Great Britain strikes FIM Long Track of Nations gold in Vechta

• Great Britain races to victory in restaged FIM Long Track of Nations
• Chris Harris, Zach Wajtknecht and Andrew Appleton on top of the world in Vechta
• Dutch take silver from Germany following dramatic deciding Heat

Before a huge downpour on Saturday left organisers with no choice other than to stop racing on the nighttime programme in the Reiterwaldstadion Vechta in north-west Germany, it was clear that the British trio were in fine form and with the sun thankfully shining on Sunday morning they got straight back to work.

Captaining defending champions Germany, Lukas Fienhage – the current leader of the FIM Long Track World Championship – had been fast the previous evening and he picked up where he left off in the opening Heat as he led his nation to a clear victory over the Czech Republic, but the red lights came on in the second Heat between Denmark and Finland after Finns Tero Arnio and Henri Ahlbom both crashed.

With only Jesse Mustonen able to represent Finland in the restart, he raced to victory and five points, but the Danish trio led by Kenneth Kruse Hansen picked up a total of nine points for finishing second through to fourth.

Looking for a second LToN victory to go with the title they won in 2015, Great Britain then dominated against the Netherlands – who were champions in 2023 – with Harris and Wajtknecht running one-two and the Dutch suffering a serious blow when Romano Hummel pulled out with a technical issue.

Despite losing teenage star Patrick Kruse for exceeding the time limit at the start of the second block of racing, Denmark took a narrow victory over the French and then the Czech Republic – with Daniel Klima replacing Jan Hlacina – dominated a two-rider Finnish team that was further weakened when Mustonen retired, leaving Aarnio as their only scorer in third.

The second block was completed with Germany taking on the Netherlands – two of the pre-event favourites – with the home team, looking for an eleventh LToN title, once again led from the front by Fienhage with Hummel second from event debutant Mario Niedermeier.

The British trio were in action next against France and although Mathias Trésarrieu raced to the win, Wajtknecht, Appleton and Harris placed second through to fourth to maintain their advantage at the top of the standings with a two-point lead over Germany after all seven nations had completed two Heats.

Finn Mustonen took his second win of the programme against Germany, but with Fienhage, Stephan Katt and Niedermeier filling the next three places the home team strengthened its position in the overall standings before the Czech Republic, with Hynek Stichauer at the front, edged out the Danes by a single point.

With Ahlbom sidelined for the remainer of the programme, the two-rider Finn team then defeated France with Mustonen winning again and Aarnio third. Trésarrieu was second with Jordan Dubernard fourth, but Tino Bouin had been a non-starter for the French and Anthony Chauffour retired.

The eleventh Heat of the day saw Hansen win for Denmark, but it was the Netherlands with Hummel, Meijer and Meijerink finishing second through to fourth who took the biggest share of the points before Great Britain, despite losing Harris through retirement, defeated the Czech Republic as Wajtknecht and Appleton filled the first two positions.

Fienhage took his third Heat win of the day as Germany scored a narrow win over Denmark and Hummel then led the Dutch to a clear victory over France before Great Britain beat Finland, although Mustonen made it four wins from five starts.

The Dutch then strengthened their claim for a place among the top two nations that would meet in the Final with a maximum score of twelve against the Czech Republic with Hummel winning again.

Having led the field from the opening Heat, Great Britain maintained their momentum with Harris and Wajtknecht dominating the Danes before Germany took on France in a crucial Heat and looked to be in control until Fienhage span out on the final lap while leading. This handed the win to Trésarrieu, but more importantly cost the defending champions vital points and left them tied with the Netherlands and five points behind Great Britain with the leading three Nations left with just one Heat each to decide the two finalists.

The advantage appeared to lie with the Netherlands who faced the two-rider Finnish team in their last Heat, but when Hummel pulled out with a mechanical problem and Mustonen raced to his fifth win the Dutch could only add seven points to their total.

After the Czechs defeated the French in a fight for fifth, the final Heat of the programme saw Germany take on Great Britain needing to score seven points or more to earn a place in the Final at the expense of the Dutch.

Great Britain still needed to score points to guarantee their place in the Final and Wajtknecht stepped up with his second victory to do exactly that and with Fienhage second and Katt only fourth behind Harris, Germany’s defence of the LToN was over.

Although the scores were reset for the Final, Great Britain had dominated through the Heat stages and carried the most momentum and when Hummel – the Netherlands’ top scorer – was excluded for exceeding the time limit when he suffered another mechanical issue, the Dutch were rocked firmly onto the back foot.

As the tapes went up on the Final it was Wajtknecht from the second gate and Harris from the outside who swept into the lead and with Appleton slotting into third it was game over as Great Britain hammered home their domination to end a decade of drought and become the 2025 FIM Long Track of Nations winners.