After all, the second semi-final of the European Grass Court Solo Championship will take place. The competition literally failed in Loppersum, but will still take place in Saint-Macaire, France.
The semi-final, canceled due to rain, will be in France on Saturday, June 22. In the competition, the best riders will be able to qualify for the European Grass Track Championships, which will also be held in France, in Tayac, on July 6. The first runners qualified for the first semi-final in Bielefeld, Germany, a few weeks ago. This also occurred in rainy conditions, but the races could be completed.
There German Lukas Fienhage won, with Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris in second place, while Jacob Bukhave finished third. Winschoten’s Mika Meijer and William Kruit also qualified for the final in Bielefeld. Nigel Hummel, Romano’s cousin, missed with a knee injury.
Finding a place for the Euro semi-finals took some effort
The second semi-final in Saint-Macaire will soon feature reigning European champion Romano Hummel from Hoogkerk and Dave Meijerink from Schuinesloot, leader of the Dutch Open Grass Track competition. The Frisians Henry van der Steen from Oude Bildtzijl and Kevin Glorie from Wolvega will also try to win a place in the final among other foreign competitions.
The international association FIM has had quite a headache finding a way to allow the semi-final, which was canceled in Loppersum, to take place. If this had not been successful, the national motor sports boards would have had to nominate drivers for the final in Tayac. As there were only one or at most two starting places available per country, several Dutch drivers would be left out. Now that horror scenario is being avoided.
Due to the wet climate, they moved to France.
According to Jacob Alkema, Drouwen head of the Dutch association KNMV and the FIM, “after thorough investigation and wise deliberation, it was decided not to hold the semi-final of the European grass track championships in the Netherlands. This has to do with”. the persistent extremely wet weather conditions in our country, making the holding of a successful Dutch semi-final extremely uncertain. Better weather is expected in Sain-Macaire, in the south of France. We also thought about holding the race in Tayac the day before the final, but it turned out that it wasn’t feasible.
The holding of the semi-final in Saint-Macaire has consequences for the international competition at Opende on Saturday, June 21 and at the Dutch Open Grass Track in Noordwolde, Friesland, on Sunday, June 23. A large number of international special drivers cannot attend the other competitions due to their participation in France. As a result, the international special stages races at Opende will be eliminated and the special stages will become the main program at the national level. The 125cc Cup class will also compete in the Saturday night program.
Noordwolde will be held later
The competition in Noordwolde, Friesland, has been postponed and will now take place on Sunday, July 21. The organization, which in the previous edition already had to deal with heavy rains and storms, hopes to have a good number of participants and good weather conditions.
