The 2023 FIM Long Track World Championship contest moves into its closing phase this coming weekend with the fifth of this year’s six Finals scheduled to take place at Morizès in France on Saturday 2 September.
The fight for the coveted FIM World Championship title has raged since the opening round at Herxheim back in May with Britain’s Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris and Germany’s 2018 champion Martin Smolinski emerging as the two main challengers, separated by just three points after four Finals.
Out of the pair, Smolinski started strongest on home soil despite a mechanical issue that dropped him to last in the Grand Final, but he still enjoyed an advantage over Harris who did not progress beyond the Last Chance Heat in Germany.
That opening round saw Josef Franc come out on top, but the experienced Czech rider’s form dipped at round two in Ostrów in Poland and he dropped out of contention as Harris raced to a career-first win at this level. Smolinski came home second to join a three-rider tie for the championship lead with Franc and Britain’s Zach Wajtknecht while Harris slotted into fourth just one point further back.
In mid-July it was Harris who made it back-to-back wins with victory at Marmande in France which gave him the series lead at the halfway point, but Smolinski was second again to limit the damage heading into Scheessel last month.
After recording inconsistent results at the opening three Finals, Norway’s Kenneth Kruse Hansen ended Harris’ win-streak when he claimed victory in Germany in August, but the forty-year-old British rider scored his third consecutive podium of the campaign – and extended his championship lead – when he took the chequered flag in second, one position ahead of Smolinski.
With Wajtknecht failing to make his presence felt in Scheessel he is now fifteen points behind Smolinski and if he is to keep his slim title hopes alive he needs to win on Saturday, but he is not the only rider heading to France with a point to prove.
Wajtknecht won the concluding two Finals of 2022 on his way to second in the championship, but as well as Harris and Smolinski he will have to contend with Romano Hummel from the Netherlands who won the title in 2021, although 2020 champion Lukas Fienhage will not race following his Scheessel crash.
Hummel is still chasing a first podium in 2023 so will have a point to prove at Morizès and he will be joined by home track hero Gaétan Stella who is back in action after crashing hard at the FIM Long Track World Championship Challenge at La Réole in June.
Other riders in contention for a podium finish include Dutch wild card Dave Meijerink who was fourth at Marmande and Hynek Stichauer from the Czech Republic who missed the podium by one position in Ostrów, but the main focus will be on the ongoing battle for supremacy between Harris and Smolinski with both riders capable of landing a decisive blow.
The full series is available as a Pay-Per-View broadcast via a livestream package on the Tapes Up TV channel. For more details click here.
Images courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen