Quarter Finals

WORLD PAIRS QUARTER FINAL 1 (Sweden)

top 3 definitely qualify + 2 highest 4th place teams

Hosts Sweden won this meeting with Flood and Levin both recording double figure returns, and reserve Matsdotter also chipping in as part of a heat 15 maximum over Australia. Joining them in the Semi Final stage will be Norway (Thoresen and Bergestol scoring heavily as expected) and America (Antunovich the star performer with Landis scoring late points to help them over the line). Whilst qualification was simple for the top 3 Australia, with Scott and Isaacs both scoring 9+1, had a bit of a wait before progress was confirmed. As the results of the other meetings came in there were 3 nations tied on 18 points, with just 2 places in the Semis; in the end bonus points scored provided the 'tiebreaker' needed with Australia's 2 being enough to see them stay in the competition.

Of the sides going out the Netherlands will have fancied their chances of challenging but only Zevenbergen got going and by the time Knapke joined him for a heat 19 maximum they had left themselves too much to do. France and Argentina (for who Rocco did score double figures, but with little support) were always going to find the going tough and finished 7 points off any chance of qualification.

SWEDEN 27 (QUALIFIED)

1. Johannes Flood............ 3 2* 3 1 3 2* 14+2

2. Lennart Levin............. 1 3 1 3 E 3 11

3. Wallborg Matsdotter....... 2* - - - - - 2+1

NORWAY 23 (QUALIFIED)

1. Olle Bjorn Thoresen....... 3 1 2 1* 3 3 13+1

2. Hans E Bergestol.......... 2* 3 0 2 2* E 9+2

3. Carsten Ostenstad......... 1 - - - - - 1

AMERICA 23 (QUALIFIED)

1. Ricky Antunovich.......... 3 3 2 3 2* 3 16+1

2. Braxton McChesney......... 2* 1 0 Fx - - 3+1

3. Pat Landis................ 3 1 - - - - 4

AUSTRALIA 18 (QUALIFIED)

1. Andrew Scott.............. R 3 2* 1 1 2 9+1

2. Jason Isaacs.............. 1 2* 3 3 0 0 9+1

3. Eddie Mabo................ - - - - - - 0

NETHERLANDS 13

1. Abe Zevenbergen........... 1 2 F 3 1 3 10

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

3. Alex Van Maurik........... 1 0 R - - - 1

FRANCE 11

1. Matt Le Saux.............. 1 1 2 1* 0 0 5+1

2. Xavier Blanc.............. 0 0 - - - - 0

3. Alain Tresarrieu.......... 1* 2 1 2 - - 6+1

ARGENTINA 11

1. Jorge Alvarez............. 0 0 1 0 - - 1

2. Facundo Rocco............. 2 2 3 2 0 1 10

3. Gustavo Goycochea......... 0 0 - - - - 0

No. Results

1: Johannes Flood, Facundo Rocco, Lennart Levin, Jorge Alvarez

2: Ricky Antunovich, Braxton McChesney, Matt Le Saux, Xavier Blanc

3: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Hans E Bergestol, Jason Isaacs, Andrew Scott (R)

4: Lennart Levin, Johannes Flood, Abe Zevenbergen, Henk Knapke

5: Ricky Antunovich, Facundo Rocco, Braxton McChesney, Jorge Alvarez

6: Andrew Scott, Jason Isaacs, Matt Le Saux, Xavier Blanc

7: Hans E Bergestol, Abe Zevenbergen, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Henk Knapke

8: Johannes Flood, Ricky Antunovich, Lennart Levin, Braxton McChesney

9: Facundo Rocco, Matt Le Saux, Alain Tresarrieu, Gustavo Goycochea

10: Jason Isaacs, Andrew Scott, Alex Van Maurik, Abe Zevenbergen (F)

11: Lennart Levin, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Johannes Flood, Hans E Bergestol

12: Jason Isaacs, Facundo Rocco, Andrew Scott, Gustavo Goycochea

13: Ricky Antunovich, Hans E Bergestol, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Braxton McChesney (Fx)

