GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE
 
As always the GP Challenge was one of the most fiercely contested meetings of the season, with just 5 places guarnateed for next season's GP Series.  With a mix of riders who have been through a long qualifying campaign and those who disappointed in this season's GPs and wanted the chance to show they can do better it was cut and thrust from the off with 7 riders separated by just a single point from 2nd to 8th by the end.
 
KENNI ALGREEN was the standout performer on the day, finishing with a pair of wins to finish top of the pile with a clear margin and qualify for next season's GP competition, after a promising 7 points as a wild card this season.  Behind him it was carnage with a series of riders looking well set to qualify but then slipping up with others joining the push.  The positions from 2nd to 5th had to be decided by a run-off in the end but by that stage nobody really cared about the order as all 4 of the riders had definitely confirmed themselves as permanent GP riders for 2018/19.  MAREK CZAJA (9th in this season's GPs) and NIKITA FEDERENKO (15th this year) both ran a last before the interval to make life hard but picked up 5 points after the break to reach double figures, which was to prove enough.  RICKY ANTUNOVICH looked a potential meeting winner going into his last race but the competitiveness of the meeting was aptly demonstrated with one bad gate leaving him sweating as he watched the other riders take their last race before he knew he had done enough; 4th reserve this season and a wild card pick during the series, scoring a solid 8, he was certainly deserving of his success today.  The final rider to automatically qualify was SVEN SVENSSON who has had a tough GP campaign this year but will be back next season - after 4 of this season's GP rounds he had just 12 points but finished with 10, 8, 6 & 6 and he will now look to take that improvement forwards.
 
Behind them a trio of riders were right in the mix but just missed out on an automatic spot - although joy was to follow disappointment for two of them shortly after the meeting with the announcement of the Wild Card picks.  Ove Dalasen rode well to take 9 points from his first 4 heats but failed to score in heat 19 and he will have to hope to get what rides he can as first reserve next season whilst going through the qualification process once more.  BORIS DVOYNEV and JACK HAGEN were the other riders to finish on 9 but the news that filtered through that evening meant their efforts were not in vain as they impressed the GP Committee enough to be given Wild Card slots as permanent riders for 2018/19.  Dvoynev showed his quality in finishing just a point behind automatic qualification here but more importantly he won the British GP during the season and ended the series with another good display when he finished 5th in Poland.  Hagen has been on the periphery of 'world class' for a few seasons now but has stepped up and done enough to convince the selectors that he is ready now - he scored 43 points overall in the GP qualifying process and vitally was the best wild card performer during the GP season, following decent displays in previous seasons by finishing 2nd in the opening round of this season (in fact after 4 rounds his 13 point score placed him ahead of permanent series member Svensson!).
 
Although the riders not selected, and Ila Niemi came very close and has been boosted to 2nd reserve for next season to confirm that the Committee see him as part of the world elite next season, will be disappointed not many can match the claims of Dvoynev and Hagen and there were no real hard luck stories in the qualifying meetings this season.  So it's good luck to Algreen, Antunovich and Hagen who will be making their full-time GP debuts next season and fingers crossed for Czaja, Federenko, Svensson and Dvoynev that they can avoid what is the most tense, if arguably usually the best to watch, meeting of the season next year!
 
  1. Kenni Algreen............. 2  3  1  3  3  12   ---   QUALIFIED
  2. Marek Czaja............... 2  3  0  2  3  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  3. Nikita Federenko.......... 3  2  0  3  2  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  4. Ricky Antunovich.......... 2  2  3  3  0  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  5. Sven Svensson............. 3  0  3  2  2  10   ---   QUALIFIED
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  6. Ove Dalasen............... 3  1  2  3  0   9
  7. Boris Dvoynev............. 1  3  2  1  2   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  8. Jack Hagen................ 1  2  2  2  2   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  9. Carsten Ostenstad......... 3  0  3  0  1   7
 10. Rudi Juritzen............. 0  1  1  0  3   5
 11. Hans E Bergestol.......... 1  3  1  R  E   5
 12. Oleg Yelesnev............. 0  2  0  2  1   5
 13. Milan Stajner............. 0  0  3  1  0   4
 14. Brad Easty................ 0  1  2  1  0   4
 15. Gote Nordvall............. 2  R  X  1  1   4
 16. Luke Treadwell............ 1  1  1  0  1   4
 17. Ila Niemi................. 3  -  -  -  -   3
 18. David Bedford............. Did not ride
 
 No. Results
  1: Sven Svensson, Gote Nordvall, Boris Dvoynev, Milan Stajner 
  2: Carsten Ostenstad, Kenni Algreen, Hans E Bergestol, Rudi Juritzen 
  3: Ove Dalasen, Ricky Antunovich, Luke Treadwell, Oleg Yelesnev 
  4: Nikita Federenko, Marek Czaja, Jack Hagen, Brad Easty 
  5: Hans E Bergestol, Nikita Federenko, Luke Treadwell, Sven Svensson 
  6: Kenni Algreen, Ricky Antunovich, Brad Easty, Milan Stajner 
  7: Marek Czaja, Oleg Yelesnev, Rudi Juritzen, Gote Nordvall (R) 
  8: Boris Dvoynev, Jack Hagen, Ove Dalasen, Carsten Ostenstad 
  9: Sven Svensson, Jack Hagen, Kenni Algreen, Oleg Yelesnev 
 10: Milan Stajner, Ove Dalasen, Hans E Bergestol, Marek Czaja 
 11: Carsten Ostenstad, Brad Easty, Luke Treadwell, Gote Nordvall (X) 
 12: Ricky Antunovich, Boris Dvoynev, Rudi Juritzen, Nikita Federenko 
 13: Ove Dalasen, Sven Svensson, Brad Easty, Rudi Juritzen 
 14: Nikita Federenko, Oleg Yelesnev, Milan Stajner, Carsten Ostenstad 
 15: Ricky Antunovich, Jack Hagen, Gote Nordvall, Hans E Bergestol (R) 
 16: Kenni Algreen, Marek Czaja, Boris Dvoynev, Luke Treadwell 
 17: Marek Czaja, Sven Svensson, Carsten Ostenstad, Ricky Antunovich 
 18: Rudi Juritzen, Jack Hagen, Luke Treadwell, Milan Stajner 
 19: Kenni Algreen, Nikita Federenko, Gote Nordvall, Ove Dalasen 
 20: Ila Niemi, Boris Dvoynev, Oleg Yelesnev, Brad Easty 
 21: Marek Czaja, Nikita Federenko, Ricky Antunovich, Sven Svensson