World U21 Semi Final
 
A huge shock in this semi final as reigning champion and pre-tournament favourite Petr Marko crashed out and so won't be defending the crown, despite showing fine form in the senior GP series this season.  He made a slow start but a win in heat 13 seemed to set him up to go through before a second scoreless ride next time out meant he finished on 6 points and down in 13th.  Frankie Young won the Semi Final and for many people the young Englishman will be where they are putting their money when the final takes place in a few weeks.  Andre Hayward was also expected to qualify and he took 2nd place to cruise through without too many worries, although it did need a couple of late race wins to make sure.  Poland's Aleksander Jelen recovered from a first race exclusion to complete the rostrum after beating Leo Olsson, Henrijs Birkerts (somewhat of a surprise qualifier & the only 19 year old to make the final this year) and Michel Zwyssig in a run-off, all of them progressing to the final.  The remaining places needed another run-off to settle matters with Robbie Cormack, another highly fancied rider to claim this year's title, winning through ahead of Petar Bosilek to complete the top 8 as Denmark's Jesper Muller missed out.  Of the rest there were no huge shocks although Kaljuste, Heerup and Johansen came close and will have ended frustrated with failing to progress.
 
  1. Frankie Young............. 3  3  3  3  1  13   ---   QUALIFIED
  2. Andre Hayward............. 2  1  1  3  3  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  3. Aleksander Jelen.......... Fx 2  3  1  3   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  4. Leo Olsson................ 0  3  2  1  3   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  5. Henrijs Birkerts.......... 3  3  0  1  2   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  6. Michel Zwyssig............ 1  2  3  3  0   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  7. Robbie Cormack............ 3  F  3  2  0   8   ---   QUALIFIED
  8. Petar Bosilek............. 1  1  2  2  2   8   ---   QUALIFIED
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  9. Jesper Muller............. 2  3  0  0  3   8
 10. Jaan Kaljuste............. 3  2  1  0  1   7
 11. Heinrich Heerup........... 2  0  1  2  2   7
 12. Magnus Johansen........... 0  2  2  2  1   7
 13. Petr Marko................ 2  1  0  3  0   6
 14. David Myers............... 0  0  1  1  2   4
 15. Mike Fuller............... 1  0  2  0  0   3
 16. Vahur Puosepp............. 1  1  0  Fx 1   3
 
 No. Results
  1: Jaan Kaljuste, Heinrich Heerup, Mike Fuller, David Myers 
  2: Henrijs Birkerts, Petr Marko, Michel Zwyssig, Leo Olsson 
  3: Frankie Young, Jesper Muller, Petar Bosilek, Aleksander Jelen (Fx) 
  4: Robbie Cormack, Andre Hayward, Vahur Puosepp, Magnus Johansen 
  5: Henrijs Birkerts, Aleksander Jelen, Andre Hayward, David Myers 
  6: Frankie Young, Michel Zwyssig, Vahur Puosepp, Heinrich Heerup 
  7: Jesper Muller, Jaan Kaljuste, Petr Marko, Robbie Cormack (F) 
  8: Leo Olsson, Magnus Johansen, Petar Bosilek, Mike Fuller 
  9: Michel Zwyssig, Magnus Johansen, David Myers, Jesper Muller 
 10: Robbie Cormack, Petar Bosilek, Heinrich Heerup, Henrijs Birkerts 
 11: Aleksander Jelen, Leo Olsson, Jaan Kaljuste, Vahur Puosepp 
 12: Frankie Young, Mike Fuller, Andre Hayward, Petr Marko 
 13: Petr Marko, Petar Bosilek, David Myers, Vahur Puosepp (Fx) 
 14: Andre Hayward, Heinrich Heerup, Leo Olsson, Jesper Muller 
 15: Frankie Young, Magnus Johansen, Henrijs Birkerts, Jaan Kaljuste 
 16: Michel Zwyssig, Robbie Cormack, Aleksander Jelen, Mike Fuller 
 17: Leo Olsson, David Myers, Frankie Young, Robbie Cormack 
 18: Aleksander Jelen, Heinrich Heerup, Magnus Johansen, Petr Marko 
 19: Andre Hayward, Petar Bosilek, Jaan Kaljuste, Michel Zwyssig 
 20: Jesper Muller, Henrijs Birkerts, Vahur Puosepp, Mike Fuller 
 21: Aleksander Jelen, Leo Olsson, Henrijs Birkerts, Michel Zwyssig (Fx) 
 22: Robbie Cormack, Petar Bosilek, Jesper Muller (R) 

