World Cup - Event 1 report

[Peter 0]

Host nation Denmark got the 2003 Speedway World Cup underway by roaring away to victory in the opening group fixture in Holsted witnessed by a crowd bathed in fierce sunshine. The Danes were always in control and help the upper hand throughout. They now go directly to next Sunday's final in Vojens.

 

The Danes were dominant right from the first race which was won by Nicki Pedersen on his way to what would become a flawless, unbeaten performance. A Dane was first to the chequered flag in five of the first seven heats, mostly from a chasing Czech, to leave the opposition shell-shocked.

 

Heats eight, nine, ten, and eleven were also taken by the rampant home riders to give them a massive thirteen point advantage with half the meeting remaining and it was abundantly clear that they would not be caught leaving the Czech and Finnish teams to fight it out for second place and an automatic spot in Thursday's second race-off and a second bite at making the final.

 

Tomas Topinka and Bo Brhel staged a mini-fight back for the Czechs with wins in heats twelve and thirteen which closed the gap a little helped by Neils Iversen's last place in the twelfth. But Denmark still had a nine point cushion and the dual Czech heat wins gave them a little breathing space over Finland with the hapless and outclassed Germans nowhere in sight.

 

Denmark then reasserted their authority by providing the winner of the next four heats during which time a run of second places from the Czechs made them practically assured of being runners-up and an automatic second bite on Thursday.

 

Although Denmark looked secure, they could still be caught as the Czechs still had the option to nominate one of their riders to score double points in a heat of their choice. But they waited and waited not playing their card until nominating Topinka in the third last race. But any slightly jangling Danish nerves were well served by race winner Bjarne Pedersen who beat Topinka in to second and in so doing made Denmark mathematically secure.

 

To continue the trend, Kenneth Bjerre and Hans Andersen claimed the closing two races for the hosts to leave them winning by a huge margin of a dozen points from the Czechs. The Finns must hope that their final tally of 32 will be good enough to take them to the race-off but must sweat through the two other group meetings on Monday and Tuesday to find out.

 

The Danes won't have it as easy as this in the final but certainly showed enough to send a clear message that they are a serious threat. Brhel and Topinka fought well for the Czechs for whom Lukas Dryml was a little suppressed but that's forgivable when one recalls his recent horror crash.

 

Joonas Kylmakorpi scored a fine sixteen for Finland – half his country's total – which included a trio of wins and kept them in touch for second place until the extra Czech power kicked in at the mid-point. Germany were seriously outclassed and only managed a handful of third places here and there.

 

Denmark now have a week off to prepare for Vojens where they will meet the winners of the remaining two group meetings plus the top two from Thursday's race-off. The next event is Monday evening in Outrup when Team Great Britain start their challenge against overwhelming favourites Australia, Italy and Slovenia.

 

Speedway World Cup opening meeting, Holsted, Denmark:

 

Denmark 62

Nicki Pedersen 15, Niels Kristian Iversen 10, Bjarne Pedersen 12, Kenneth Bjerre 12, Hans Andersen 13

 

Czech Republic 50

Ales Dryml 8, Lukas Dryml 11, Bo Brhel 15, Tomas Topinka 12, Josef Franc 4

 

Finland 32

Kaj Laukkanen 9, Kauko Nieminen 3, Tomi Reima 1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 16, Juha Hautamaki 3

 

Germany 11

Mirko Wolter 5, Martin Smolinski 1, Ronny Weiss 2, Matthias Schultz 1, Christian Hefenbrock 2

[Guest wujek]

1. Denmark: 62

1. Nicki Pedersen (3, 3, 3, 3, 3) - 15

2. Niels Kristian Iversen (3, 2, R, 3, 2) - 10

3. Bjarne Pedersen (3, 3, 2, 1, 3) - 12

4. Kenneth Bjerre (1, 3, 3, 2, 3) - 12

5. Hans N Andersen (3, 3, 3, 1, 3) - 13

 

2. Czech Republic: 50

1. Ales Dryml (2, 2, 2, 1, 1) - 8

2. Lukas Dryml (2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2) - 11

3. Bohumil Brhel (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3) - 15

4. Tomas Topinka (2, R, 3, 3, 4!) - 12

5. Josef Franc (2, 0, -, -, 2) - 4

 

3. Finland: 32

1. Kaj Laukkanen (1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1) - 9

2. Kauko Nieminen (0, 1, 1, 1, 0) - 3

3. Tomi Reima (0, -, 0, -, 1) - 1

4. Joonas Kylmakorpi (3, 4!, 3, 1, 3, 2) - 16

5. Juha Hautamaeki (0, 1, 2, 0, 0) - 3

 

4. Germany: 11

1. Mirko Wolter (0, 1, 1, 1, 2!) - 5

2. Martin Smolinski (1, R, 0, 0, 0) - 1

3. Ronny Weiss (1, 0, 1, 0, 0) - 2

4. Matthias Schultz (0, 0, 0, 0, 1) - 1

5. Christian Hefenbrock (1, 1, 0, 0, 0) - 2

 

Heat by heat:

1. N. Pedersen, A. Dryml, Laukkanen, Wolter (3-0-1-2)

2. Iverssen, L. Dryml, Smolinski, Nieminen (6-1-1-4)

3. B. Pedersen, Brhel, Weiss, Reima (9-2-1-6)

4. Kylmakorpi, Topinka, Bjerre, Schultz (10-2-4-8)

5. Andersen, Franc, Hafenbrock, Hautamaeki (13-3-4-10)

6. N. Pedersen, Kylmaekorpi (joker), Hafenbrock, Topinka ® (16-4-8-10)

7. Kylmakorpi, Iversen, Wolter, Franc (18-5-11-10)

8. B. Pedersen, A. Dryml, Hautamaeki, Smolinski ® (21-5-12-12)

9. Bjerre, Laukkanen, L. Dryml, Weiss (24-5-14-13)

10. Andersen, Brhel, Nieminem, Schultz (27-5-15-15)

11. N. Pedersen, Brhel, Kylmakorpi, Smolinski (30-5-16-17)

12. Topinka, Hautamaeki, Weiss, Iversen ® (30-6-18-20)

13. Brhel, B. Pedersen, Laukkanen, Schultz (32-6-19-23)

14. Bjerre, A. Dryml, Nieminen, Hafenbrock (35-6-20-25)

15. Andersen, L. Dryml, Wolter, Reima (38-7-20-27)

16. N. Pedersen, L. Dryml, Nieminem, Weiss (41-7-21-29)

17. Iversen, Laukkanen, A. Dryml, Schultz (44-7-23-30)

18. Kylmakorpi, L. Dryml, B. Pedersen, Hafenbrock (45-7-26-32)

19. Brhel, Bjerre, Wolter, Hautamaeki (47-8-26-35)

20. Topinka, Laukkanen, Andersen, Smolinski (48-8-28-38)

21. N. Pedersen, L. Dryml, Schultz, Hautamaeki (51-9-28-40)

22. Brhel, Iversen, Laukkanen, Hafenbrock (53-9-29-43)

23. B. Pedersen, Topinka (joker), Wolter (joker), Nieminen (56-11-29-47)

24. Bjerre, Franc, Reima, Smolinski (59-11-30-49)

25. Andersen, Kylmakorpi, A. Dryml, Weiss (62-11-32-50)