Comment: 2017 FIM Ice Speedway RD4

After the mid-season trip to Europe, Dimitry Koltakov has turned the momentum back in his favour and now has one hand on the trophy. But the battles further down the order were just as interesting as the Grand Prix returned to Berlin for the first time since 2010.

With a 21-point maximum on the opening day in the German capital, Dimitry Koltakov wiped out all of Igor Kononov’s hard-earned gains from an unbeaten weekend in Almaty. And after beating Kononov three times on the second day, he has built a surely unassailable eight-point lead.

Consistency has been the key for Dimitry Koltakov in 2017 and when he has been beaten he has secured enough points to hold on to the Championship lead that has been in his grip since the opening round in Togliatti. Igor Kononov came into Berlin on the back of four consecutive victories but that run was ended efficiently, as Koltakov’s skill on European circuits boosted his points advantage.

For me, the moment that may have sealed the Championship was Koltakov’s brilliant fight through the field on day two in Berlin. After spending the best part of three laps overhauling Dinar Valeev for second, it looked as though a good damage limitation ride would leave him six points up heading to Heerenveen and the Championship showdown. I was completely caught by surprise in commentary by the 2015 Champion’s final lap surge to catch and pass main Championship rival Kononov.

Koltakov’s speed and victory margin over Kononov in the Semi Finals certainly pointed to him being the fastest rider in the Final line-up, but after making the wrong decisions on the opening lap he cannot have expected to get back top spot. Kononov had a chance to limit the damage on a weekend where he was strong, but just not strong enough – his cutback from gate four was nothing short of miraculous, and with Valeev holding up Koltakov he built a lead that should have been unassailable. In his post-meeting interviews Kononov talked about engine problems and his struggles in getting out of the start; but when he did hit the front against Koltakov, he still couldn’t take advantage. And his dejected reaction to the Berlin Grand Prix is a sure sign that his head has dropped at what now seems a likely second Championship win for Koltakov.

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Interesting squabbles for fifth and seventh provided plenty more points of discussion in Berlin than a Championship fight that is now starting to look one sided. After missing out on points altogether in Almaty, Daniil Ivanov’s chances of returning to the top five look remote as he is clearly still struggling with injury, and Franz Zorn looked confident again in Berlin.

The Austrian is the only European rider causing problems for the Russian riders, simply because he is so fast out of the gate. I was absolutely stunned by his heat seven start on day two, and looked into his starts a bit more. He averages about a tenth of a second advantage just in his reactions, not bad for a veteran rider, and although he isn’t close to challenging the top three in the Championship he certainly kept up with Dinar Valeev in the battle for the podium places on day one.

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In my last column I wrote about Hans Weber and Max Niedermaier needing to prove themselves in front of their home crowd. For Niedermaier it was a debut home Grand Prix with the newly formed Eisspeedwayunion Berlin team. But it was Weber who really produced the goods, securing a place in the Semi Finals for the first time this season, and picking up most of his points from the back as well.

He was admittedly a little fortunate to make the Semi Finals; Gunther Bauer had the beating of him in heat twenty and would have eliminated his rival had it not been for the veteran’s disqualification for a pretty clear infringement of track limits on the opening lap. He was also a little fortunate with Niclas Svensson’s heat fourteen retirement; as it turns out, a third place finish there would not have been enough.

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A pair of very bizarre refereeing decisions on day two played a part in the battle for seventh position in the Championship, restricting Stefan Svensson to a gain of just one point over Gunther Bauer, when he looked far more competitive than the home hero. Svensson was incorrectly disqualified from heat twelve, when Daniil Ivanov was the cause of the stoppage, ripping the bales from the outside of the circuit into his path. And after Svensson had dropped two points there, Gunther Bauer gained two points from Hans Weber’s disqualification in heat fifteen. This one was a tougher call, but Bauer was extremely forceful with an inside pass, and Weber had absolutely nowhere to go but into the safety barriers. I don’t know what her view is like from race control at the Horst Dohm Eisstadion, but if she looks back at the video, I suspect she will consider both decisions as mistakes.

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There was plenty to look out for in the battles between the German riders. Not only for the usual dynamic of veteran Bauer versus challengers to his throne, none of which look ready to replace him just yet. The inclusion of Luca Bauer for a second Wild Card appearance was a controversial decision, and unfortunately the youngster was able to do little to vindicate it. From the point of view of giving a young rider valuable track time against the world’s best, it was absolutely the right call. But starting is still his main weakness, and until he is able to get out of the gate with the others, he is only going to lose confidence dropping away at the back.

Luca’s defeat at the hands of Tobias Busch will have been particularly galling, because the newcomer to the sport only raced in one heat all weekend, and by getting out of the start ahead was able to take a point from his debut. Busch certainly needs to work on his Ice Speedway technique - he isn’t getting his knee down coming into the bends – but I have been very impressed with his efforts so far. In just one winter, the Speedway convert has made it into the top five in his national rankings, and if he sticks with it then he will certainly be among Germany’s best in the years to come.

In the meanwhile, he will be watching on next week as the Grand Prix trio of Niedermaier, Weber and Bauer represent the national team on home ice in the World Team Championship.