Friday September 2, 2011 at 10:32am
Last Sunday Martin Smolinski was crowded the 2011 European Grass Track Champion at the event hosted by the Wainfleet and District Sporting Motorcycle Club. Smolinski claimed the title ahead of Dutch rider De Jong and 2010 Champion Andrew Appleton.
After a wet Saturday had forced practice to be run on the Sunday Morning before the racing started at 1pm. Sunday morning saw the sunshine appear. During the course of the Heats it was Andrew Appleton, David Howe and Martin Smolinski.
As the event neared the final Howe and Appleton looked set to be the favourites for the title come the end of the day. Howe having beaten Smolinski twice in the heat races had started a trend of being able to take advantage of the extra grip in the corners.
The line-up for the final would see Brit’s Appleton, Howe, and Phillips go up against Smolinski, De Jong and Stiekema. As the final started Appleton lifted and was left trailing at the back and with lots of work to do. Meanwhile at the front Howe and Smolinski were battling out at the front for the opening lap, until Howe hit a rut mid turn and was relegated to the back.
Smolinski held on to take the win and title ahead of Dutch racer De Jong, Third place went to Appleton after recovering from a bad start. Fourth place went to Glen Phillips after winning the B final to progress into the main final, Stiekema took fifth and a disappointed David Howe who must have been thinking about what could have been.
Other British riders in the event were Mitch Godden who finished in fourth place in the B final ahead of Richard Hall in fifth. Rodney McDonald took a second place finish in the C final.