Schwarme: The weather gods were not kind to the people of Lower Saxony

An active club spends weeks preparing for the biggest club event of the year, only for the weather to let them down on the day of the competition. MSC Schwarme was the club affected; on Sunday, it had to suspend its grass track race at the Niedersachsenring in Schwarmer Bruch at around 4 pm, as several rain showers had previously fallen on the 700-metre-long and 21-metre-wide grass track, resulting in a number of crashes among the competing riders.

During the break, the club tried to make the track safer again using heavy machinery, but when the rain started again, it was clear to everyone that the safety of the riders had to take priority. At a quarter to five in the afternoon, the event – which featured A and B licence solo riders, the international sidecar class and two enduro classes – was finally called off.

How did the race go for the solo riders?

Up to that point, Daniel Spiller in particular had shown that he had truly taken the grass track in Schwarme to his heart. The Nuremberg rider defeated European champion Kenneth Kruse Hansen from Denmark in his very first heat with a spirited performance, but finished only third in his second heat behind KKH and the Brit Andrew Appleton after a clump of dirt had landed on his goggles. In Heat 4, the order changed slightly: the Dane took first place, Spiller was second and Appleton third, ahead of the Dutchman Dave Meijerink and the talented Patrick Kruse (DK).

In the end – that is, when the race was abandoned – Spiller and Kruse Hansen were level on 19 points, ahead of Meijerink on 18, Kruse on 17 and Appleton on 15. The B-licence holders Marcel Sebastian from DMSC Bielefeld and youngster Niek Meijerink from the Netherlands put up a valiant performance in the international field.

How did things go in the sidecar class?

In the sidecars, after three heats, the British pair Mitch Godden and Paul Smith were clearly in the lead with three wins. They were, however, well-rested. Their rivals, by contrast, had been in full swing late on Saturday evening at the European Championship Challenge in Werlte. The French pair Jerome Lespinasse and Lauryna Faget (11 points) and Werlte winners Markus Brandhofer and Bridget Meijerink (10) were the closest to the British duo in terms of points.

Topic of the week

From major doubts to a major spectacle: why GP fans have reason to be delighted

Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

Vanessa Georgoulas

Read more

Results of the Schwarme grass track race following the cancellation:

I-Sidecars (after 3 of 5 races):

B-Solo (after 3 of 5 runs):