Home favourite Timo Wachs became only the third-ever winner of the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup powered by Anlas, Kineo and HKC Koopmann when he swept to victory on a rainy Friday night in the Reiterwaldstadion Vechta in north-west Germany.

  • Timo Wachs powers to Reiterwaldstadion Vechta victory on Friday night
  • Danish teenage sensation Patrick Kruse takes silver
  • Long Track’s brightest young prospects battle the elements in Germany

With his hometown of Werlte lying less than sixty kilometres to the west, twenty-two-year-old Wachs was very much the local hero as he battled the talent-filled field as well as the elements to record a famous victory from hotly-tipped Danish teenager Patrick Kruse and France’s Théo Ugoni, who matched his third-placed finish from two years earlier in Morizès.

The dry afternoon gave way to a wet evening with the rain beginning to fall just in time for the first Heat of the programme that was won by Wachs, who got a taste of FIM Long Track World Championship action last month as a wild card at Scheessel, ahead of Ugoni and Germany’s Marlon Hegener.

Rising French star Tino Bouin, the only rider in the field other than Wachs to have sampled top-flight racing this year with his appearance at Marmande in July, then won his Heat from the Czech Republic’s Jan Hlačina before the evening’s first major surprise when seventeen-year-old Kruse suffered a mechanical issue at the end of lap three of his opening Heat while leading, handing the victory to France’s Noah Urda ahead of Great Britain’s Cameron Taylor.

Wachs maintained his unbeaten record in the second block of Heats after Ugoni had won from Germany’s Sebastian Adorjan and Urda – the 2023 FIM Track Racing Youth Gold Trophy winner – before Kruse got his first points on the board with victory ahead of home rider Tim Widera and Taylor.

The third block saw Bouin defeat Wachs and Urda beat Ugoni as Kruse continued to fight his way into contention with his second win of the programme – this time coming at the expense of Dutch racer Jeffrey Sijbesma – elevating him into the all-important top five that would qualify for the Grand Final.

With two blocks of Heats remaining, Wachs and Bouin shared the lead on eleven points – one ahead of Ugoni and Urda and three clear of Kruse – and the leading five further strengthened their claims on places behind the tapes for the Grand Final in the fourth block. First Bouin won from Hegener, then Kruse defeated Sijbesma and Ugoni before Wachs maintained his share of the overall lead with victory ahead of Urda.

At this point the top five had pulled clear with sixth-placed Hlačina three points adrift of a start in the Grand Final and the leaders confirmed their places in the main race of the programme with Kruse taking his fourth straight win of the night before Wachs signed off on top with Ugoni making the cut in third, but the drama-packed fifteenth and final Heat threatened to throw up a big shock when Bouin got tangled with Britain’s Jordan Derrick in the first turn in an incident that also took down Taylor.

A clearly beaten and bruised Bouin was bravely able to make the restart and with his place in the Grand Final already assured he confirmed his position as joint top qualifier alongside Wachs with a determined move around the outside in the final turn to snatch victory from Taylor as Urda booked his place in the Grand Final in third.

Starting from gate four, Wachs reacted quickly when the tapes went up on the Grand Final and was able to sweep around the outside of Kruse and Ugoni in the first bend and was never headed again as he raced to the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup. Kruse pushed him hard for the full duration in second with Ugoni competing the podium ahead of Bouin and Urda.

The action from the Reiterwaldstadion Vechta continues today (Saturday 13 September) at 19:30 (local time) with the 2025 FIM Long Track of Nations (LToN) powered by Anlas, Kineo and HKC Koopmann.