14: Abe Zevenbergen, Alain Tresarrieu, Matt Le Saux, Alex Van Maurik

15: Johannes Flood, Wallborg Matsdotter, Andrew Scott, Jason Isaacs

16: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Hans E Bergestol, Jorge Alvarez, Facundo Rocco

17: Pat Landis, Ricky Antunovich, Abe Zevenbergen, Alex Van Maurik (R)

18: Lennart Levin, Johannes Flood, Alain Tresarrieu, Matt Le Saux

19: Abe Zevenbergen, Henk Knapke, Facundo Rocco, Jorge Alvarez

20: Ricky Antunovich, Andrew Scott, Pat Landis, Jason Isaacs

21: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Alain Tresarrieu, Carsten Ostenstad, Matt Le Saux

Runoff for 2nd: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Ricky Antunovich

WORLD PAIRS QUARTER FINAL 2 (Russia)

top 3 definitely qualify + 2 highest 4th place teams

Home nation Russia (Fedorenko and Yelesnev scoring well throughout) led the qualifiers here and were joined, as expected, by England (Ambrose and Wood overcoming a fall each to seal relatively easy progress). Finland took the third automatic qualifying place as Helinen and Niemi scored consistently to see them through.

The Czech Republic had some rough look, firstly missing star man Janicek who suffered an injury the day before, and then suffering a couple of falls which cost them dearly as they ended just a point adrift of the highest scoring 4th placed sides. Janicek's replacement Drahos did well but his initial partner, Nemecek, was out of form and although Vaniak's introduction helped it was not quite enough. Romania put up a brave fight but relied too much on Draghu (15 points). Italy will have fancied themselves as dark horses but couldn't give enough support to Innacone (11+1) as Dragotto suffered machine problems. Hungary finished adrift at the bottom with none of their trio able to win a heat between them through the afternoon.

RUSSIA 24 (QUALIFIED)

1. Nikita Fedorenko.......... 3 1 3 2 Fx 3 12

2. Oleg Yelesnev............. 2* 3 2* 0 3 2* 12+3

3. Denis Gomozov............. Did not ride

ENGLAND 22 (QUALIFIED)

1. Nick Ambrose.............. 0 3 3 Fx 3 3 12

2. Liam Reay................. 3 2* 1 3 1 Fx 10+1

3. Hayden Wood............... Did not ride

FINLAND 20 (QUALIFIED)

1. Hannu Helinen............. 1* 3 3 1* 2 0 10+2

2. Ila Niemi................. 2 2* 1 2 1* 2 10+2

3. Appe Mattila.............. Did not ride

CZECH REPUBLIC 17

1. Zdenek Drahos............. 0 1 2 2* 3 2 10+1

2. Tibor Nemecek............. 2 0 Fx - - - 2

3. Marc Vaniak............... 3 2* Fx - - - 5+1

ROMANIA 16

1. Sorin Draghu.............. 1 3 3 3 2 3 15

2. Stefan Botezatu........... 0 0 0 1 - - 1

3. Florin Luntraru........... 0 0 - - - - 0

ITALY 15

1. Enzo Innacone............. 3 1* 1 2 1 3 11+1

2. Donato Dragotto........... 1 2 R R - - 3

3. Luigi Tabaglio............ 0 1 - - - - 1

HUNGARY 11

1. Zoltan Benko.............. 0 1 2 1 1 1* 6+1

2. Jakub Fekete.............. 2 0 1* 0 0 - 3+1

3. Oguz Juhasz............... 2 - - - - - 2

No. Results

1: Nikita Fedorenko, Oleg Yelesnev, Sorin Draghu, Stefan Botezatu

2: Enzo Innacone, Jakub Fekete, Donato Dragotto, Zoltan Benko

3: Liam Reay, Ila Niemi, Hannu Helinen, Nick Ambrose

4: Oleg Yelesnev, Tibor Nemecek, Nikita Fedorenko, Zdenek Drahos

5: Sorin Draghu, Donato Dragotto, Enzo Innacone, Stefan Botezatu

6: Hannu Helinen, Ila Niemi, Zoltan Benko, Jakub Fekete

7: Nick Ambrose, Liam Reay, Zdenek Drahos, Tibor Nemecek

8: Nikita Fedorenko, Oleg Yelesnev, Enzo Innacone, Donato Dragotto (R)

