The FIM Snowcross World Championship finished with a breathtaking Swedish round last Saturday, March 31, at Falun.
Home rider Peter Ericson did not race for victory, but he did a good job anyways and brought the second Snowcross World Title home.
On the other hand, Swedish Johan Eriksson and Finnish Niko Korsumaeki squeezed their respective Polaris and Lynx to win one moto each. The Finn was the eventual winner.
Eriksson had a storming start to the first moto, and put together 12 consistent lap to secure the victory. His rival Korsumaeki tried to keep close to the Swedish, but ended second with a gap of almost five seconds. Norwegian Biti Jostein conquered a well deserved third place, followed by Jimmy Johansson on Polaris. The top five ended with Jussi Honka, who was followed by defending Champion Peter Ericson, who settled for a safe sixth place.
Korsumaeki took his revenge on Eriksson in the final moto. The Finn raced a strong moto, and left Eriksson second at more than five seconds. Finnish Tomi Ahmasalo made up for a poor first moto –he was out with five laps to go- with a third place. Arctic Cat mounted Viktor Stenman was fourth, with Hannu Toppala completing the top five. Ericson clinched another sixth place, to win his second World Title.
At the end of the event, Lynx mounted Peter Ericson celebrated his second World title, and now he equals Finnish legend Janne Tapio.
-Peter, how does it feel to win another World Title?
It feels great! I have been working so hard, and for a long time! I know that many other riders put a lot of effort into it though, but there is a lot of preparation behind my second Snowcross World Title. During the off season I worked on my physical condition, on my mentality and on my riding. My team members worked hard too, and they made it happen.
-Was it easy for you?
I was confident with my speed but I knew that Janne Tapio was very motivated and fast; he trained his hardest and he was ready to go for it, but he crashed at the beginning of the season. The Championship is always a long way, and you have to be smart if you want to win it. It is not all about the speed. I do not like when some other riders get hurt, but you need to stay healthy to win the Title. Unfortunately injuries can happen.
-What will you do in the off-season?
I really want to train and get ready for the 2008 season! My goal is improving, I have some things I would like to work on, to be a faster rider next season. And I will probably go to watch the FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Sweden, in Uddevalla!
2007 FIM Snowcross World Championship final standings:
1 ERICSON Peter SWE SVEMO LYNX 169
2 ERIKSSON Johan SWE SVEMO POLARIS 158
3 STENMAN Viktor SWE SVEMO ARCTIC CAT 127
4 AHMASALO Tomi FIN SML SKI-DOO 123
5 GRANBERGF Fredrik SWE SVEMO SKI-DOO 105
6 EVENSSON Marcus SWE SVEMO POLARIS 99
7 KORSUMAEKI Niko FIN LYNX 98
8 HONKA Jussi FIN SML ARCTIC CAT 88
9 OLOFSSON Daniel SWE SVEMO ARCTIC CAT 78
10 TOPPALA Hannu FIN SML POLARIS 64
11 BITI Jostein NOR NMF LYNX 56
12 OEHMAN Emil SWE SVEMO LYNX 54
13 PLONER Alessandro ITA FMI POLARIS 52
14 STRAND Stein Kristian NOR NMF POLARIS 48
15 NAEKKAELAEJAERVI Jarmo FIN SML ARCTIC CAT 37
16 LANG Dan SWE SVEMO LYNX 36
17 BACKMAN Joergen SWE SVEMO ARCTIC CAT 36
18 HERTEN Viktor FIN SML SKI-DOO 33
19 GRUBER Harald AUT OeAMTC/OSK LYNX 32
20 TAMNES Mads NOR NMF SKI-DOO 30
21 HERTEN Fredrik FIN SML SKI-DOO 28
22 LINDBAECK Magnus NOR NMF POLARIS 27
23 TAPIO Janne FIN SML LYNX 22
24 JOHANSSON Jimmy SWE SVEMO POLARIS 19
25 KAEKELAE Jari FIN SMF POLARIS 19
26 WIKSTROEM Jonas SWE SVEMO LYNX 18
27 MERLI Christian ITA FMI LYNX 18
28 NILSEN Lars Ostby NOR NMF SKI-DOO 17
29 LJUNGBERG Andreas SWE SVEMO LYNX 13
30 SALEMARK Christian SWE SVEMO LYNX 12
31 DALENG Vidar NOR NMF POLARIS 12
32 HEGGELI Bjorn Terje NOR NMF SKI-DOO 8
33 LUNDEN Flemming NOR NMF SKI-DOO 7
34 CONTESSI Michele ITA FMI ARCTIC CAT 5
35 GURNDIN Peter ITA FMI SKI-DOO 4
36 PETTERSEN Jorn Tore NOR SML SKI-DOO 2
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- Daniele RIZZI -
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