Snowcross racing in Sweden got off to a fast start this weekend at Mases Snowcross in Orsa with round one Saturday and round two Sunday! The weather was warmer than normal with temperatures around freezing both days. The Pro Open and Pro Lite classes both had over 20 entries with a lot of big-name racers. The way the racing format works is that if there are 16 of less racers, they run a 2-moto format, 17 or more and they run to rounds of qualifying, lcq and then final.
Saturday morning got started with two heats of Pro Lite, with Felix Andersson getting the holeshot in heat one and leading the entire race. Behind him Vidar Noreén Berg and Oliver Håkensen would battle for second place. Felix Andersson would take round one, heat one win followed by Håkensen and Berg, with Sæterstad and Oscar Eriksson completing the top five. Heat two would see Jim Eliasson with the holeshot. Eliasson back racing after being away for a couple years seemed to look comfortable on his Ski Doo.
Top qualifier and rookie Gustav Vesterlund and Rasmus Andersson would try to chase down Eliasson. Vesterlund would make the pass on Eliasson midway through the qualifier and begin to stretch out his lead. Albin Persson would make his way past Rasmus Andersson to move into third. By the end the heat it would be Team Southside Polaris’ Vesterlund taking the win, Persson would slide past Eliasson late in the race to take second, Eliasson would settle for third with Jon Kolbu and Dennis Kangasmaa rounding out the top five.
Next up would be the first moto of the Jr Womens 12-16. Elise Jonsson would get the holeshot over Holly Vesterlund and Ronja Brännström. Jonsson would immediately begin to open a gap on the rest of the field. Behind her Nelly Eriksson would be making her way past Brännström, and then a couple laps later Hanna Jakobsson would do the same. Jonsson would go on to take the win on her Lynx, Vesterlund would be second on her Team Southside Polaris and third would go to Cubic’s Eriksson. Jakobsson and Brännström would be fourth and fifth.
Jr 12-14 would take to the track next, and it would be the #9 of Alf Granberg on his Yamaha with the holeshot with Calle Eklund right with him. There would be lots of jockeying for position deep in the field of 13 riders with Melvin Andersson, Frans Mellberg and Walter Wiklund all making moves early. William Brännström would take third from Emil Tidqvist. Granberg would by the end of the race have just over a ten-second lead on the field and take the win. Eklund and Brännström would be second and third, with Tidqvist and Andersson completing the top 5.
Jr 14-16 would be up next with Sixten Johansson getting the holeshot and Straightline Performance’s Hampus Höglund in tow. Anton Sandgren would make the pass on Höglund but only briefly before having an issue and giving the position back to Höglund. Max Jacobsson would be running fifth for a few laps before coming off his sled and letting the rest of the field by. Johansson would be able to keep Höglund at bay taking the moto one win by just over three seconds. Höglund and Emil Pettersson would finish second and third, with Linus Staff and Leo Öhlin finishing out the top five.
It was then time for Pro Lite to hit the track for round two. The first heat would see Felix Andersson pick up where he left off earlier in the morning, grabbing the holeshot and creating a comfortable gap over Sæterstad and Wilmer Andersson. Isac Slott and would make quick work of Wilmer moving into third position. Berg would have an issue while running fifth and not be able to finish the heat. Felix Andersson would go on to take the win with Oliver Håkensen making his way up from seventh to finish second and Sæterstad would be third on his Daleng Polaris. Oscar Eriksson and Isac Slott would finish fourth and fifh respectively.
Heat two would see Gustav Vesterlund grabbing the holeshot with Albin Persson getting a better start this time around in second, and Jonathan Nilsson who make the switch to Ski Doo this season in third. Rasmus Andersson would give up fourth place to Syver Bråten Grøvnes, while Jim Eliasson would make his way past Johan Andersson and Rasmus Anderson to move into the top five. Vesterlund’s Southside Polaris would take the win over Ski Doo’s Persson and Nilsson, Daleng Polaris’ Grøvnes would be fourth and Eliasson rebounded for fifth.
After a short break the Pro Lite lcq would leave the line with Rasmus Andersson getting the holeshot. Johan Andersson and Dennis Kangasmaa would make their way past Rasmus. After a few laps Johan Andersson would have the lead taken from him by Kangasmaa and the Rasmus would make his way back by him as well. Late in the lcq Berg would also sneak past Johan Andersson. Kangasmaa would go onto take the win with Rasmus Andersson, Berg, Wilmer Andersson, Johan Andersson, and Andreas Isaksson all transferring to the final.
Moto two of Jr Womens 12-16 would have Elise Jonsson getting another holeshot on her Lynx and would set sail on the field. Behind her Holly Vesterlund and Ronja Brännström would battle for second. Soon after Nelly Eriksson and Elise Kalander Viltok would start attacking Brännström and both make their way past her. Jonsson would go on to take the win and secure the overall for the day. Southside Polaris’ Vesterlund would finish second and take second overall and Nelly Eriksson would grab the final spot on the podium. Hanna Jakobsson and Elise Kalander Viltok would finish fourth and fifth overall.
The second moto of Jr 12-14 would be on track next with Alf Granberg securing his second holeshot of the day with Calle Eklund in tow once again. William Brännström would make quick work of Emil Tidqvist and move into third place. Casper Berggren and Tidqvist would do battle for fourth and Tidqvist would be able to repel the attacks and hold the position. Granberg would go on to take the win and the overall for the day. Eklund would come second and be second overall. Brännström would be third overall, Tidqvist fourth and Berggren fifth.