9: Sorin Draghu, Zoltan Benko, Jakub Fekete, Florin Luntraru

10: Hannu Helinen, Zdenek Drahos, Ila Niemi, Tibor Nemecek (Fx)

11: Nick Ambrose, Nikita Fedorenko, Liam Reay, Oleg Yelesnev

12: Sorin Draghu, Ila Niemi, Hannu Helinen, Florin Luntraru

13: Liam Reay, Enzo Innacone, Nick Ambrose (Fx), Donato Dragotto (R)

14: Marc Vaniak, Zdenek Drahos, Zoltan Benko, Jakub Fekete

15: Oleg Yelesnev, Hannu Helinen, Ila Niemi, Nikita Fedorenko (Fx)

16: Nick Ambrose, Sorin Draghu, Liam Reay, Stefan Botezatu

17: Zdenek Drahos, Marc Vaniak, Enzo Innacone, Luigi Tabaglio

18: Nikita Fedorenko, Oleg Yelesnev, Zoltan Benko, Jakub Fekete

19: Sorin Draghu, Zdenek Drahos, Stefan Botezatu, Marc Vaniak (Fx)

20: Enzo Innacone, Ila Niemi, Luigi Tabaglio, Hannu Helinen

21: Nick Ambrose, Oguz Juhasz, Zoltan Benko, Liam Reay (Fx)

WORLD PAIRS QUARTER FINAL 3 (Bulgaria)

top 3 definitely qualify + 2 highest 4th place teams

Germany sprung a bit of a surprise by winning this Quarter Final, led excellently by Juttke (15+1) and he was strongly supported by Wasserman (10+4) with the duo undoubtedly the best pair on the day. Poland made harder work of it than they would have liked in joining them but fortunately had Irzyk (17) in fine form and eventually the supporting riders did enough to see them home in 2nd. Host nation Bulgaria, World Pairs Finalists last year, also made it through and could they now be dark horses once again with Dimotrov (11) making them a better pairing this time round whereas last season Stoyanov (9+3 here) was left to provide the bulk of their scoring. Croatia relied heavily on Petkovic (15) but the tactical change to bring Ilijas in for Asanovic proved crucial as his 2 bonus points meant they qualified, as Australia did, as one of the two highest scoring 4th places sides.

Wales, Finch leading the scoring with 10, battled back from a pointless first heat, where both riders failed to finish, to come with 2 points of Croatia. The big talking point however was the non-qualification of New Zealand who could not offer enough support to top man Chong (12), with his partners scoring just 3 between them. Latvia were expected to bring up the rear and did with just 9 points.

GERMANY 25 (QUALIFIED)

1. Otto Juttke............... 3 3 2 2* 2 3 15+1

2. Henrik Wasserman.......... 2* 1 1* 3 1* 2* 10+4

3. Sepp Manzbach............. Did not ride

POLAND 22 (QUALIFIED)

1. Maciej Tercjak............ 2* 0 1 0 0 - 3+1

2. Gabrys Irzyk.............. 3 2 3 3 3 3 17

3. Boguslaw Kryznowek........ 2* - - - - - 2+1

BULGARIA 20 (QUALIFIED)

1. Rumun Dimotrov............ 0 2 3 1 3 2 11

2. Dimitar Stoyanov.......... 2 1* 2* 3 0 1* 9+3

3. Venci Hristov............. Did not ride

CROATIA 18 (QUALIFIED)

