The 2025 FIM Long Track World Championship powered by Anlas, Kineo and HKC Koopmann passes the halfway point this coming Sunday (24 August) when the action moves to Scheessel in northern Germany for what could be a pivotal moment in the title fight.
Title fight passes the halfway mark in Germany Zach Wajtknecht defends four-point lead in the Eichenring Scheessel Sunday’s action could prove to be pivotal in battle for 2025 title Just ten points separate the top four with Britain’s Zach Wajtknecht currently leading the way as he chases his first world crown, but the twenty-seven-year-old construction engineer is only four points ahead of Lukas Fienhage who in turn is only four ahead of defending champion Martin Smolinski.
With Fienhage – the champion in 2020 and last season’s runner-up – and Smolinski both enjoying home advantage and Britain’s Chris Harris just two further points adrift, Wajtknecht will need to bring his A game into the Eichenring Scheessel if he is to improve on the silver medal he won in 2022 and his 2024 bronze.
Smolinski, who is looking for his third consecutive title and his fourth in total, has dominated the discipline since claiming the 2023 crown, but after racing to victory at this season’s opening round in Mühldorf in early July the forty-year-old engine tuner from Munich faltered at round two in Marmande in France and ended the event in sixth after failing to make the podium for the first time in over two years.
Smolinski’s misfortune combined with Wajtknecht’s first Grand Final victory in almost three years has put the reigning champion on the back foot and he will also have to contend with an on-form Fienhage, who backed up third in Mühldorf with second last time out, as well as the all-action Harris.
The forty-two-year-old British fan favourite – who won bronze in 2022 and led the championship into the final round the following year before being forced to settle for silver – suffered a technical issue while challenging for the lead in Mühldorf’s Grand Final, but was third one week later in Marmande to keep his title hopes alive.
Currently fifth in the standings, twenty-five-year-old Dave Meijerink from the Netherlands will be aiming to convert consistency into a podium finish at Scheessel and Frenchman Jordan Dubernard, who impressed in his career-first Grand Final in Marmande last month, is another talented young rider with big ambitions.
In a field featuring a number of up-and-coming riders, France’s Mathias Trésarrieu – the son of 2009 silver medallist Stéphane Trésarrieu and nephew of 2022 champion Mathieu Trésarrieu – has shown impressive early-season form as he continues to climb the career ladder.
Add world-class riders including British veteran Andrew Appleton and dynamite Dane Kenneth Kruse Hansen into the mix and the scene is set for an afternoon of non-stop action as Scheessel plays host to the championship for the fourth consecutive season, with the tapes scheduled to go up on the opening Heat race at 13:30 (local time).