GP CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 2

 

This was a closely contested meeting which ended with Poland's Marek Czaja beating Ila Niemi of Finland to claim top spot on the rostrum, both riders sealing a place in the GP Challenge.  Abe Zevenbergen improved as the meeting went on to claim 3rd spot overall and also qualify for the next stage.  Tibor Nemecek was highly fancied to qualify but suffered a nightmare start after an engine failure meant he had just 2 points from 2 heats; the Czech star picked himself up to race to 3 wins and then follow Zevenbergen home in a run-off and claim the last automatic place in the GP Challenge.
 
The rider to miss out in the crucial run-off was Russia's Boris Dvoynev after he had also accumulated 11 points from the main meeting.  Canadian Wilbur Stanyk put up a solid display but his failure to win a heat meant he missed out on a chance of qualification by a single point.  Of the other stars the bookies had predicted to challenge for a GP Challenge Final place Jakub Baran scored a good 9 but ended with a pointless ride to miss out and Ricky Antunovich, an impressive wild card performer in the last GP, scored 8 whilst the rest of the field never really got themselves in contention for a top 4 spot.
 
After the meeting there was good news for Boris Dvoynev when the GP Committee confirmed that he would be selected as wild card for the GP Challenge as the highest scoring non-qualifier in the two semi finals.
 
  1. Marek Czaja............... 3  3  2  1  3  12      QUALIFIED FOR GP CHALLENGE
  2. Ila Niemi................. 3  1  3  2  3  12      QUALIFIED FOR GP CHALLENGE
  3. Abe Zevenbergen........... 1  2  3  3  2  11      QUALIFIED FOR GP CHALLENGE
  4. Tibor Nemecek............. 2  R  3  3  3  11      QUALIFIED FOR GP CHALLENGE
  5. Boris Dvoynev............. 1  3  1  3  3  11      WILD CARD FOR GP CHALLENGE
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  6. Wilbur Stanyk............. 2  2  2  2  2  10
  7. Jakub Baran............... 3  2  1  3  0   9
  8. Josef Gavenda............. 2  3  1  2  1   9
  9. Ricky Antunovich.......... 3  2  0  1  2   8
 10. Mark Briggs............... 1  1  2  1  1   6
 11. Bjorn Haagensen........... 1  3  0  0  1   5
 12. Brad Easty................ 0  1  3  0  0   4
 13. Norbert Pakiet............ F  0  1  2  1   4
 14. Lars Magnussen............ 2  0  0  1  0   3
 15. Boris Kravchuk............ 0  1  2  0  0   3
 16. Warren Casey.............. 0  Fx 0  0  2   2
 17. Scott Bridges............. Did not ride
 18. Yuri Jugovic.............. Did not ride
 
 No. Results
  1: Ricky Antunovich, Lars Magnussen, Mark Briggs, Boris Kravchuk 
  2: Jakub Baran, Josef Gavenda, Boris Dvoynev, Norbert Pakiet (F) 
  3: Ila Niemi, Tibor Nemecek, Abe Zevenbergen, Brad Easty 
  4: Marek Czaja, Wilbur Stanyk, Bjorn Haagensen, Warren Casey 
  5: Bjorn Haagensen, Jakub Baran, Brad Easty, Lars Magnussen 
  6: Boris Dvoynev, Ricky Antunovich, Ila Niemi, Warren Casey (Fx) 
  7: Josef Gavenda, Wilbur Stanyk, Boris Kravchuk, Tibor Nemecek (R) 
  8: Marek Czaja, Abe Zevenbergen, Mark Briggs, Norbert Pakiet 
  9: Tibor Nemecek, Marek Czaja, Boris Dvoynev, Lars Magnussen 
 10: Abe Zevenbergen, Wilbur Stanyk, Jakub Baran, Ricky Antunovich 
 11: Brad Easty, Boris Kravchuk, Norbert Pakiet, Warren Casey 
 12: Ila Niemi, Mark Briggs, Josef Gavenda, Bjorn Haagensen 
 13: Abe Zevenbergen, Josef Gavenda, Lars Magnussen, Warren Casey 
 14: Tibor Nemecek, Norbert Pakiet, Ricky Antunovich, Bjorn Haagensen 
 15: Jakub Baran, Ila Niemi, Marek Czaja, Boris Kravchuk 
 16: Boris Dvoynev, Wilbur Stanyk, Mark Briggs, Brad Easty 
 17: Ila Niemi, Wilbur Stanyk, Norbert Pakiet, Lars Magnussen 
 18: Marek Czaja, Ricky Antunovich, Josef Gavenda, Brad Easty 
 19: Boris Dvoynev, Abe Zevenbergen, Bjorn Haagensen, Boris Kravchuk 
 20: Tibor Nemecek, Warren Casey, Mark Briggs, Jakub Baran 
 run-off for 3rd-5th: Abe Zevenbergen, Tibor Nemecek, Boris Dvoynev 
 run-off for 1st: Marek Czaja, Ila Niemi