The top 4 riders from each Semi Final progress to the GP Challenge. They will be joined by the riders finishing 9th-15th in the current series and one Wild Card selection.
| GP CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 1 |
| Jens Isaksen brushed aside any concerns that his form may be suffering from not riding in the UK by blasting his way to a 15 point maximum and into the GP Challenge Final. Behind him Hampden's Ricky Antunovich turned in a very solid display to keep himself near the top of the scoreboard throughout and progress without too many worries. With just 4 automatic places these meetings are always hotly contested and this proved to be the case as 3 riders faced a run-off for the final places. Russia's Nikita Federenko, of Wednesfield, took 3rd place on the rostrum and was joined in the next stage of the chase for a GP place by Maciej Tercjak (Milton Keynes). |
| The unlucky rider to miss out in the crucial run-off was American Billie-Ray Campo, who looked well set at the interval but faded a little, and he now has to see if the GP selectors look kindly upon his efforts when they choose their one wild card pick for the GP Challenge. Another rider who will be hoping he is considered for that spot will be Bart Williamson, the young New Zealand star falling in his third race and ending just 2 points adrift of the crucial run-off. Of the rest 20 year old Dane Kenni Algreen impressed after a slow start and looks a star of the future on this sort of performance. Other youngsters who will be knocking on the door in future will surely include Poland's Jacek Klecha and American Jack Hagen, both scoring 6 in this meeting. Leon Jeppesen stepped up from reserve to score 5 points from 2 rides and had he had a full compliment of rides he looked capable of challenging for a qualification spot. Although they finished at the bottom of the pile this will have been a great experience for teenagers Janusz Pala, 19, and Michael Plant, amazingly getting this far at just 17 years of age, and they will have taken much from competing at this level. Josh Monstach took a knock to his ankle in his third race and with only 4 riders able to qualify he took the sensible decision to withdraw and make sure he is fit for his next meeting. |
| 1. Jens Isaksen.............. 3 3 3 3 3 15 (QUALIFIED) |
| 2. Ricky Antunovich.......... 3 3 2 2 3 13 (QUALIFIED) |
| 3. Nikita Federenko.......... 2 3 1 2 3 11 (QUALIFIED) |
| 4. Maciej Tercjak............ 1 2 3 3 2 11 (QUALIFIED) |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 5. Billie-Ray Campo.......... 3 3 2 1 2 11 |
| 6. Bart Williamson........... 2 2 F 3 2 9 |
| 7. Kenni Algreen............. 0 1 3 3 1 8 |
| 8. Lars Magnussen............ 1 1 3 1 2 8 |
| 9. Jacek Klecha.............. 3 0 1 1 1 6 |
| 10. Jack Hagen................ 2 1 2 1 0 6 |
| 11. Leon Jeppesen............. 2 3 - - - 5 |
| 12. Jernej Keglovits.......... 0 2 0 2 0 4 |
| 13. Hans Benkarth............. 1 0 2 0 0 3 |
| 14. Vaclav Cervenka........... 2 0 0 0 1 3 |
| 15. Josh Montsach............. 1 2 X - - 3 (I) |
| 16. Janusz Pala............... 0 1 0 0 1 2 |
| 17. Michael Plant............. 0 0 1 0 0 1 |
| 18. Sepp Manzbach............. Did not ride |
| No. Results |
| 1: Ricky Antunovich, Nikita Federenko, Josh Montsach, Jernej Keglovits |
| 2: Jacek Klecha, Jack Hagen, Maciej Tercjak, Michael Plant |
| 3: Billie-Ray Campo, Vaclav Cervenka, Hans Benkarth, Janusz Pala |
| 4: Jens Isaksen, Bart Williamson, Lars Magnussen, Kenni Algreen |
| 5: Billie-Ray Campo, Jernej Keglovits, Lars Magnussen, Jacek Klecha |
| 6: Ricky Antunovich, Bart Williamson, Janusz Pala, Michael Plant |
| 7: Jens Isaksen, Josh Montsach, Jack Hagen, Hans Benkarth |
| 8: Nikita Federenko, Maciej Tercjak, Kenni Algreen, Vaclav Cervenka |
| 9: Kenni Algreen, Hans Benkarth, Michael Plant, Jernej Keglovits |
| 10: Jens Isaksen, Ricky Antunovich, Jacek Klecha, Vaclav Cervenka |
| 11: Maciej Tercjak, Billie-Ray Campo, Josh Montsach (X), Bart Williamson (F) |
| 12: Lars Magnussen, Jack Hagen, Nikita Federenko, Janusz Pala |
| 13: Bart Williamson, Jernej Keglovits, Jack Hagen, Vaclav Cervenka |
| 14: Maciej Tercjak, Ricky Antunovich, Lars Magnussen, Hans Benkarth |
| 15: Kenni Algreen, Leon Jeppesen, Jacek Klecha, Janusz Pala |
