By Bruce Gaspardi Jr
Round three of the Swedish Championship made its way to Woxnadalen Motor Club in Alfta, Sweden.
Alf Granberg and Willam Jaxow started off the weekend in perfect shape with the pair each sweeping their Junior 12-14 qualifying rounds. In the final it would be Granberg with the holeshot followed by Oliver Bröyt and Linus Staff. Bröyt would make the pass for the lead and then a couple laps later Granberg would come off his sled and fall back to tenth. Staff would move into second, and Oliver Åneskog third. Albin Johansson had been working is way through the field after getting out tenth and moved inside the top five with a few laps to go.
Evohall Racing’s Bröyt would go on to win the final with his teammate Staff in second. Then it would be Johansson making a last lap pass to take third from Åneskog. Åneskog would settle for fourth and Max Andersson fifth.
Junior 14-16 was setup as a moto 1/moto 2 format. Atte Vanhatalo and his brother Niklas Vanhatalo would get out first and second and hold that for over half the race. Behind that it was Gustav Vesterlund would started thirteenth flying through the field and inside the top five before the halfway point of the race. With two laps to go Vesterlund would make his way past Niklas Vanhatalo for second place. Atte would go on to get the moto win, Vesterlund would gain eleven positions to finish second, and Niklas third. Emil Pettersson would finish fourth and Sixten Johansson would round out the top five. In moto two it was Emil Hertén with the holeshot with Atte Vanhatalo in tow. Atte would instantly be under attack by Emil Pettersson and the two of them would switch positions multiple times over the next few laps.
Ultimately Atte would be able to hold off Pettersson and keep the number two position for over half the race. Gustav Vesterlund would get another tough start and have to make his way through the field. After getting out ninth he was inside the top five with a few laps to go and would make a pass for second with two laps to go. Hertén would go on to take the moto win followed by Vesterlund and Atte Vanhalato. Pettersson and Syver Bråten Grøvnes would round out the top five. The overall win for the day would be all Atte Vanhatalo’s with Gustav Vesterlund and Emil Hertén on the podium as well. It would be Emil Pettersson and Niklas Vanhatalo filling out the top five.
It was Team Southside Evohall Polaris’ Bruce Gaspardi Jr getting the overall win in the Sport class with Gustaf Holmstedt in second and Anders Olmedal in third. In the Junior Womens 12-16 moto one it was the Lynx of Elise Jonsson getting back to her winning ways. She would grab the holeshot and never look back.
Behind her the battle between Victoria Laine and Hedda Küchler was an intense one, swapping positions multiple times with Laine eventually getting the better of Küchler. Evohall’s Nelly Eriksson got out fifth and capitalized on a mistake from Holly Vesterlund to move into fourth position. By the end of the moto it was Jonsson with the win, Laine in second and Eriksson making her way into third.
Veronica Laine and Ronja Brännström would round out the top five. In Moto two it was Hedda Küchler who would get the holeshot. Elise Jonsson would not be denied though, quickly making the pass for the lead and putting space between her and the rest of the field. Victoria Laine after a start well outside the top five would begin putting on a charge through the field. Laine moved into the second position after a view laps. Jonsson would go on to take the the moto win, Victoria Laine in second, and Veronica Laine in third. Hedda Küchler would finish fourth and Holly Vesterlund finished fifth.
Elise Jonsson took the overall win with the Laine sisters Victoria and Veronica rounding out the podium. Nelly Eriksson and Hedda Küchler took fourth and fifth.
Next up was the Pro Stock class where Evohall’s Jonathan Nilsson went undefeated in his two qualifiers with Thor David Rasmus and Håkon Berge spltting the other two. Pro Stock points leader Oscar Nikula who won the first two rounds of the season had get use the Last Chance Qualifier to make it into the main. It would be Albin Persson with the holeshot but would come off his sled later in the lap handing the lead over to Thor David Rasmus. Anton Lindgren who got out bad would quickly make his way through the field into second place. Rasmus would continue to head the final and take his first win of the season. That would move him into second place in the points. Lindgren would take the second spot on the podium and Edvard Sæterstad would round out the podium.
Dennis Kangasmaa and Riku Lauhaluoma finished fourth and fifth. Points leader Oscar Nikula would have to settle for 14th.
In Pro Women’s it was Thea Arnesson with the fastest lap in timed qualifying followed by Hilda Öhman and Wilma Jonsson. It was Ellen Bäcke with the moto one holeshot with Davina Backteman in second. Arnesson would quickly make her way from fourth to the lead with Öhman close behind her in second. Bäcke would settle into the third position, but the battle for fourth was heating up between Backteman, Southside Evohall Polaris’ Ida Rosell, and Jonsson. Jonsson would make her way past Rosell and Backteman. Öhman would stay within striking distance of the lead the whole race through all of the lap traffic, but she wasn’t able to make a move. Arnesson would take the moto one win, Öhman in second and Bäcke third. Jonsson, Backteman, and Rosell would finish fourth through sixth.
Wilma Jonsson would take the holeshot in moto two but would be tangled up at the top of the hill allowing Öhman to move into the lead. Backteman would slide into the second defending attacks from Arnesson. Arnesson would eventually make her way past Backteman and into second place. Bäcke and Jonsson would battle for fourth with Bäcke holding her off until the last lap. It would be Öhman with the moto two win with Arnesson and Backteman rounding out the podium. Jonsson would make a last lap pass on Bäcke from fourth, with Bäcke settling for fifth. Öhman would take the overall win with the second moto win breaking the tie with Arnesson. Arnesson and Backteman would finish second and third overall with Bäcke fourth, Jonsson fifth, and Rosell sixth overall.
Pro Open was on deck with Gustav Sahlsten the fastest in timed qualifying with Emil Hansson and Magus Reiten. Sahlsten continued his perfect streak winning both of his rounds with Albin Lundqvist and Emil Hansson split the other two heats. Pro rookie Linus Pettersson took the final holeshot but a melee at the top of the hill saw him slip to fourth and Gustaf Lindgren hit after he fell off and not be able to continue. Sahlsten would end up in the lead with Hansson also making it through the mess clean in second place. They would be again to gap the rest of the field and Lundqvist would move into third. Hansson would keep the gap to just a few seconds as the sliced through all the lap traffic, but he wasn’t able to get close enough to make a move. Sahlsten would go on to take the win and keep his perfect record alive. Hansson would finish second and Lunqvist would round out the podium. Pettersson and Axel Johansson would go on to finish fourth and fifth.
