Friday's U21 WC final in this year's Speedway of Nations at Vojens Speedway Center did not turn out to be the Danish jubilation that many fans in attendance had hoped for. Benjamin Basso, Kevin Juhl Pedersen and Jonas Knudsen finished in 5th place overall, while a frighteningly strong Polish team took the 9th gold medal in a row.
By Ib Søby
ON a beautiful and warm summer evening, the audience and TV viewers all over the world were favored with many exciting heats, but also with some violent crashes, which dragged the WC final into overtime.
The Polish national team lost Wiktor Przyjewski in heat number five after a very violent crash which cost him a trip to Aabenraa Hospital.
The Danes did not get off to a good start and had to suffer with two last places in their first two heats. A double win in the 3rd start redressed the balance a bit, but apart from Benjamin Basso's impressive 21 points and Kevin Juhl's 5 points, there were too many holes in the soup.
Jonas Knudsen disappointed himself by not getting on the board at all.
Towards the end there was tension about who was going to be in the final against Poland. The British and the Czech Republic came out in the last chance heat, and here the Czech Jan Kvech showed his great talent with a spectacular overtake and heat victory.
In the final itself, the Czech Republic was on course for a surprise victory until Kvech's partner hit a track and dropped to last place.
Thus, the 15th Polish U21 WC title was a fact.
1. Poland 34
2. Czech Republic 29
3. Great Britain 28
4. Latvia 28
5. Denmark 26
6. Australia 22
7. Sweden 18
Top scorers
1. Franis Gusts, Latvia, 22
2. Jan Kvech, Czech Republic, 21 – in seven heats
3. Benjamin Basso, Denmark, 21 – in six heats