| 16: Jens Isaksen, Nikita Federenko, Billie-Ray Campo, Michael Plant |
| 17: Jens Isaksen, Maciej Tercjak, Janusz Pala, Jernej Keglovits |
| 18: Ricky Antunovich, Billie-Ray Campo, Kenni Algreen, Jack Hagen |
| 19: Leon Jeppesen, Lars Magnussen, Vaclav Cervenka, Michael Plant |
| 20: Nikita Federenko, Bart Williamson, Jacek Klecha, Hans Benkarth |
| 21: Nikita Federenko, Maciej Tercjak, Billie-Ray Campo |
| INJURY NEWS - Josh Montsach withdrew after injuring his ankle but will be fit for his next meeting. |
| GP CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL 2 |
| It was a fine day for supporters of Falmouth Falcons as their riders filled the top 2 spots in this qualifier and reached the GP Challenge Final. Ila Niemi raced to 4 straight wins and could afford to drop points in his last heat without being worried about what was going on behind him, ending at the top of the pile after 21 heats of racing. Club-mate Sven Svensson started with just 3 points from his opening races but was unbeaten after and he also cruised through to the final round where the GP riders for next season will be settled. The other places gave a demonstration of the growing strength of the Euro Leagues with 3 non-UK riders in a run-off for the final 2 GP Challenge spots. In the end Dwayne Houtby (Bratsilava) and Pierre Gonidis (Moscow) got the better of Marek Czaja to make progress to the next round. It was the icing on the cake for Bratislava who had earlier in the week sealed promotion to the top flight of the Euro Leagues. |
| John Scotney put up a brave challenge but had to wait until his last ride for a heat win and this lack of 3-point returns saw him fall just short. Olle Bjorn Thoresen had already received a Wild Card pick to be in this round and he again fell, surprisingly, short of the required target to reach the next round and surely he won't be lucky enough to get another wild card pick for the GP Challenge now. |
| 1. Ila Niemi................. 3 3 3 3 1 13 (QUALIFIED) |
| 2. Sven Svensson............. 2 1 3 3 3 12 (QUALIFIED) |
| 3. Dwayne Houtby............. 3 2 3 2 1 11 (QUALIFIED) |
| 4. Pierre Gonidis............ 0 3 2 3 3 11 (QUALIFIED) |
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| 5. Marek Czaja............... 3 3 2 1 2 11 |
| 6. John Scotney.............. 2 2 1 2 3 10 |
| 7. Olle Bjorn Thoresen....... 3 1 0 3 2 9 |
| 8. Petr Verner............... 1 0 3 2 1 7 |
| 9. Jakub Baran............... 1 2 2 0 2 7 |
| 10. Peter Doyle............... 2 0 1 0 3 6 |
| 11. Ryan Irwin................ 1 3 0 1 1 6 |
| 12. Iain Hines................ 1 0 2 1 0 4 |
| 13. Darren Moore.............. 2 0 1 1 F 4 |
| 14. Jamie Vaughan............. Fx 1 1 0 2 4 |
| 15. Brad Easty................ 0 1 0 2 0 3 |
| 16. Nils Olsen................ 0 2 0 0 0 2 |
| 17. Jean-Marc Struthers....... Did not ride |
| 18. Jason Isaacs.............. Did not ride |
| No. Results |
| 1: Ila Niemi, Peter Doyle, Ryan Irwin, Pierre Gonidis |
| 2: Marek Czaja, John Scotney, Petr Verner, Brad Easty |
| 3: Dwayne Houtby, Darren Moore, Iain Hines, Jamie Vaughan (Fx) |
| 4: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Sven Svensson, Jakub Baran, Nils Olsen |
| 5: Ryan Irwin, Nils Olsen, Brad Easty, Darren Moore |
| 6: Pierre Gonidis, John Scotney, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Iain Hines |
| 7: Ila Niemi, Dwayne Houtby, Sven Svensson, Petr Verner |
| 8: Marek Czaja, Jakub Baran, Jamie Vaughan, Peter Doyle |
| 9: Dwayne Houtby, Jakub Baran, John Scotney, Ryan Irwin |
| 10: Sven Svensson, Pierre Gonidis, Jamie Vaughan, Brad Easty |
| 11: Ila Niemi, Marek Czaja, Darren Moore, Olle Bjorn Thoresen |
| 12: Petr Verner, Iain Hines, Peter Doyle, Nils Olsen |
| 13: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Petr Verner, Ryan Irwin, Jamie Vaughan |
| 14: Pierre Gonidis, Dwayne Houtby, Marek Czaja, Nils Olsen |
| 15: Ila Niemi, Brad Easty, Iain Hines, Jakub Baran |
| 16: Sven Svensson, John Scotney, Darren Moore, Peter Doyle |
| 17: Sven Svensson, Marek Czaja, Ryan Irwin, Iain Hines |
| 18: Pierre Gonidis, Jakub Baran, Petr Verner, Darren Moore (F) |
| 19: John Scotney, Jamie Vaughan, Ila Niemi, Nils Olsen |
| 20: Peter Doyle, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Dwayne Houtby, Brad Easty |
| 21: Dwayne Houtby, Pierre Gonidis, Marek Czaja |