1. Matija Petkovic........... 3 1 3 2 3 3 15

2. Roberto Asanovic.......... 0 0 - - - - 0

3. Eugen Ilijas.............. 0 1* 2* 0 - - 3+2

WALES 16

1. Joe Finch................. X 3 2 3 1 1 10

2. Tony Clipstone............ R 2* 0 1 3 0 6+1

3. Ben Harris................ Did not ride

NEW ZEALAND 15

1. Darren Moore.............. 1 F 0 - - - 1

2. Fillippe Chong............ 3 3 2 0 2 2 12

3. Leo McFarlane............. 1 0 1* - - - 2+1

LATVIA 9

1. Leonid Izotov............. 1 1* 0 2 0 0 4+1

2. Vadims Bienrovics......... 0 2 1 0 1 1 5

3. Vladislav Antonenko....... Did not ride

No. Results

1: Fillippe Chong, Dimitar Stoyanov, Darren Moore, Rumun Dimotrov

2: Gabrys Irzyk, Maciej Tercjak, Leonid Izotov, Vadims Bienrovics

3: Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman, Joe Finch (X), Tony Clipstone (R)

4: Matija Petkovic, Rumun Dimotrov, Dimitar Stoyanov, Roberto Asanovic

5: Fillippe Chong, Vadims Bienrovics, Leonid Izotov, Darren Moore (F)

6: Otto Juttke, Gabrys Irzyk, Henrik Wasserman, Maciej Tercjak

7: Joe Finch, Tony Clipstone, Matija Petkovic, Roberto Asanovic

8: Rumun Dimotrov, Dimitar Stoyanov, Vadims Bienrovics, Leonid Izotov

9: Gabrys Irzyk, Fillippe Chong, Maciej Tercjak, Darren Moore

10: Matija Petkovic, Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman, Eugen Ilijas

11: Dimitar Stoyanov, Joe Finch, Rumun Dimotrov, Tony Clipstone

12: Henrik Wasserman, Otto Juttke, Leo McFarlane, Fillippe Chong

13: Joe Finch, Leonid Izotov, Tony Clipstone, Vadims Bienrovics

14: Gabrys Irzyk, Matija Petkovic, Eugen Ilijas, Maciej Tercjak

15: Rumun Dimotrov, Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman, Dimitar Stoyanov

16: Tony Clipstone, Fillippe Chong, Joe Finch, Leo McFarlane

17: Matija Petkovic, Eugen Ilijas, Vadims Bienrovics, Leonid Izotov

18: Gabrys Irzyk, Rumun Dimotrov, Dimitar Stoyanov, Maciej Tercjak

19: Matija Petkovic, Fillippe Chong, Leo McFarlane, Eugen Ilijas

20: Otto Juttke, Henrik Wasserman, Vadims Bienrovics, Leonid Izotov

21: Gabrys Irzyk, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Joe Finch, Tony Clipstone

WORLD PAIRS QUARTER FINAL 4 (Slovakia)

top 3 definitely qualify + 2 highest 4th place teams

No real problems for the two favourites in making progress in this meeting with Scotland (Treadwell 12+3, Bridges 10+2) winning from Denmark (Isaksen 10, Hansen 9+2). Slovenia did things the hard way however but fortunately had Verner (12) to rely on - their star suffered an engine failure and fall in the heats but won all his other races before taking the chequered flag again in a runoff for the final Semi Final spot.

Ireland were the nation who lost in that runoff as McCurdy (15) just couldn't get the better of Verner after a fantastic personal display; Gachet looked to have machinery problems initially before finding some form in their final 2 races, after reserve O'Shea had come in and failed to score, which took them to 18 points. Sadly he collected just a single bonus point from his rides and the tiebreak rule meant they missed being a highest scoring 4th placed side as Australia and Croatia, also scoring 18 overall, had 2 bonus point. Canada were just a point further back, on 17, with Twamley (10+1) their top scorer but Struthers, looking a little rusty perhaps after just returning from an injury, couldn't score as hoped and they went out. Host nation Slovakia performed well too, led well by Baluch (11+1), but faded after a bright start which looked set to be enough for qualification and they ended just a point off the runoff for 3rd in the meeting. At the bottom of the scorechart Spain put up a decent effort, with Cazares winning a couple of races and Alonso matching his 7 points, but they were outgunned amongst some better known riders as most expected them to be.

