European races of the weekend 12-13/08/2023
Press
Sad passing of Jørgen Bitsch The FIM Europe is saddened to inform about the recent passing of Jørgen Bitsch, the President of the Danish Motor Union (DMU) since 2009. Jorgen finally succumbed to his injuries on 5th August 2023, which he had sustained as the result of a motocross accident two weeks previous. Jørgen was passionate about all aspects of motorcycling, having been long associated with two wheels as a rider, a spectator, an event organiser and as a member of the FIM, FIM Europe and DMU in several different roles, having first joined his National Federation in 1975. Mr Bitsch has been FIM Europe Vice President from 2010 to 2012 and member of the FIM Board of Directors from 2012 to 2020. Mr Bitsch was a former Sidecar Motocross Grand Prix winner and regular top ten finisher overall in the FIM Sidecar Motocross Championship during the mid-eighties through to
Individual Speedway Euro Championship: Janusz Kołodziej wins Final 2 in Güstrow Janusz Kołodziej once again demonstrated that the track in Guestrow is one of his favorites. He won the second round of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship and secured his first points in this year's series. Mikkel Michelsen claimed the second place and the lead position in the overall classification. Andzejs Lebedevs finished third. After the absence caused by an injury during the first round in Częstochowa, it could be expected that the silver medalist from last year's SEC would do everything to make up for the points against his opponents. However, Janusz Kołodziej's performance on the German track was close to perfection. He won 4 out of 5 heats and confidently advanced to the final. A similar form was shown by Mikkel Michelsen in Guestrow. A failed eleventh heat, in which he finished behind Kołodziej, Lindbaeck, and Madsen, allowed
Hill Climb European Championship: Italy hosted round 4 Pictures copyright: Giorgio Panacci The fourth round of the Hill Climb European Championship took place in the beautiful mountains of Umbria region, near the old city of Spoleto, Italy, on a track winding up the mountain to Forca di Cerro. The championship has 5 classes: 250 GP, SuperSport 300, SuperSport 600, SuperBike and SuperMoto. In good weather conditions riders from five different nations faced free practices, qualifying and two races. In 250 GP both races were ruled by Italian rider Guido Testoni, who is leading the championship ahead of Bernard Depierreux, second in Italy, and Rolf Haller, third. Daniele Stolli from Italy won both races of SuperSport 300, increasing the gap in the standings where he is the leader ahead of countrymen Gionata Grassi and Marco Vigilucci. Double win for Maurizio Bottalico in SuperSport 600, while Tiziano Rosati confirmed a double second.
European STK 1000 and SSP 300 Cup: round 2 in Hungary The 4th round of the European STK 1000 Cup and SSP 300 Cup took place together with the Alpe Adria Championship at Automotodrom Grobnik, Croatia, under mixed weather conditions. SSP300 On Saturday morning Hungarian rider Mate Szamado took the pole position in wet a qualifying practice. In the afternoon Race 1 started in wet conditions even if the track was mostly dry. Szamado immediately took the lead and won with a gap of 9 seconds on Polish rider Mateusz Molik. Third place for Konuk Mert from Turkey. Race 2 started under a heavy rain. At the second corner Lukacs Hamilton crashed out, while his teammate Samado won again ahead of Molik and Mert. STK 1000 The weekend started in the best way but finished with a bittersweet taste for Sinisha Kochoski, who got the pole position in mixed conditions.
Northern Talent Cup: Phommara and Frellsen emerge victorious in exhilarating Red Bull Ring battles The seventh and next to last round of the Northern Talent Cup was raced at Red Bull Ring, in Austria. Race 1 In wet conditions, Lenoxx Phommara (Team Phommara) claimed a fourth victory of the season to launch himself to the top of the standings and place one hand on the NTC cup, his advantage at the top of the 2023 Northern Talent Cup standings now a substantial 19 points with just three races remaining. Riding in second position, Phommara made a last-lap move on Dutchman Jurrien Van Crugten (BB64 Academy) to take the lead onto the main straight. It was very much a photo finish with riders Filip Novotny (DG Corse) and Van Crugten crossing the line milliseconds behind. Austrian rookie Luis Rammerstorfer (Heating Factory Youngsters) took a surprise pole position in wet conditions at his
European Handy Bridgestone Cup: Picasso and Sontacchi grab the titles Pictures copyright: Coen Vleugels The third and last event of the European Handy Bridgestone Cup took place together with the European STK 1000 Cup and SSP 300 Cup and Alpe Adria Championship at Automotodrom Grobnik in Rijeka, Croatia. The Race Direction decided to cancel the first Qualifying Session scheduled on Friday due to heavy rain and the second Qualifying took place in wet conditions. Even if the bad weather, rain tyres and lap times of all riders were within the percentage set by the Regulation to participate to the races. Race 1 In the 1000cc class Italian rider Lorenzo Picasso led the race for 8 laps, followed by Martin Horky from Czech Republic and Italian Emiliano Malagoli. In the final laps Horky overtook Picasso and crossed as first the finish line. In the 600cc class, wild card Jakob Lorenz led
EMX Quad European Championship: Walker and Turrini share victories in mixed conditions at Cusses Gorse Pictures copyright: WSC After last weekend’s race in Ireland, fourth and next to last round of the EMX Quad European Championship has been hosted at Cusses Gorse Circuit in Aylesbury, Great Britain. Race 1 A fine drizzle hovered over the Cusses Gorse circuit prior to the race which dampened the track almost perfectly, but did not dampen the spirits of the British crowd as local riders #7 Harry Walker and #919 Mark McLernon taking the second and third gate pick, with the Italian #15 Patrick Turrini having first choice, opting for the inside gate. The gates slammed down and 21 riders stormed uphill toward the tight left-hand turn, with #5 Dafydd Davies claiming the holeshot with a marginal advantage over McLernon. Turrini slotted into third ahead of Walker, and #96 Murray Graham, having a better
European Under19 Individual Speedway Championship: Polish rider Przyjemski wins SF2 The SF2 of the European Under19 Individual Speedway Championship took place in Žarnovica, Slovakia. On a very well-prepared track, 17 riders competed for the promotion to the Final, which will take place on the 19th of August in Poland. Young riders gave a demonstration of their skills showing some interesting actions. Polish rider Wiktor Przyjemski won all the races ahead of Nazar Parnitskiy from Ukraine and countryman Oskar Paluch. Antoni Mencel (Poland), Norick Blodorn (Germany), Daniel Thompson (UK), Sebastian Kössler (Austria) and Anže Grmek (Slovenia) were promoted to the final too. Due to a storm started after the 20th race, an extra run for the reserve position could not take place. In accordance with the qualification rules, place 9 was taken by Matouš Kamenik (Czech Republic). Top three Wiktor Przyjemski, POL, 15 points Nazar Parnitskiy, UKR, 13 points Oskar Paluch,
