It's 5.25 p.m. on Sunday when 8 racers start Semi 1 with f.l.t.r. defending world champ Salvatore Noviello (I, 35), the actual world champ scale racing Vladimir Horky (CZ, 1), the oldest of all entrants Paolo Niccolai (I, 82), the young Matt Zenovitch (USA, 139), the 2000 model car world champ Geert Mertens (B, 43), his surprisingly consistent country and club mate Stefan van Oppen (B, 610), the new European vice-champion Cédric Gridelet (B, 589), and the winner of the G-12 race Frankie Poledna (CZ, 30). After a pretty short intermezzo with Gridelet setting the pace, Horky, Noviello and Poledna can fastly pull away from the rest of the field, especially after Gridelet looses control over his nerves at some slow marshalling. Only Zenovitch is able to come back and to join the three leaders. Already at mid-race it seems as the game is already over, since Mertens, the man on rank 5 is 3 laps down to rank 4 where we find now Horky: a mann of ALL mains. Zenovitch is already second behind Poledna, in the same lap of Noviello. Then at once Matt violently deslots and looses 4 laps. Enough for Mertens to pass him when team mate Van Oppen breakes Matt out. On the outer lane 8 Mertens has to fight as a lion with his too narrow Ford to keep Zenovitch off. Eventually Poledna, Noviello, Horky and Mertens will make the move. Zenovitch will finish 9th overall, Niccolai 10th and Van Oppen 11th. Pic: Stéphane Martin.