Liberec Speedway - World U21 Individual Qualifier
It was another early start and another beautiful day.
6:45am bus from Podebrady to Liberec bus station arriving 9am. No worries about the meeting being rained off as the sun was splitting the blue skies.
We had a quick bite of breakfast and then it was off to explore parts of the town.
The town was quite pretty in parts with some stunningly crafted buildings. Lots were 'a bit tired looking' and in need of some TLC which they were receiving.
Another bite this time lunch on the old town square.
By the time we'd finished it was time to head out to the stadium. Taxi ride from taxi rank near the bus station. 150 Kcr and 5 minutes later we were at the stadium.
The stadium and track were basic but nicely presented. Grassy embankments surrounded the fenced track. With lots of little groups of fixed seating areas all around the track. Plus a good number of white garden chairs. So if you wanted a seat you could get one. The crowd of 500 or so were able to watch the racing in comfort.
To the meeting itself. There were a couple of 'names' in the field who had travelled from Poland notably Maksym Drabik (reigning WU21 champion) and firm favourite to qualify and most likely to win the meeting. Plus Daniel Kaczmarek a rider who is very impressive for one so young.
There were a few more names that were familiar but to date perhaps weren't considered in the same category as the Poles e.g. Denmark's Patrick Hansen, Slovenia's Nick Škorja and England's Zach Wajtknecht.
Then to the not so familiar members of the cast.
The first interesting character was David Pacalaj - 16 years old going on 10. His family claim to fame is he is the nephew of Martin Vaculik.
Another interesting story was that of Lucas Alejandro Torressi an Argentinian who had sold up everything he had and convinced his father to sell his car to finance his trip to Europe!!
I also had half an eye on the French entrants Labouyrie and Stella and the rider from Finland Sayrio.
So to the meeting.
The first couple of races for each competitor largely went as anticipated. Drabik, Kaczmarek and Hansen were all unbeaten on 6 points. Although Kaczmarek rode his luck a little as he benefitted from a Škorja thrown chain whilst the Slovenian was in the lead. Lingering on the Slovenian for a moment. It is worthwhile noting that his second ride resulted in him following Hansen home - so he was sitting with 2 points after 2 rides - he would have been forgiven if he'd let his head go down at that point. Credit to the lad he tried like a bear in his remaining rides.
It would also be worthwhile pointing out that young Pacalaj headed Drabik for 2 and a half laps before the Pole eventually swept around him through turns 3 and 4. Torressi missed the gate in his opener but a nice move brought him from last to 2nd entering turn 3 only to see the Argentinian spin around and fall causing a stoppage as Sayrio ran into him.
Then things got interesting. Millberg (Sweden) who had shown little from the gate. Leapt from the inside to head Hansen!!! He continued to ride steady for the remainder of the 4 laps to inflict Hansen's only defeat of the day.
The next heat (10) saw Škorja continue to develop his 'entertainer of the match award' (from me) by chasing down and passing young Pacalaj.
Drabik won the battle of the Poles in heat 11. Although a notable mention to Kaczmarek who had to battle his way through from 4th to 2nd. So I was mentally putting Drabik on the top step of the podium.
Heat 12 in hindsight contained more than a couple of decisive scores. Firstly Hajek fell victim of the rut on the second turn (that had developed very early) to fall from 1st to 2nd as Wajtknecht took the win. Lenarduzzi (who had hardly troubled the scorers) nipped by Hajek to pinch second. Had Hajek kept those extra two points he'd have more than likely finished outright 4th.
The meeting to date had had its moments to keep the crowd interested but thereafter it became quite spellbinding.
Heat 13 Lenarduzzi caught and passed Kaczmarek!
Heat 14 Drabik touched the tapes. In the re-run Hansen came from third to first in a super aggressive piece of riding.
Heat 15 Wajtknecht overhauled Wassermann on the last bend to get a win.
Heat 16 Škorja quietly continued to add to his score with his second win. NB Young Millberg retired when sitting a comfortable 2nd.
So all of a sudden things were hotting up:
Hansen 11, Kaczmarek 10, Drabik and Wajtknecht 9, Škorja 8
Heat 17 had the look of a crunch heat with Škorja, Drabik and Wajtknecht all pitted against each other. Drabik held his nerve to gate and keep a hard charging Škorja behind him with the Englishmen third. So Drabik had secured his passage to the World Final with 12 points. The Slovenian and Englishman were looking at a race off.
Heat 18 saw the ever improving Lenarduzzi pull off a wonderful outside pass of Mikel through turns 3 and 4.
Heat 19 was littered with fall and exclusions and a bad smash for Torressi and Hajek with the Argentinian ending the heat in the ambulance. However, Hajek rode his luck (the first two runnings he was no better than 3rd) to win the heat and for him to throw his hat into the race off 'ring'.
Heat 20 Ultimately decided the meeting winner, with Hansen riding another superb turn 3 / 4 this time to pass Kaczmarek.
Winner Hansen 14 points
Next up was a 4th place decider. Škorja (red), Wajtknecht (blue), Hajek (white). The Slovenian riding comfortably from tapes to flag for a well deserved win and World Final place.
Heat 22 saw a bit of humour from the two Poles. They were due to run off for 2nd but chose to have a wheelie contest for four laps. Nice touch. For the record Kaczmarek got 2nd.
So
1 Hansen
2. Kaczmarek
3 Drabik
4 Škorja
So overall impressions of the Liberec track were good, likewise the meeting. Despite the pretty dry and dusty conditions.
There are a few riders to keep an eye on in the coming months:
Pacalaj
Millberg
Lenarduzzi
Torressi
NB Nearly forgot about the pre meeting heavy metal band - decent - well maybe ;-)
