Story & Photos By: Bruce Gaspardi Jr.
This year’s FIM Snowcross World Championship was supposed to be held in Turkey for the first time ever. Though after the horrible earthquakes that killed tens of thousands, the Turkish government cancelled all events. The FIM was forced to find a new location with time not on their side. They reached out to multiple federations including the Norwegian Motorsports Federation (NMF). The NMF then had a call with all their motorsports clubs to see if anyone was interested in having the European Championship. Kirkenes Motorklubb said that they were interested and began planning. NMF then asked them if they could hold the World Championship and after some discussion said yes.
The Kirkenes Motorklubb had about two months to put together their first snowcross race, which would be a World Championship – from scratch. The 3,500 people of Kirkenes and FIM banded together to create what would be an amazing weekend of racing and entertainment. Kirkenes is at the top of Norway over six hours North of the Arctic Circle latitude, on the Barents Sea and only a few minute drive to the Russian border.
On Friday and Saturday would be the European Championship, Women’s World Cup, and World Championship, while Sunday the Kirkenes Motorklubb held some racing of their own with big payouts. Flying in to help build and then maintain the track was X-Racing’s Joe Duncan, who built a challenging and exciting track for both the racers and the fans!
Friday came around and it was time for the 25-minute Free Practice for each class. The Pro Women were up first with 14 racers from five countries. It would be the current ISOC champion, Norwegian Malene Cottew setting the pace. Four-tenths of a second separated her from second place, Swedish racer Thea Arnesson. Behind them were three more Swedish entries; Hilda Öhman, Davina Backteman, and Matilda Johansson. Johansson hasn’t raced a sled in two years but did stay fit racing motocross the last couple years. The top Finnish entry was Finnish Champion Taru Kylmälä in 6th, with American entry Kelly Collier in 13th and Swiss racer Shona Allemann 14th.
The Pro class was up next with 19 entries from four countries. Technical verifications on Thursday made things difficult for multiple pros as the FIM has a different sound parameter than the rest of the racing federations which led to the entire field being forced to run their stock exhaust cans. The field was made up of the top entries from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the USA. ISOC Pro National champion Elias Ishoel, Norwegian Champion Magnus Reiten, Swedish & Super League Champion Gustav Sahlsten, Finnish Champions Miika Lammi and reigning World Champion Petter Nårsa. None of them would be quickest in free practice, it would be Aki Pihlaja leading the field on his Lynx by three one-hundreths of a second over Nårsa. Ishoel would be third one tenth behind and the top American was Ryley Bester in eighth. It would not take the injury bug long to start biting as American Adam Peterson, after a 13th place time would not be able to run the rest of the weekend after an internal non-contact injury but he would not be the only one bitten Friday.
The European Championship free practice was up next with riders from three of the Nordic countries. The top two riders on the chart both spent the season in America. Emil Mikalsen of Norway would claim the top time by less than a tenth of a second over Sweden’s Gustav Salomonsson. The top Finnish entry would be 7th by Juuso Ylipahkala.
Next up would be the Timed Qualifying sessions for each of the three classes. They would be ten minutes long each and where you qualified would determine your gate pick for both moto 1 and moto 2 on Saturday. This made qualifying that much more important. Up first would once again be the Pro Women’s division. Norway’s Cottew would once again top the timing charts over a pair of Swede’s, Öhman and Arnesson who managed to set the exact same time down to the thousandth of a second. Sweden’s Wilma Jonsson would be fourth, Finland’s Saga Forsell fifth. Behind them it would be Johansson, Backteman, Sweden’s Ida Rosell, Kylmälä, and Finland’s Elina Palojärvi. Swiss entry of Allemann would be 13th, and American Collier 14th.
In Pro Open, the injury bug showed up on lap three when Albin Lundqvist crashed and broke his arm. The caution waved for over 5 minutes which made qualifying extremely difficult if racers did not set a quick lap in the first three laps. Aki Pihlaja would continue to roll taking the top time. Elias Ishoel would be second with less than a tenth of a second separating them. Then it would be Nårsa, Sahlsten and Topi Posti in the top five. Lundqvist would be sixth, Emil Hansson, Magnus Reiten, Ryley Bester and Miika Lammi would round out the top ten.
The European Championship qualifying would see Emil Mikalsen with the quickest qualifying lap with Gustav Salomonsson and Anton Lindstrom behind him. Then Ylipahkala and Jan Even Romsdal would cap off the top 5. Pontus Lundström, Thor David Rasmus, Even Olsen, Oskari Laamanen, and Håkon Berge complete the top 10.
When Saturday morning rolled around and all three classes would get two, 10-minute warm up sessions and they had made some changes to the track overnight. Moto 1 of the European Champion was up first, and it would be a 15 minute plus 2 lap moto. The BelAir Ski Doo of Gustav Salomonsson would grab the holeshot with Romsdal and Lundström in tow. Salomonsson would immediately start to open a gap over the first few laps, while the top qualifier Mikalsen made his way into the second position after a fourth-place start. Anton Lindström would suffer a critical failure about 6 laps into the race which would force him to retire. After 22 laps Salomonsson would take the checkered flag with an 18 second gap over Mikalsen in second place, with Lundström, Romsdal, and Ylipahkala rounding out the top 5.
