fast emerging racers, and this event will be the youngsters first opportunity of competing in a European championship.
The German challenge is led by another former European Champion – Stephan Katt, who previously has had an excellent record at the fast Swingfield circuit. With other high calibre riders as Theo Pijper (Netherlands), Josef Franc (Czech Republic) and Jerome Lespinasse (France), spectators are guaranteed some fast and furious racing!!
The action then moves to Germany on the 7
th June, where the second Semi Final is being staged at Bielefeld – in the north of the country. Another 18 riders, this time representing seven different countries, battle for the remaining nine places at Staphorst, European Final.
Bielefeld is another fast sweeping track, with riders reaching speeds in excess of 120 kilometres per hour!!
The strong contingent of Dutch fans will be supporting defending European Champion – Jannick De Jong – who will be focused on achieving his third European title, having achieved back to back victories in 2013 and 2014. Enrico Janoschka leads the German contingent together with Jörg Tebbe and Bernd Diener.
Four English riders will be making the long trip to Bielefeld, with qualifying places being targeted by experienced racers, Richard Hall and Mitch Godden. However 17 year old Zak Wajtknecht is another of the UK’s ‘hot prospects’ with Zak already having won three Youth World (125cc and 250cc) championship titles.
The Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands, France, and Italy field the remaining riders, for what will be another thrilling and exciting event.
Once the nine qualifiers have been confirmed from the 2
nd Semi Final in Germany, all eyes will then be focused on Staphorst in July to see who will be crowned the FIME European Individual Grass Track Champion for 2015