Great Britain dominated the women’s and junior races, while the men’s event saw a Polish clean sweep of the medals at ICSF European Championships last weekend.
Lauren Hookway put in a superb performance to claim her maiden international title in the 2016 European women’s championship.
After first beating her main rival, compatriot Vicky Brown, in heat ten, the Exeter rider stormed past Macie Schmidt in heat fifteen to take control of the meeting.
Second place went to world and British champion Brown, after she won her first two races.
Poole rider, Kristina Mines’ superb gating propelled her into the podium places run off; the European bronze medal a fantastic result for the young rider.
There were other strong British performances from Lucy Whitehead, who took three wins and 17 points, and Macie Schmidt who also finished on 17; an outstanding performance from the under-16 rider.
Wednesfield’s Brandon Whetton dropped just two points to take the junior title for Great Britain while Swindon’s Jake Neighbour took silver and Whetton’s Wednesfield team mate, Lee Kemp bagged bronze.
With 15 points going into the final heat, the Wednesfield youngster knew a second place in his final outing would guarantee him victory, which he achieved finishing behind Neighbour to claim his first international title.
Poland’s Lukas Nowacki was crowned 2016 ICSF men’s European Champion, after a last-gasp dash to take the title in the dramatic final race.
The first round of races produced an excellent spectacle for the large crowd, where Szymon Kowalczyk, Ben Mould, Marcin Szymanski and Greg Gluchowski all picked up early wins.
Great Britain’s Josh Brooke won his first race of the afternoon in heat 9 with a strong gate over British captain, Paul Heard, who was having a tough day, with three last place finishes in the opening rounds. Brooke finished the heats on 15 points and won a run off for a podium position.
Nowacki took his total to 14 points from four rides with a win in heat 13, while Marcin Szymanski’s title challenge came to an end after Stockport’s Jake Read rode a great race in second to keep the former champion behind him.
The final, decisive, heat included three riders still in contention for the title.
In the final lap, Ganczarek was leading Binkowski, with Nowacki in third, but a late dive by Binkowski pushed both riders out wide, allowing Nowacki to take the lead with one corner to go, where he subsequently crossed the line in front to become the 2016 European champion.
It was an all-Polish podium, as Dawid Bas finished off an excellent weekend by taking silver, while Binkowski snatched bronze from Great Britain’s Brooke.
Scores:
Women: Lauren Hookway 19, Victoria Brown 18, Kristina Mines 18, Macie Schmidt 17, Lucy Whitehead 17, Elizabeth Rigley 15, Michelle Whitehead 15, Sandra Tamborska 12, Chloe Whitehead 12, Charlie Herbert 10, Laura Watson 9, Sophie Middleton 9, Anna Tutle 8, Madeline Saunders 8, Gemma Hill 7, Jenna Whitehead 5
Junior: Brandon Whetton 18, Jake Neighbour 17, Lee Kemp 15, Adam Watson 15, Carl Parfitt 14, Mateusz Pacek 14, Mikolaj Reszelewski 14, Mateusz Radomski 13, Jay Briggs 13, Bartosz Wojtol 11, Patryk Katarzynski 11, Jakub Kosciecha 11, Ben Tinsdale 9, Szymon Porozynski 9, Maciej Stefanski 8, Jacub Kus 7
Men: Lukas Nowacki 18, Dawid Bas 15, Przemek Binkowski 15, Josh Brooke 15, Marcin Szymankski 14, Greg Gluchowski 14, Szymon Kowalczyk 13, Matiej Ganczarek 13, Marcin Paradzinski 13, Pawel Cegielski 12, Myke Grimes 11, Ben Mould 11, Jake Read 9, Zac Payne 9, Paul Heard 8, Mark Carmichael 7.
