The sun came out to greet the ninth and final round of the 2013 FIM MX3 World Championship. Lining the fences, thousands of Slovakian fans came to see their MX3 heroes in action as they went to war for their final MX3 championship rankings. Finishing the season on a high Orion-RS Petrol Team’s Frantisek Smola took his first 2013 MX3 round victory while GST Berlin Racings Christian Brockel put in his best ride of the year for second with Estonian Gert Krestinov rounding out the top three.
Race one started in dramatic fashion with a huge pile up in turn one which took down yesterday’s top qualifier Pier Filippo Bertuzzo, Spaniard Txomin Arana and the championship points leader UFO racing MX Teams’ Klemen Gercar. While those riders remounted, Hillinger KTM MX Racing Team’s Matthias Walkner was granted the holeshot and went on to win the race unchallenged. Meanwhile, the race for second was hot; Czech duo Orion-RS Petrol Team’s Frantisek Smola and RSC BUKSA / Ados Team’s Martin Michek – both top five in the championship standings – were eager to make as many points as possible on the red plate holder Gercar. It was a race to the finish, but in the end it was RSC BUKSA / Ados Team’s Martin Michek who took second, three seconds ahead of fellow Czech Orion-RS Petrol Team’s Frantisek Smola. Despite a huge attack from Gert Krestinov, KTM GST Berlin Racings Christian Brockel held tight on for fourth, forcing Krestinov to settle for fifth.
Coming into the last race of the year there was a lot of anticipation in the air as only five points separated UFO Racing MX Team’s Klemen Gercar and RSC BUKSA / Ados Team’s Martin Michek. Hauling right from the start was RSC BUKSA / Ados Team’s Florent Richier; the Frenchman Richier took the holeshot and ran away from the field for his second MX3 race victory of the year. Following in the wake of Richier was Orion-RS Petrol Team’s Frantisek Smola, who couldn’t match the pace of the flying Frenchman, but did enough to cross the finish in a comfortable second. Meanwhile KTM GST Berlin Racing’s Christian Brockel and Estonian Gert Krestinov were caught in another familiar battle when the Estonian found himself once again trying to find a way around the German. Just like race one, Brockel managed to hold off Krestinov and finish the race in third. Krestinov came home in fourth, four seconds ahead of yesterday’s top qualifier Pier Filippo Bertuzzo in fifth. The red plate holder Klemen Gercar was sixth and Martin Michek was seventh.
After a somewhat dramatic day, UFO Racing MX Team’s Klemen Gercar was crowned MX3 World Champion. RSC BUKSA / Ados Team’s Martin Michek finished in second overall for the year while last year’s world champion Hillinger KTM MX Racing Team’s Matthias Walkner dropped back to third.
MX3 Race one top 10: 1. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 34:42.380; 2. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), +0:03.109; 3. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), +0:06.189; 4. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), +0:08.324; 5. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:12.234; 6. Matevz Irt (SLO, Suzuki), +0:17.577; 7. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:21.513; 8. Martin Zerava (CZE, Suzuki), +0:28.414; 9. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), +0:35.247; 10. Levy Batista (FRA, KTM), +0:51.904;
MX3 Race two top 10: 1. Florent Richier (FRA, KTM), 34:36.379; 2. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), +0:05.569; 3. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), +0:10.604; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:11.579; 5. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:15.437; 6. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:16.548; 7. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), +0:17.772; 8. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), +0:18.223; 9. Levy Batista (FRA, KTM), +0:27.670; 10. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), +0:27.988;
MX3 Round of Slovakia top 10: 1. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 42 points; 2. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Gert Krestinov (EST, KAW), 34 p.; 6. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HON), 29 p.; 7. Florent Richier (FRA, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Levy Batista (FRA, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Martin Zerava (CZE, SUZ), 23 p.;
MX3 Championship overall: 1. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HON), 353 points; 2. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), 347 p.; 3. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 321 p.; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, KAW), 291 p.; 5. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 246 p.; 6. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), 182 p.; 7. Petr Michalec (CZE, HON), 164 p.; 8. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, YAM), 160 p.; 9. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), 140 p.; 10. Ludvig Söderberg (FIN, KTM), 119 p.
Click here to obtain the complete results
The best moments of the final round of the FIM MX3 World Championship will be broadcast worldwide on MX-LIFE.TV and the 26 min magazine produced by Youthstream at the end of the event will also be broadcast on Fox Sports in Latin America thanks to the new agreement between Youthstream and the leading sports cable television network in Latin America, Fox Sports. By clicking here you will be able to download the complete TV coverage of the Slovakian round.
MX3 Round of Slovakia – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1800m
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 25° C
Crowd Attendance: 5000