Russell wins Senior in the final turn

The Englishman Mike Simpson perhaps thought the victory in the Pre-Final gave him a decisive asvatage in the final. But he quickly lost the lead when the Dutchman Ricardo Romkema tried a strong move on the second lap on the fast left. Simpson lost two places at once, then another on the next lap, while Romkema dominated in front of the Hungarian Birizdo and Benjy Russell then Simpson and Perel. The situation remained stable for a few laps.

Meanwhile, Alexandre-Benoit Bessac wasn’t having an easy race. He stayed around his 20th starting position, sometimes 21st, sometimes 18th or 19th, but failed to go further because of a group of aggressive fighters where he was stuck.

Before long Romkema led the race with a comfortable lead, but five laps from the finish Russell accelerated the pace, dispatching Simpson who was in front of him for too long, and started the attack on Romkema. However the Dutchman seemed so far in the lead. Meanwhile, Birizdo threatened Simpson, and the group of chasers seemed to be waiting for a rush to attack at the finish. It was much better to see Benjy Russell muscle up an attack on Romkema on the last corner of the last lap, less than 150m from the line. It left Romkema disoriented, nearly losing second place to Simpson.

Bessac continued with a flat tyre that put him in 26th place. Ben Cooper, the British driver, came back with the biggest rebound of the day, from 34th in the Pre-Final to tenth in the final. Finally, it was the Portuguese driver Tiago Ribeiro who posted the fastest time with 57”604”’