Eastern European Championship 2013
The 10 best riders from qualifying go through to the final. Nothing unexpected happened!
By this time the asphalt had dried completely, and the riders could show their full potential. The runs went in order, starting from the lowest places, except for Marat – he opened the final so that he could commentate on the other athletes' runs. Several athletes were contending for first place.
Vladimir Petrov showed a decent arsenal of tricks (there was even a superman attempt), but only the acrobatics came out well. The pace was low. Overall, a fine run for a young debutant: he can do a lot and has room to grow!
Vitaly Pasevich chose a great track that called for a high pace! The pace was decent but not off the charts. A good superman, very wide power circles into a deathspin: the arsenal of a high-level pro rider. But the drifts were weak, and there were no long stoppies. The ending was the same as in qualifying: great, but a repeat.
Anton Volkov focused on acrobatics, which he does very well. For some reason his signature switchback drifts didn't work out this time. There were slips in the wheelies, although Anton can do the one-hand and power circles perfectly.
Marat Kankadze rode to an interesting track. He did several quality endo 180s. He showed great flexibility doing a King Kong. His quality circle combos were impressive. There was a great pace and little rolling. Unfortunately, a motard doesn't allow some tricks, so it's hard to score points in the sport class, but thanks to quality and artistry Marat Kankadze competed worthily with the riders on sport bikes.
In his final run Wojciech Koziol made it clear to everyone that qualifying had been just a warm-up. The rider set a high pace right away. His stoppies were excellent: long and confident. The spread into a circle looked great. Wojciech did his signature acrobatic trick standing with one foot on the footpeg. Great drifts, but unfortunately the table didn't work out again.
Lauris Klebans rode to Adele! Drifts are probably his favorite trick, since Lauris did lots of them, varied and well done! His stoppies were also very confident. At the end the rider did an interesting handstand on the rev limiter.
Janis Rozitis surprised everyone, as always! Extremely high pace and a reckless style! In the high chair position Janis did everything: circles, coaster, stoppie, drift. It's almost impossible not to make mistakes at that pace, so there were slips. There was a new, interesting stoppie in the side saddle position. Two full circles in a coaster is a world-class trick. His headstand is one of the best in the world: fast and long. But the most interesting part of Janis's run was, of course, the jump! We had never seen such high jumps on sport bikes.
Piotr Frankiewicz was memorable for his fast circle combos. It seemed the rider had burned out: his qualifying run was stronger. Still, his stoppies and drifts were great! The deathspin at the end was cool, so fast that the motorcycle couldn't be held...
Nikita Podolya started his run like a true leader! Right away he did a crazy combo with lots of tricks and positions, a high high chair stoppie and a confident headstand. Next came an attempt to climb into the tower (stand on the triple clamp) in circles, but at the pace Nikita chose, such a trick is extremely difficult. The mistake didn't stop him: next came a super-fast switchback coffin zero, but a hole in the asphalt caused a crash. This mishap threw the rider off. The organizers should be more careful about choosing the spot in the parking lot, since the asphalt could cause not only a ruined run but also injuries. Next Nikitos did a fast steered cross and crashed again. At the end there was a headstand on the rev limiter. Despite the crashes, thanks to his pace Nikita did a great many difficult tricks and, with his qualifying points, took second place!
Arunas Gibieza, probably the strongest rider in Eastern Europe, rode accordingly. A modern fast style, no rolling, quick position changes in combos (jump style), high quality and 100% control. In 4 minutes he did practically every existing trick. The links deserve special mention: thanks to them there was practically no rolling. Arunas also did a trick for the crowd, a switchback wheelie! A flip at the end and a confident first place! Given the rider's rapid progress, it will be very interesting to see him at the end of the summer.
The final results are as follows:
- Arunas Gibieza
- Nikita Podolya
- Janis Rozitis
- Piotr Frankiewicz
- Wojciech Koziol
- Marat Kankadze
- Lauris Klebans
- Vitaly Pasevich
- Vladimir Petrov
- Anton Volkov
The first round of the Eastern European Championship will be remembered for new riders, a new format, Aras's phenomenal run, Janis's jump and Nikitos's crashes!
Special thanks to Alexey Serebrennikov for giving us the opportunity to cover this competition.
