The Team Long Track World Championship took on Saturday night at the fantastic Morizes in France in front of a large crowd of ecstatic fans who watched the home side take victory.
For Team Great Britain of Captain Chris Harris, James Shanes, Zach Wajtknecht and Adam Ellis it was be to a great night. The team battled hard to claim a well-earned second place with both James Shanes and captain Chris Harris scoring heavily and a depleted German team were very happy with their bronze medal place after the selection problems that had surrounded Team Manager Josef Hukelmann in recent weeks.
Their victory was forged with a 10-5 win over the Brits when they met in Heat 2 and they never looked to be at risk of losing this lead. Team GB won every other clash that they had with the remaining 4 teams, but the French riders consisting of World Champion Matthieu Tresarrieu, Dimitri Berge and David Bellego were a cut above the rest.
France 54 (Dmitri Bergé 22, M. Trésarrieu 19)
Great Britain 46 (J.Shanes 19, C.Harris 16)
Germany 38 (L.Fienhage 16, J.Tebbe 15,)
Also taking place at Morizes was the FIM Youth 125cc Gold Trophy on Saturday night which featured the McGurk brothers of Sam and Harry. The event was won by Jaroslav Vanicek was the worthy winner of the FIM Youth Gold Trophy.
Vanicek and Germany’s Marlon Hegener had been unbeaten going into the Final and chose the favoured gates 4 and 3 but Hegener crucially missed the start and was unable to make up the lost ground leaving Vanicek to complete a maximum win.
Great Britain’s Sam McGurk who, after having a slow start to the meeting, made it into the Final ahead of Daniel Kilma on count back and secured the silver medal in the final by passing Bruno Belan on the second lap to make it two British podiums on the night.
Sam's brother Harry also rode well, finishing a highly credible 7th overall.
Final Result:
1. Jaroslav Vanicek (Czech Republic) 24
2. Sam McGurk (Great Britain) 15
3. Bruno Belan (Czech Republic) 19
4. Marlon Hegener (Germany) 21
5. Tino Bouin (France) 16