Final

WORLD PAIRS FINAL

Germany and Poland were the first sides to record maximum heat wins in the early stages before the sides met in heat 6 and Poland took a lead in the meeting by repeating the feat to make them the nation to beat. After two rounds of races each the Poles led by 3 points as the other sides all took points from each other.

Host nation Scotland leapt to the top of the scorechart in heat 8 with a 5-1 over the Czech Republic pair and the Netherlands joined them on 11 points as Abe Zevenbergen won his third heat of the meeting. All eyes then turned to heat 10 as Poland met the 2015 champions England, with the result being a shared heat that put Poland 2 points clear of the field. Mark Briggs and Luke Treadwell picked up 4 points for Scotland in heat 11 to maintain their challenge but Poland took advantage of an exclusion for the flying Zevenbergen in heat 12 to stamp their authority on the meeting with a third 5-1 maximum. In heat 14 England saw their challenge ended as Liam Reay, who seemed to be struggling with his machinery from the start, retired and Germany moved to 3rd overall with a 5-1 win. With two heats each remaining Poland led from Scotland by 3 points and the title looked destined to be fought out between the two nations, who would meet in the next race.

Heat 15 looked vital as Scotland desperately needed a heat advantage against the Poles but the home supporters were left disappointed as Gabrys Irzyk won his fifth race and all but guaranteed Poland the title, barring a freak disaster. A second fall for Zevenbergen in heat 16 seemingly ended any hopes of a rostrum place for the Netherlands with England moving above them when Reay and Hayden Wood took a 5-1 against the Czech Republic in the next.

Heat 18 was the race where Poland were confirmed as the new World Pairs champions, despite not being involved, with Scotland and Germany drawing 3-3 to mean neither could catch the Poles. England moved to 18 points, and temporarily 3rd overall, when Reay won heat 19 before Poland completed a dominant display with yet another 5-1 in heat 20. The final scheduled heat saw Germany still able to finish as high as 2nd overall against Russia and the 3-3 result saw the former just edge out England for the final place on the rostrum.

In the final analysis Poland were deserving winners with Irzyk imperious throughout as he recorded an 18 point maximum. Scotland gave the home support some cheer with the silver medal, as Briggs and Treadwell both scored consistently, and Germany were very please to take advantage of some misfortune for other sides to claim 3rd. England finished lower than they would have hoped as Reay took some time to get his bikes firing and the Netherlands can feel a touch unlucky that a couple of falls for the previously unbeaten Zevenbergen left them adrift of a rostrum finish. For the other two sides the Russians relied too heavily on Maxim Shirakov, who scored 12 of their 16, and the Czechs always looked well behind the rest.

POLAND 27

1. Boguslaw Kryznowek........ 2* 2* 0 2* 1 2* 9+4

2. Gabrys Irzyk.............. 3 3 3 3 3 3 18

3. Marek Czaja............... Did not ride

SCOTLAND 20

1. Mark Briggs............... 2 2 2* 3 2 0 11+1

2. Luke Treadwell............ 1* 1* 3 1 0 3 9+2

3. Scott Bridges............. Did not ride

GERMANY 19

1. Otto Juttke............... 3 1 0 2* 1* 1* 8+3

2. Henrik Wasserman.......... 2* 0 2 3 2 2 11+1

3. Hans Benkarth............. Did not ride

ENGLAND 18

1. Liam Reay................. 0 1* 1* R 3 3 8+2

2. Hayden Wood............... 3 2 2 1 2* 0 10+1

3. David Bedford............. Did not ride

NETHERLANDS 17

1. Henk Knapke............... 0 1 1 1 2 1* 6+1

2. Abe Zevenbergen........... 3 3 3 X F - 9

3. Rodolf Schuyler........... 2 - - - - - 2

RUSSIA 16

1. Boris Dvoynev............. 0 0 - - - - 0

2. Maxim Shirakov............ 1 3 0 2 3 3 12

3. Oleg Yelesnev............. 2 1* 1 0 - - 4+1

CZECH REPUBLIC 9

1. Milan Stajner............. 0 2 R Fx - - 2

2. Tibor Nemecek............. 1 0 1 3 1 1 7

3. Josef Gavenda............. 0 0 - - - - 0

No. Results

1: Abe Zevenbergen, Mark Briggs, Luke Treadwell, Henk Knapke

2: Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman, Tibor Nemecek, Milan Stajner

3: Gabrys Irzyk, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Maxim Shirakov, Boris Dvoynev

4: Hayden Wood, Mark Briggs, Luke Treadwell, Liam Reay

5: Abe Zevenbergen, Milan Stajner, Henk Knapke, Tibor Nemecek

6: Gabrys Irzyk, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman

7: Maxim Shirakov, Hayden Wood, Liam Reay, Boris Dvoynev

8: Luke Treadwell, Mark Briggs, Tibor Nemecek, Milan Stajner (R)

9: Abe Zevenbergen, Henrik Wasserman, Henk Knapke, Otto Juttke

10: Gabrys Irzyk, Hayden Wood, Liam Reay, Boguslaw Kryznowek

11: Mark Briggs, Oleg Yelesnev, Luke Treadwell, Maxim Shirakov

12: Gabrys Irzyk, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Henk Knapke, Abe Zevenbergen (X)

13: Tibor Nemecek, Maxim Shirakov, Oleg Yelesnev, Milan Stajner (Fx)

14: Henrik Wasserman, Otto Juttke, Hayden Wood, Liam Reay (R)

15: Gabrys Irzyk, Mark Briggs, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Luke Treadwell

16: Maxim Shirakov, Henk Knapke, Oleg Yelesnev, Abe Zevenbergen (F)

17: Liam Reay, Hayden Wood, Tibor Nemecek, Josef Gavenda

18: Luke Treadwell, Henrik Wasserman, Otto Juttke, Mark Briggs

19: Liam Reay, Rodolf Schuyler, Henk Knapke, Hayden Wood

20: Gabrys Irzyk, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Tibor Nemecek, Josef Gavenda

21: Maxim Shirakov, Henrik Wasserman, Otto Juttke, Oleg Yelesnev