 

 

 

 

 World U21 Semi Final
 
The second semi final ended with experience seemingly proving important as all the riders to progress were 20 years old, the maximum age for the competition.  Patocka and Bengtsson were highly fancied to do well but the teenagers couldn't find the same consistency of their slightly older rivals and fell a point short of the 8-point total which was enough for Keijo Pahlman to take the last final spot.  At the top Charles Ekberg, Leonhard Riisik and Marcus Jay, the 2018 Under 21 Champion, were expected to progress and did so comfortably.  Italian Giovanni Donati was an outside with the bookies before the meeting but finished with a trio of race wins to force a run-off for the rostrum places against his better known opponents.  The other riders to progress were Aussie Laurence Chamberlain and American pair Leon Westfall and Manuel Martin.  The hard luck story of the day was England's Noah Nicholson who seemed to improve as the meeting progressed but fell in his 4th ride and the lost points cost him any chance of progression.
 
  1. Charles Ekberg............ 3  2  2  3  3  13   ---   QUALIFIED
  2. Leonhard Riisik........... 2  3  3  0  3  11   ---   QUALIFIED
  3. Marcus Jay................ 3  2  2  2  2  11   ---   QUALIFIED
  4. Giovanni Donati........... 2  0  3  3  3  11   ---   QUALIFIED
  5. Leon Westfall............. 3  0  3  3  1  10   ---   QUALIFIED
  6. Laurence Chamberlain...... 1  3  1  2  2   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  7. Manuel Martin............. 1  3  2  1  2   9   ---   QUALIFIED
  8. Keijo Pahlman............. 0  3  3  1  1   8   ---   QUALIFIED
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  9. Teodor Patocka............ 3  1  0  2  1   7
 10. Alexander Bengtsson....... 1  2  1  3  0   7
 11. Noah Nicholson............ 0  1  2  F  3   6
 12. Ulf Nilsson............... 2  2  1  1  0   6
 13. Jakub Burak............... 2  0  0  0  2   4
 14. Hans Classen.............. 1  1  0  1  1   4
 15. Mieczyslaw Rubik.......... 0  0  1  2  0   3
 16. Blair Fry................. R  1  0  0  0   1
 
 No. Results
  1: Charles Ekberg, Jakub Burak, Laurence Chamberlain, Noah Nicholson 
  2: Leon Westfall, Leonhard Riisik, Hans Classen, Blair Fry (R) 
  3: Marcus Jay, Giovanni Donati, Manuel Martin, Keijo Pahlman 
  4: Teodor Patocka, Ulf Nilsson, Alexander Bengtsson, Mieczyslaw Rubik 
  5: Manuel Martin, Ulf Nilsson, Blair Fry, Jakub Burak 
  6: Keijo Pahlman, Charles Ekberg, Teodor Patocka, Leon Westfall 
  7: Laurence Chamberlain, Marcus Jay, Hans Classen, Mieczyslaw Rubik 
  8: Leonhard Riisik, Alexander Bengtsson, Noah Nicholson, Giovanni Donati 
  9: Leon Westfall, Marcus Jay, Alexander Bengtsson, Jakub Burak 
 10: Giovanni Donati, Charles Ekberg, Mieczyslaw Rubik, Blair Fry 
 11: Leonhard Riisik, Manuel Martin, Laurence Chamberlain, Teodor Patocka 
 12: Keijo Pahlman, Noah Nicholson, Ulf Nilsson, Hans Classen 
 13: Giovanni Donati, Teodor Patocka, Hans Classen, Jakub Burak 
 14: Charles Ekberg, Marcus Jay, Ulf Nilsson, Leonhard Riisik 
 15: Alexander Bengtsson, Laurence Chamberlain, Keijo Pahlman, Blair Fry 
 16: Leon Westfall, Mieczyslaw Rubik, Manuel Martin, Noah Nicholson (F) 
 17: Leonhard Riisik, Jakub Burak, Keijo Pahlman, Mieczyslaw Rubik 
 18: Charles Ekberg, Manuel Martin, Hans Classen, Alexander Bengtsson 
 19: Giovanni Donati, Laurence Chamberlain, Leon Westfall, Ulf Nilsson 
 20: Noah Nicholson, Marcus Jay, Teodor Patocka, Blair Fry 
 21: Leonhard Riisik, Marcus Jay, Giovanni Donati