The ACU contingent certainly had a better day in comparison to their last visit to St Macaire, where the Michel Paris Stadium is located on the very bank of the Garonne River. In 2013 the British team had painfully just missed out on taking the FIM Team Longtrack World Championship at the same track, but Saturday evening went some way to making up for that disappointment, as they managed to get half of the top six qualification slots on offer to go on to race in the FIM Longtrack Challenge, due to be staged in Muhldorf Germany on September 22nd.
David Howe, finally getting close to full fitness after a series of injuries, finished top of the qualification heats then and took his semi-final and the heat 23 final race showdown by some distance. Howe had entered the 2013 Longtrack qualification rounds as a possible “get out of jail card”, should he fail to finish in the top 18 of the 2013 Longtrack Grand Prix Series, but with this sort of form he should be capable of securing a top ten guaranteed seeded spot in to next year’s Longtrack championship.
His compatriot Paul Cooper pulled of one of his best ever results in the longtrack discipline as he finished runner up on the night, but did so will a large number of cuts and bruises, as he twice took very heavy falls. In heat 16 he had his real wheel clipped by Keijo Bunning, which saw both riders end up in a the last corner air fence, with Cooper awarded the race win by the Czech referee Pavel Kubes. Then in the final there was a similar incident almost at the same point of the track, when home favourite Stephane Tresarrieu came charging under him and deposited Cooper into the air fence again. Although Tresarrieu crossed the line in third place he was disqualified for foul and dangerous riding, which handed Cooper the runners up trophy. It had certainly been a hard day for Cooper, as he had badly damaged his bike in the first fall and his pit crew had to work wonders just to get the bike straightened out so it could be used again.
Great Britain had a third finisher in the top six qualifying spots as Rodney McDonald, a very late entry filling in for an injured Czech rider, rode steadily throughput and finished in sixth spot with 16 points.
Filling up the rostrum was the veteran German rider Bernd Diener, who took the third place trophy from the real surprise packet of the meeting Australian Kozza Smith. Smith had ridden longtrack back in Australia, but St Macaire was the first time he had ridden on a grass surface, so his 21-point haul was highly commendable.
Home based Stephane Tresarrieu completed the qualifiers with 21 points and was unfortunate to not finish up with a trophy but for his controversial disqualification in the final. Stephane had been the star of the evening in the eyes of the crowd though, as he managed to win the majority of his points with some blistering rides from the back.
It was with credit to the St Macaire track staff that the meeting was completed, as just a month both the entire track had been submerged, when the Garonne River burst its banks. Also on the night it looked for a while like the meeting might have to be abandoned after heat 12, as rain showers came in and with the track needed clearing of the grass and dirt build up on the outside of the bends, the chances of concluding the meeting looked slim. Thankfully the rain stopped and all 23 heats were able to be safely completed in what was an excellent night’s racing, in a well organised and run event by the St Macaire Club.
Final Meeting Classification
1. David Howe (ACU) 27,
2. Paul Cooper (ACU) 25,
3. Bernd Diener (DMSB) 22,
4. Kozza Smith (MA) 21,
5. Stephane Tresarrieu (FFM) 21,
6. Rodney McDonald (ACU) 16,
7. Henry Van Der Steen (KNMV) 12,
8. Mark Stiekema (KNMV) 11,
9. Bernd Dinklage (DMSB) 11,
10. Danny Warwick (ACU) 10,
11. Jerome Lespinasse (FFM) 8,
12. Hunter Anderson (MA) 8,
13. Lars Zandvliet (KNMV) 6,
14. Alessandro Milanese (FMI ) 6,
15. Torben Praestegard (DMU) 5,
16. Gabriel Dubernard (FFM) 4,
17. Aarni Heikkla (SML) 4,
18. Richard De Biasi (FFM) 3,
19. Michaela Krupickova (ACCR) 3,
20. Keijo Bunning (DMSB) 3,
21. Boris Pizzinato (FFM) 2,
22. Jeremy Coste-Lescoul (FFM) 1
Words & Pictures by Chris Durno