GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 1
 
This was a strange meeting that never seemed to settle into a pattern with a few surprise names progressing at the end of it and some of the more fancied riders falling by the wayside in the chase for a Grand Prix place.  The most consistent rider on the day was Ila Niemi and he showed all his experience on the international stage to win the meeting with 13 points.  Whilst Niemi upset the odds a little he has seen it all before at this level but the same does not apply to 18-year-old Alex Golden.  The youngster started steadily, with 5 points at the interval, but after the break he made two flying starts to jet to 11 points as opponents dropped points and he will line-up in the GP Challenge, some achievement for a teenager!  Doug Monaghan had the opposite experience as he was unbeaten going into the interval but then looked in danger of missing out with a poor display in his final rides.  Eventually he recovered his early meeting form to add another vital victory in a run-off which saw him end 3rd in the meeting and confirm his qualifying place.  The final spot went to Louis Joossens, who followed Monaghan home in the run-off; Joossens was amongst the pre-meeting favourites and did enough to justify his growing reputation but the youngster, still only 20, made harder work of it than he may have hoped!
 
Of the rest of the field everyone seemed to string a couple of good rides together and then blow their chances, only 4 riders in the whole field didn't register at least a last place at one stage.  One of those was Leon Jeppesen who was the rider to miss out in the run-off for the final 2 qualifying places - the other was Marco Bellini who took 5 third places to finish well down the field.  Of the riders more favoured by the bookies before the meeting Ray France recovered from a pointless first ride to look like he could progress but a final ride exclusion cost him his chance and he will now hope that his recent win in the British Grand Prix will make the selectors give him a reprieve when they pick the 1 Wild Card place for the GP Challenge.  Jason Isaacs was another to fade late in the meeting, just 1 points after the break to see him miss out on the crucial run-off by a point.  Jernej Keglovits made a reasonable start but then suffered a retirement in his third ride and appeared off the pace after that.  Jens Isaksen and Hannu Helinen were others who made poor starts and left it too late and they'll very much be kicking themselves, particularly Isaksen who has ridden so well in helping Denmark reach the World Pairs Final.
 
  1. Ila Niemi................. 3  2  2  3  3  13   ---   QUALIFIED
  2. Alex Golden............... 2  1  2  3  3  11   ---   QUALIFIED
  3. Doug Monaghan............. 3  3  3  0  1  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  4. Louis Joossens............ 3  2  0  2  3  10   ---   QUALIFIED
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  5. Leon Jeppesen............. 1  2  3  2  2  10
  6. Jason Isaacs.............. 2  3  3  1  0   9
  7. Ray France................ 0  2  3  3  X   8
  8. Gote Nordvall............. 1  3  2  0  2   8
  9. Tyler Tebby............... 3  0  1  2  2   8
 10. Jens Isaksen.............. 2  0  1  3  1   7
 11. Hannu Helinen............. 0  0  2  1  3   6
 12. Jernej Keglovits.......... 1  3  R  0  2   6
 13. Marco Bellini............. 1  1  1  1  1   5
 14. Korey Pierce.............. 2  0  0  1  0   3
 15. Archie Sanders............ 0  1  Fx 2  0   3
 16. Ove Dalasen............... 0  1  1  0  1   3
 
 No. Results
  1: Ila Niemi, Jason Isaacs, Gote Nordvall, Ray France 
  2: Doug Monaghan, Korey Pierce, Leon Jeppesen, Archie Sanders 
  3: Tyler Tebby, Jens Isaksen, Marco Bellini, Ove Dalasen 
  4: Louis Joossens, Alex Golden, Jernej Keglovits, Hannu Helinen 
  5: Jernej Keglovits, Ray France, Archie Sanders, Tyler Tebby 
  6: Jason Isaacs, Louis Joossens, Ove Dalasen, Korey Pierce 
  7: Doug Monaghan, Ila Niemi, Alex Golden, Jens Isaksen 
  8: Gote Nordvall, Leon Jeppesen, Marco Bellini, Hannu Helinen 
  9: Ray France, Hannu Helinen, Jens Isaksen, Korey Pierce 
 10: Jason Isaacs, Alex Golden, Marco Bellini, Archie Sanders (Fx) 
 11: Leon Jeppesen, Ila Niemi, Tyler Tebby, Louis Joossens 
 12: Doug Monaghan, Gote Nordvall, Ove Dalasen, Jernej Keglovits (R) 
 13: Ray France, Louis Joossens, Marco Bellini, Doug Monaghan 
 14: Jens Isaksen, Leon Jeppesen, Jason Isaacs, Jernej Keglovits 
 15: Ila Niemi, Archie Sanders, Hannu Helinen, Ove Dalasen 
 16: Alex Golden, Tyler Tebby, Korey Pierce, Gote Nordvall 
 17: Alex Golden, Leon Jeppesen, Ove Dalasen, Ray France (X) 
 18: Hannu Helinen, Tyler Tebby, Doug Monaghan, Jason Isaacs 
 19: Ila Niemi, Jernej Keglovits, Marco Bellini, Korey Pierce 
 20: Louis Joossens, Gote Nordvall, Jens Isaksen, Archie Sanders 
 21: Doug Monaghan, Louis Joossens, Leon Jeppesen 

