Almaty’s Medeu Stadium was again the setting for Final 2 of the 2020 FIM Ice Speedway World Championship with weather still pleasantly mild. There was some spirited racing on a sometimes difficult track with much of the action centred around the top Russians.
Daniil Ivanov dropped his only point when finishing second behind Kononov in Heat thirteen after a slow start from the outside gate, but was the winner of the crucial Heat eighteen ahead of Dmitry Khomitsevich and Dmitry Koltakov. The Final was an all-Russian affair with Ivanov consolidating his position at the top of the standings with Khomitsevich and Koltakov following again. Ivanov now has a four point lead over his nearest rival.
Harald Simon is in fifth position overall and is the best of the western riders at this stage. He reached the semi-final stage where he was eliminated along with Swedes Niclas and Stefan Svensson. Martin Haarahiltunen had another disappointing meeting and failed to make the cut.
Johan Weber was forced to withdraw from the meeting after a high speed crash when he ran into the back of Franz Zorn in Heat twelve and was taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Zorn was unhurt, but his five point total reflects his continuing lack of form.
Disappointing for the home fans was the performance of the Kazakhstan riders who were outclassed and with Wild Card Vladimir Cheblokov withdrawing after his first race the two reserves were unable to make any impression on the rest of the field.
Action back Saturday 08 February
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