Bad Hersfeld: Third place in the final is enough for Dave Meijerink to claim victory

It was an atmospheric floodlit race on Saturday evening at the ‘Flemming Dental Arena’ (formerly ‘vorm Laufholz’) on the Johannesberg in Bad Hersfeld. Almost 2,000 spectators provided a wonderful backdrop for thrilling races on the 500-metre track. However, the MSC Bad Hersfeld race evening was overshadowed by a serious crash involving Imanuel Schramm and his passenger Lene Laise in the International Sidecar Class.

Ahead of the final of the international solo class, Dutch rider Dave Meijerink led the standings with three race wins and 15 points, followed by Britain’s Andrew Appleton and Mika Meijer (NL), each on twelve points. Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris had also performed to the best of his ability with two wins, but was disqualified in his third heat, meaning he went into the final with just ten points.

After a thrilling race, Harris went on to win the final. Third place on the podium was a small consolation for the overall victory he had missed out on. His compatriot Andrew Appleton finished second ahead of Meijerink, for whom the three points were enough to secure the overall victory. Meijer followed in fourth place ahead of Daniel Spiller and the Briton Max Perry.

Results of the Bad Hersfeld I-Solo grass track race:

• 1. Dave Meijerink (NL), 18 points

• 2. Andrew Appleton (GB), 16

• 3. Chris Harris (GB), 15

• 4. Mika Meijer (NL), 14

• 5. Daniel Spiller (D), 10

• 6. Mickie Simpson (GB), 8

• 7. Jacob Bukhave (DK), 8

• 8. William Kruit (NL), 5

• 9. Max Perry (GB), 5

• 10. Jens Benneker (Germany), 3

• 11. Paul Cooper (GB), 2

• 12. Fabian Wachs (D), 0

• Final: 1. Harris, 2. Appleton, 3. Meijerink, 4. Meijer, 5. Spiller, 6. Simpson.

Results of the Bad Hersfeld grass track race, I-teams:

• 1. Manuel Meier/Lena Siebert (D), 16

• 2. Raphael San Millan/Benedikt Zapf (D), 11

• 3. Achim Neuendorf/Johannes Schnaitter (D), 10.

• 4. Mitch Godden/Paul Smith (GB), 9

• 5. Oliver Möller/Imani Hazekamp (D/NL), 8

• 6. Jerome Lespinasse/Lauryna Faget (F), 5

• 7. Markus Brandhofer/Bridget Meijerink (Germany/Netherlands), 5

• 8. Nicole Standke/Alexander Hermann (Germany), 3

• 9. Simon Field/Dennis Smit (GB/NL), 2

• 10. Imanuel Schramm/Lene Laise (Germany), 0.

• Final: 1. Meier/Siebert, 2. Godden/Smith, 3. Neuendorf/Schnaitter, 2, 4. San Millan/Zapf, 5. Möller/Hazekamp.