Moto two of the Jr 14-16 would see rookie Oliver Bröyt with the holeshot with Leo Öhlin and Albin Johansson in tow. Bröyt would unfortunately run into mechanical issues, handing over the lead to Öhlin and falling down the running order. Sixten Johansson, Hampus Höglund and Emil Pettersson would start coming through the field after bad starts by all three. Halfway through the moto would see another battle for the lead with Albin Johansson taking the lead from Öhlin. By the end of the race, it would be Öhlin taking the win, Höglund making his way from tenth up to second place, and Sixten Johansson finishing third. Sixten Johansson would take the overall win for the day, Höglund would be second and Pettersson would finish third overall. Linus Staff and Leo Öhlin would round out the top five.
The Pro Lite final would be the next to line up on the starting line. Gustav Vesterlund and Felix Andersson who both went undefeated in qualifying would get out at the front of the field followed by Syver Braten Grøvnes and Albin Persson. Persson and Jim Eliasson would make their way back Grøvnes. Vesterlund would stretch his lead out to ten seconds by the end of the final to take the win. It would be Polaris’ first final win in Pro Lite in over five years. Andersson would take second place and Persson would be third on the podium. Eliasson in his first weekend back racing would be fourth and Oliver Håkensen would be fifth.
After lunch Pro Women and Pro Open would take the track for the first time for practice and timed qualifying. Pro Womens qualifying would see Hilda Öhman pick up where she left off being fastest qualifier. Jenny Lundström back after a season hiatus would be number two qualifier, with Wilma Jonsson, Davina Backteman, and Tilde Karelius rounding out the top five.
Pro Open qualifying would have Alfred Gunnarsson after making the switch to Lynx out qualify the legend John Stenberg and Norweigan Magnus Reiten to take the top spot. William Svensson fresh off the couch would be the fourth qualifier and Anton Lindström would be fifth. Axel Johansson. Albin Lundqvist, Linus Pettersson the lone Arctic Cat entry, Emil Hansson, and Joel Nordholm would qualify sixth through tenth.
Pro Open would be back on track for round one and it would be Cubic Ski Doo’s Linus Dahlberg with the holeshot with Magnus Reiten and Anton Lindström behind him. Reiten would move into the lead, with Albin Lundqvist and Emil Hansson getting past Lindström. Reiten would go onto take the win, Lundqvist would be second and Hansson third. Dahlberg and Lindström would round out the top five.
Heat two would see John Stenberg with the holeshot with Mille Andersson and Olle Sahlström. Stenberg would open up a gap on the field. Axel Johansson would slide past Andersson and Sahlström to move into second. William Svensson would battle past all three of them to take second from Johansson. Stenberg would go on to take win, Svensson would be second and Linus Pettersson would make his way into third place. Johansson and Andersson would finish fourth and fifth.
Pro Womens moto one would see Hilda Öhman grab the holeshot followed by Jenny Lundström, Wilma Jonsson and Southside Polaris’ Ida Rosell. Davina Backteman would take fourth from Rosell. Thilda Persson would move into seventh passing Mali Hoelsæter. Öhman would keep everyone at an arms distance take the moto one win. Lundström would have a strong showing finishing second, Jonsson would be third, with Backteman and Karelius fifth.
Round two of Pro Open would get rolling with Albin Lundqvist first to the corner, Anton Lindström, Emil Hansson and Southside Polaris’ Kristoffer Holm. Hansson would make his way past Lindström and then past Lundqvist when he had an issue and into the lead. Gustaf Lindgren would move past Holm and Lundqvist, with Magnus Reiten starting to make his way through the field. Hansson would go on to take the win, Lindgren and Reiten would complete the podium, with Lindström and Linus Dahlberg fourth and fifth.
Heat two had William Svensson getting the holeshot with John Stenberg and Alexander Forsberg behind him. Linus Pettersson would slip by Forsberg and move into third. Svensson and Stenberg would start to pull away from the rest. Joel Nordholm would move past Forsberg. Millie Andersson and Nemo Fahlander would trade postions multiples in the mid field. Svensson would go on to take the win, Stenberg and Pettersson finishing second and third. Nordholm and Forsberg would make up the top five.
The Pro Open LCQ would be another stacked one with only the top six moving on to the final. Albin Lundqvist would grab the holeshot and not look back. Oscar Nikula, Robert Lunden and Olle Sahlström would be battling for second. Lundqvist would grab the win, Lunden would take second, Alfred Gunnarsson third, with Nikula, Sahlström and Håkon Berge claiming the final transfer spots.
Pro Womens moto two would see Jenny Lundström grab the holeshot with Wilma Jonsson and Hilda Öhman in tow. Öhman would make quick work of Jonsson and begin chasing down Lundström. Davina Backteman got out fourth, but a mechanical issue caused her to start sliding back through running order. Halfway through the moto would see the battle for the lead heat up with Lundström eventually relinquishing the lead to Öhman. Öhman would go to take the moto win the overall. Lundström in her return to racing would come home in second place and score second overall on the day with Jonsson in third. Tilde Karelius and Thilda Persson would round out the top five.
The last race of the day would be the Pro Open final and John Stenberg would grab the holeshot from the likes of Magnus Reiten and William Svensson. The top four would hold their positions for over half the race while those behind them constantly were battling for position. Stenberg would make a rare error and crash but would remount in fifth place. Reiten would go on to take the win, Svensson scores a second place in his return to racing, and Emil Hansson takes third. Albin Lundqvist and Stenberg would round out the top five.
There were no entries in Sport class, but it should be known to racers that sport has replaced the Bredd class this season and will have Swedish cup points and a champion at the end of the season. Stay tuned to read all about round two shortly!