 

 

 

 GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 2

 

 

GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 2
 
This meeting pretty much went to the pre-meeting odds, with just one exception.  Jacek Klecha was heavily fancied to do well and he began with a win before a strong performance which ended when he beat Rudi Juritzen in a run-off to win the round.  Juritzen produced a similar performance, never managing worse than 2nd in any heat as he cruised through without too many worries.  Steve Edgar was the slight pre-meeting favourite and qualified without too many issues despite an exclusion in his 4th race which did leave him needing a solid last ride, which he produced, to make sure of his place in the GP Challenge.  The final place went to the World Under 21 Champion Petr Marko who now has a shot at making a very quick impression on the senior stage after his junior success earlier this season.  Although still just 19 years of age Marko's performance wasn't a great surprise and most people expected him to be very much in the running for a top 4 spot before the meeting started.
 
It was a very even field, as always at this level, and this showed with the rider down in 15th place scoring 5 points, and even the last placed rider picked up 3.  There were no huge surprises amongst the non-qualifiers, although Innacone and Ruzucha may have hoped for better, but even then they both finished just 3 points adrift of qualification.  The biggest surprise was the non-qualification of Rumun Dimotrov - he started with a win but two last places left him too much to do and he finished in the bottom half of the field.  The hard-luck story of the day was that of young Eddie Mendoza who suffered an engine failure in his second ride to leave him on 1 point after 2 races but he fought back well and eventually missed out by just a single point.
 
  1. Jacek Klecha.............. 3  2  1  3  3  12   ---   QUALIFIED
  2. Rudi Juritzen............. 3  2  2  3  2  12   ---   QUALIFIED
  3. Steve Edgar............... 2  3  3  X  2  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  4. Petr Marko................ 1  3  3  1  1   9   ---   QUALIFIED
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  5. Carsten Ostenstad......... 0  3  3  2  0   8
  6. Eddie Mendoza............. 1  R  3  3  1   8
  7. Lars Magnussen............ 1  1  2  3  1   8
  8. Ludek Janicek............. 3  1  1  1  2   8
  9. Rumun Dimotrov............ 3  0  0  1  3   7
 10. Andrew Williamson......... 1  2  2  2  0   7
 11. Vaclav Ruzucha............ 0  1  0  2  3   6
 12. Braxton McChesney......... 2  2  1  0  1   6
 13. Enzo Innacone............. 2  1  1  0  2   6
 14. Jacob Cook................ 0  3  0  2  0   5
 15. Kenneth Krogh............. 0  0  2  0  3   5
 16. Rafal Aranowski........... 2  0  0  1  0   3
 
 No. Results
  1: Rudi Juritzen, Steve Edgar, Petr Marko, Carsten Ostenstad 
  2: Ludek Janicek, Braxton McChesney, Lars Magnussen, Jacob Cook 
  3: Rumun Dimotrov, Rafal Aranowski, Andrew Williamson, Vaclav Ruzucha 
  4: Jacek Klecha, Enzo Innacone, Eddie Mendoza, Kenneth Krogh 
  5: Petr Marko, Andrew Williamson, Lars Magnussen, Eddie Mendoza (R) 
  6: Steve Edgar, Jacek Klecha, Ludek Janicek, Rumun Dimotrov 
  7: Carsten Ostenstad, Braxton McChesney, Enzo Innacone, Rafal Aranowski 
  8: Jacob Cook, Rudi Juritzen, Vaclav Ruzucha, Kenneth Krogh 
  9: Petr Marko, Kenneth Krogh, Ludek Janicek, Rafal Aranowski 
 10: Steve Edgar, Lars Magnussen, Enzo Innacone, Vaclav Ruzucha 
 11: Carsten Ostenstad, Andrew Williamson, Jacek Klecha, Jacob Cook 
 12: Eddie Mendoza, Rudi Juritzen, Braxton McChesney, Rumun Dimotrov 
 13: Jacek Klecha, Vaclav Ruzucha, Petr Marko, Braxton McChesney 
 14: Eddie Mendoza, Jacob Cook, Rafal Aranowski, Steve Edgar (X) 
 15: Lars Magnussen, Carsten Ostenstad, Rumun Dimotrov, Kenneth Krogh 
 16: Rudi Juritzen, Andrew Williamson, Ludek Janicek, Enzo Innacone 
 17: Rumun Dimotrov, Enzo Innacone, Petr Marko, Jacob Cook 
 18: Kenneth Krogh, Steve Edgar, Braxton McChesney, Andrew Williamson 
 19: Vaclav Ruzucha, Ludek Janicek, Eddie Mendoza, Carsten Ostenstad 
 20: Jacek Klecha, Rudi Juritzen, Lars Magnussen, Rafal Aranowski 
 21: Jacek Klecha, Rudi Juritzen