Pro Women would be up next, and Hilda Öhman would have a false start sending herself to the back row. Norway’s Malene Cottew would grab the holeshot with Arnesson, Kylmälä, Rosell behind her. Wilma Jonsson would make her way past Rosell and Kylmälä into third, with Rosell slipping past Kylmälä back into fourth. Elina Palojärvi would have a mechanical issue while running sixth causing her to retire. Cottew and Arnesson were out front putting distance between them and the rest of the field. Kylmälä made her way back past Rosell into fourth, and then a lap later Öhman would fight her way past Rosell and Kylmälä. The front runners were making their way through lap traffic when Collier would tip over coming out of turn 5 and Kylmälä was collected as collateral damage. It would take a couple laps to get the sleds apart. With a couple laps to go Matilda Johnasson would make her way past Rosell and into fifth place. One-Three Motorsport’s Cottew would go on to take the win, Arnesson, Öhman, Jonsson, and Johnasson would round out the top five. Team Southside Polaris’ Rosell would be sixth, Saga Forsell, Davina Backteman, Thilda Persson, and Kylmälä would complete the top ten.
Before Pro Open took the track, Finnish Champion Miika Lammi would withdraw due to illness. Ryley Bester would crash in the first warm up and was questionable to race after he missed warm-up two, but ultimately decided to tough it out. Topi Posti would take the holeshot but would be pushed wide handing the lead over to Aki Pihlaja and sliding back a couple spots. Pihlaja would continue to lead with Ishoel and Nårsa close behind. Sahlsten and Hansson would be running inside the top five, until Hansson had another front shock failure which would slide line him for the race. Lap 8 would see Ishoel slide to the inside Pihlaja going into turn one and take the lead. Posti would dislocate his shoulder around that time forcing him to retire (he would race moto 2). Team LaVallee’s Ryley Bester was running 11th after getting tangled up in turn two on the first lap when he began having an issue around the halfway point leading him to pull off. Nearing the end of the race Reiten had made his way from 14th up to fifth place. Ishoel would go on to take the win, Pihlaja would finish second followed by Nårsa, Sahlsten and Reiten. Sixth place would be Aleksi Juntainen, Martin Johansson, Ole-Herman Sjøgren, Tore Gustavson, and American Green Mountain Racing team manager Bradley Tatro rounded out the top 10.
Moto 2 of the European Championship was up after lunch and the freestyle show. It would be Gustav Salomonsson with another holeshot. This time Mikalsen would get out right behind him and keep him close as the two of them drove away from the rest of the field. There was a good four sled battle behind them between Romsdal, Lundström, Laamanen, and Rasmus. Ylipahkala would be seventh lap one only to fall back to last on lap two. He would spend the whole race dicing through the field. Salomonsson would go on to take the win follow by Mikalsen and Laamanen on the podium. Romsdal would finish fourth and Ylipahkala all the way from 16th made his way up to fifth. Lundström, Rasmus, Myrsky Rissanen, Sami Juhani Oskari Huttunen and Berge would round out the top 10.
The overall would go to Sweden’s Gustav Salomonsson and he would share the podium with Emil Mikalsen and Jan Even Romsdal. Oskari Laamanen and Pontus Lundström would round out the top five.
Pro Women’s moto 2 holeshot would go to Davina Backteman. Malene Cottew would quickly make her way into the lead with Öhman and Arnesson in tow. Southside Polaris’ Ida Rosell would make her way past Persson, Backteman, Kylmälä, and Arnesson into fourth place. Cottew would start opening her lead over Öhman and Jonsson. Arnesson and Backteman would slip back past Rosell moving her back to sixth. A battle would commence over the second half of the race between Rosell, Johansson, and Kylmälä. The three of them would stay within a second of each other the entire time. Cottew would go on to win the moto with Öhman in second and Jonsson third. Arnesson would finish fourth with Backteman fifth. Then it would be Rosell, Johansson, Forsell, Kylmälä, and Persson rounding out the top 10.
The FIM Women’s World Cup would go to Norway’s One-Three Motorsport’s Ski Doo Malene Cottew. It was her first World Cup win and Norway’s first Women’s World Cup win. Sweden would take places 2nd through 7th with Hilda Öhman finishing second and Thea Arnesson third. Wilma Jonsson and Team Southside Polaris’ Ida Rosell would round out the top five.
The final race of the day was moto 2 of Pro Open. Ishoel would get the holeshot with Pihlaja in tow. Nårsa would crash hard on lap one as he headed into turn two, ending his chances to hold onto the #1 plate. America’s Ryley Bester would come around in fourth place and stay there for a few laps before losing places to Posti, Reiten, and Johansson. There was a concern of how his leg was feeling after the morning crash, but he slotted into seventh and started clicking off laps. Sahlsten was running a lonely third all by himself. Ishoel led most of the race, but a small slip up with less than two minutes to go saw him off the sled and Pihlaja take over the lead. Ishoel would remount in second place. Reiten would make a move on Posti for fourth and Tatro would blow a belt while running just outside the top 10. Pihlaja would go onto take the win, Ishoel second, and Sahlsten in third. Reiten would hang for fourth and Posti would round out the top five. Johansson would finish in sixth, Bester would put in an excellent ride and bring him seventh, Juntainen, Gustavson, and Sjøgren would round out the top 10.
Finland’s Aki Pihlaja would win the FIM World Championship. It was Aki’s first World Championship win after he finished runner-up four consecutive years. It was Finland’s first win since Janne Tapio won in 2004 and 2005. Elias Ishoel scored his best finish ever at the World Championship finishing second. It is also Norway’s best finish. Third place would go to Sweden’s Gustav Sahlsten, followed by Magnus Reiten, and Martin Johansson capping off the top 5.
FIM’s goal is to have the 2024 FIM Snowcross World Championship & Womens World Cup in Turkey. The date has not been revealed yet.
