The first ever flat track race held in the Czech Republic was hosted at the gorgeous banked thousand meter track situated in the middle of Marianske Lazne.

This beautiful sand oval, with its rich heritage in long track racing world championships, was in perfect condition despite heavy rainfall in the previous days.

A strong rider field, including the entire winning flat track of nations team from Great Britain who made the long journey to the Czech Republic, as well as riders from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and even more riders from the UK, had a hard day of very close racing. Local enduro hero Karel Provazjik gave the Bavarian regulars Mathias Hahn and Franz Strohammer a hard time on his Maxxis mounted Husqvarna, but unfortunately his engine gave up on the wide open long straights and he had to forfeit the final.

Cowboy of the day was Tom van Nes on his Supertrapp Harley-Davidson, who had several breathtaking rodeos going over the bumps in turn 4, at times hanging on flying half a meter above his seat! Tough battles all day long between Dutchman Mick Jansen on his Dutch-Brothers KTM, Glyn Pocklington on his helmets4u Honda and Pete Boast on his works Suzuki, changing positions almost every round throughout the qualifying heats.

Spectacular style was demonstrated by Shorttrack UK front runner Steve Hall on his MRS KTM. After successfully defending the Union Jack two weeks ago in Mühldorf, he had his mind set on the big track in Marianske Lazne! But there was just no catching Jan-Willem Jansen. After winning his first heat, which he started from the back row, he stayed in absolute dominance all day long accumulating maximum points. “After all the hard work and the disappointments in the first two rounds, this long pursued victory feels very rewarding!”

Round 3 of the International Mefo Sport Flattrack Cup was honoured with a visit from Jiri Kolar, the managing director for Harley-Davidson Czech Republic, who seized the opportunity to take the new XR1200 out for a visit to its flat track roots. He even did a lap on the track, but naturally let the proper flat track Harleys do the real racing.

All in all another great day of motorcycle racing. See you all in Eenrum on the 17th of August for more great flat track

Round 3 results
1 #15   Jan-Willem Jansen, Adetswil (CH), Dutch-Brothers KTM
2 #77  Steve Hall, Harrogate (GB), MRS KTM
3 #7    Glyn Pocklington, Skegness (GB), Helmets4U Honda
4 #54  Pete Boast, Burgh-on-bain (GB), Suzuki UK
5 #16  Mick Jansen, Utrecht (NL), Dutch-Brothers KTM

Championship standings:
Boast 42pts, Belli 40pts, Pocklington 39pts, Greig 34pts, M Jansen 32pts, JW Jansen 27pts, Hinrichs 25pts.