Ice Speedway (eng): First and second rounds of World Championship - Photos

For the first time in years a foreign rider ascended the podium in Krasnogorsk: Austrian Franz “Franky” Zorn fought hard with his Finnish, Swedish and Dutch rivals and beat them all. Russian Legion was the only force that could stop the vigorous rider from climbing up the top.

МОТОГОНКИ.РУ, 9 февраля 2009 -

He had a hard battle with Daniil Ivanov from Mega Lada Team at the end of the first day and won, finishing second . He also had his podium chances till the last moments of “A Final” on Sunday. However, this time Ivanov found a way to overtake him – although it was a real “flag-to flag” battle till the last meters to the finish gates! Daniil was moved to fourth by the competitors in the first corner, Zorn laid to third. 10-times world champion Nikolay Krasnikov pushed his rival Yunir Bazeev for the lead and they quickly came off far forward. Franky made a little mistake on lap three and slowed down his pace, which gave Ivanov the perfect opportunity to attack on the final lap. In the last corner the Austrian has taken a little wider and had no chance to stop Ivanov from passing him just in front of the finish line.

“Second place [on Saturday] – is a good result for me. It was a good racing day overall, and a great fight. I was strong enough trying to get Nikolay for win,” – said Franky after the race.

Being second on Saturday (20 points) and fourth on Sunday (16 points), Zorn is moving to the next round in Ufa city in third place with 36 points in total. Daniil Ivanov finishes the racing week-end with same result, but his final-day podium moves him up to the second position.

“I secured myself a podium on the second day, it’s great! – said Ivanov on a Sunday press meeting. “I’ve been competing with Franz for two years now, and it’s really hard, as he is a very strong rider. Although I think our level is becoming equal now. Anyway, I’m quite happy with the result.”

A regular FIM Ice Speedway World Championship rider Guntar Bauer was another guest-star on Russian ice track. The German’s bright blue bike was the first to pass the checkered flag on five occasions. But he also met strong resistance of Russian guys and leaves Krasnogorsk with 27 points and the 5th place overall.

Finally, the lead of the Championship belongs to Nikolay Krasnikov, who was the winner of both days in Krasnogorsk and scored 50 points. The next round, scheduled for February 14-15, will take place in Ufa city, Republic of Bashkortostan. This is a home race for Krasnikov, so the targets of his are quite clear: another double
podium in gold.

FIM Ice Speedway World Championship points after 2 round:

1 KRASNIKOV Nikolai RUS MFR - 50
2 IVANOV Danil RUS MFR - 36
3 ZORN Franz AUT OeAMTC-OSK - 36
4 BAZEEV Yunir RUS MFR - 34
5 BAUER Gunther GER DMSB - 27
6 KHOMITSEVICH Dmitri RUS MFR - 24
7 KHOMITSEVICH Vitaly RUS MFR - 24
8 IVANOV Ivan RUS MFR - 22
9 SIMON Harald AUT OeAMTC-OSK - 20
10 CHAIKA Pavel RUS MFR - 19
11 AAKKO Antti FIN SML - 16
12 SERENIUS Per-Olov SWE SVEMO - 15
13 KLATOVSKY Antonin Jr. CZE ACCR - 13
14 SVENSSON Stefan SWE SVEMO - 12
15 FLYKTMAN Tommi FIN SML - 4
16 TUINSTRA Johnny NED KNMV - 4
17 SKABRAUT Markus AUT OeAMTC-OSK - 3
18 LEHTINEN Kai FIN SML - 3