SCOTLAND 23 (QUALIFIED)

1. Scott Bridges............. 2 N2 2 2* 1* 3 10+2

2. Luke Treadwell............ 1* 3 1* 3 2 2* 12+3

3. Mark Briggs............... 1 - - - - - 1

DENMARK 19 (QUALIFIED)

1. Henrik Hansen............. 2* 2 0 1* 1 3 9+2

2. Jens Isaksen.............. 3 0 1 2 3 1 10

3. Steen Eriksen............. Did not ride

SLOVENIA 18 (QUALIFIED)

1. Janez Djbas............... 2* 2 0 0 - - 4+1

2. Petr Verner............... 3 R 3 3 3 F 12

3. Jerjnej Keglovits......... 0 2 - - - - 2

IRELAND 18

1. Sam McCurdy............... 1 3 3 2 3 3 15

2. James Gachet.............. R 0 2* 1 - - 3+1

3. Dmitrij O'Shea............ 0 0 - - - - 0

CANADA 17

1. Bruce Twamley............. 1 2 3 0 2* 2 10+1

2. Jean-Marc Struthers....... 0 1* 2* 1 3 0 7+2

3. Wilbur Stanyk............. Did not ride

SLOVAKIA 17

1. Dalibor Buri.............. 1 0 2 2* 0 1 6+1

2. Reznik Baluch............. 3 3 1* 3 1 0 11+1

3. Leos Zvara................ Did not ride

SPAIN 14

1. Jose Alonso............... 2 1 0 1 2 1 7

2. Felipe Cazares............ 0 3 1 3 0 0 7

3. Gonzalo Ramirez........... Did not ride

No. Results

1: Reznik Baluch, Jose Alonso, Dalibor Buri, Felipe Cazares

2: Petr Verner, Janez Djbas, Bruce Twamley, Jean-Marc Struthers

3: Jens Isaksen, Henrik Hansen, Sam McCurdy, James Gachet (R)

4: Reznik Baluch, Scott Bridges, Luke Treadwell, Dalibor Buri

5: Felipe Cazares, Janez Djbas, Jose Alonso, Petr Verner (R)

6: Sam McCurdy, Bruce Twamley, Jean-Marc Struthers, James Gachet

7: Luke Treadwell, Henrik Hansen, Mark Briggs, Jens Isaksen

8: Petr Verner, Dalibor Buri, Reznik Baluch, Janez Djbas

9: Bruce Twamley, Jean-Marc Struthers, Felipe Cazares, Jose Alonso

10: Sam McCurdy, Scott Bridges, Luke Treadwell, Dmitrij O'Shea

11: Reznik Baluch, Dalibor Buri, Jens Isaksen, Henrik Hansen

12: Felipe Cazares, Sam McCurdy, Jose Alonso, Dmitrij O'Shea

13: Petr Verner, Jens Isaksen, Henrik Hansen, Janez Djbas

14: Luke Treadwell, Scott Bridges, Jean-Marc Struthers, Bruce Twamley

15: Sam McCurdy, James Gachet, Reznik Baluch, Dalibor Buri

16: Jens Isaksen, Jose Alonso, Henrik Hansen, Felipe Cazares

17: Petr Verner, Luke Treadwell, Scott Bridges, Jerjnej Keglovits

18: Jean-Marc Struthers, Bruce Twamley, Dalibor Buri, Reznik Baluch

19: Scott Bridges, Luke Treadwell, Jose Alonso, Felipe Cazares

20: Sam McCurdy, Jerjnej Keglovits, James Gachet, Petr Verner (F)

21: Henrik Hansen, Bruce Twamley, Jens Isaksen, Jean-Marc Struthers

Runoff for 3rd: Petr Verner, Sam McCurdy