Rastede: Clever Dave Meijerink wins the final – Chris Harris suffers a stroke of bad luck

In perfect weather conditions, large crowds once again flocked to the tournament grounds in Rastede Castle Park at the weekend to watch some thrilling track racing. Following Saturday’s opening day of the racing weekend, featuring motocross and EVLS races, Sunday saw the International Solo and Sidecar classes, as well as the junior riders in the B-licence class, take to the track.

First things first: The attempt to break the 2004 grass track world record – set when England’s Kelvin Tatum completed the 1,000-metre grass track at an average speed of 143.255 km/h for the flying lap – was unsuccessful again this year. The Rastede track thus remains the fastest in the world with this record. Andrew Appleton clocked 141.2319 km/h, Dave Meijerink 139.4808 km/h and Patrick Kruse (DK) 137.2990 km/h

Dave Meijerink won on Saturday in Bad Hersfeld and on Sunday in Rastede

“That was my final today,” said a delighted Dave Meijerink later in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com, reflecting on his victory in the all-deciding final. “I focused on the start and it paid off. A win on the outside – brilliant, especially as I’d already won on Saturday evening in Bad Hersfeld. I’m very pleased with my performance.”

Before that, it had looked as though Andrew Appleton, who had already won at Rastede the previous two years, would now complete the hat-trick. The Briton had been so dominant, winning each of his four heats by comfortable margins. That gave him the maximum 24 points on his tally.

Meijerink had accumulated 20 points by that stage. The Dane Kenneth Kruse Hansen had also qualified for the final with 19 points, as had the Briton James Shanes with 18. Chris Harris (GB) won the last-chance heat ahead of Stephan Katt and Paul Cooper (GB). This finalised the line-up for the seven-man final.

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Here’s how the final unfolded:

Meijerink got off to a flying start, was in the lead after the first bend on the superbly prepared track and didn’t relinquish the lead over the four laps. Behind him, Kruse Hansen put up a brilliant fight against Appleton and finished second ahead of the Briton. Shanes followed in fourth place ahead of Katt and Cooper. Harris had a full jet of dirt hit his visor on the second lap, was forced to ease off the throttle and subsequently pulled into the inside lane, clearly disappointed.

Harris, who was competing in Rastede for the first time, had already suffered bad luck in his third heat when his drive chain snapped. Incidentally, the same thing had happened to him on Saturday during the race in Bad Hersfeld. “It’s frustrating,” the Briton concluded.

Results of the Rastede I-Solo grass track race:

• 1. Dave Meijerink (NL), 20 heat points

• 2. Kenneth Kruse Hansen (DK), 19

• 3. Andrew Appleton (GB), 24

• 4. James Shanes (GB), 18

• 5. Stephan Katt (Germany), 10

• 6. Paul Cooper (GB), 12

• 7. Chris Harris (GB), 16

• 8. Patrick Kruse (DK), 14

• 9. Glenn Moi (N), 12

• 10. William Kruit (NL), 10

• 11. Mark Beishuizen (NL), 7

• 12. Timo Wachs (Germany), 4

• 13. Niek Meijerink (NL), 1

• 14. Jeffrey Sijbesma (NL), 0

• 15. Fabian Wachs (Germany), 0

• Last-Chance Heat: 1. Harris, 2. Katt, 3. Cooper, 4. Kruse, 5. Kruit, 6. Beishuizen, 7. Moi

• Final: 1. Meijerink, 2. Kruse Hansen, 3. Appleton, 4. Shanes, 5. Katt, 6. Cooper, 7. Harris (a)

Results of the Rastede grass track race, Class I teams:

• 1. Mitch Godden/Paul Smith (GB), 14 points

• 2. Markus Brandhofer/Bridget Meijerink (D/NL), 13

• 3. Jerome Lespinasse/Lauryna Faget (F), 11

• 4. Raphael San Millan/Benedikt Zapf (Germany), 11

• 5. Oliver Möller/Imani Hazekamp (Germany/Netherlands), 5

• 6. Clement Furet/Gilles Couprie (F), 4

• 7. Nicole Standke/Alexander Hermann (Germany), 1

• 8. Simon Field/Joe Page (GB), 0

• Final: 1. Lespinasse/Faget, 2. Godden/Smith, 3. Brandhofer/Meijerink, 4. San Millan/Zapf, 5. Möller/Hazekamp.

Results of the Rastede B-Solo grass track race:

• 1. Jeremias Ramus, 23 points

• 2. Louis Tebbe, 21

• 3. Mika Frehse, 19

• 4. Bob Dolman (GB), 19

• 5. Nynke Sijbesma (NL), 13

• 6. Marvyn Katt, 10

• 7. Thomas Vinning, 8

• 8. Kevin Lück, 8

• 9. Tom Hansen, 8

• 10. Thomas Kreitz, 8

• 11. Graeme Brown (GB), 4

• 12. John Hartley (GB), 4

• 13. Lando Michaelis, 2

• 14. Remon Huizinga, 0