FISTC MD/LT European Championship 2012 - Gryon (CH)


24 - 26 February 2012

Pictures by Nathalie Racheter

FISTC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Middle and long distance 2012 GRYON (CH)
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS


LT



LTO: Eric MARTINEZ (France)



LT2: Wolfgang SPEER (Germany)



LT1: Muriel DUFROS (France)

MD



SKJ 2 Dogs: Zdenka DUSKOVA (Czech Republic)



SKJ 1Dog: Roman REISTETTER (Slovakia)



MD O: Jean COMBAZARD (France)



MD A : Donato EGLI (Switzerland)



MD B1: Elodie DARRAS (France)



MD B2 : Alain DIFFORT (France)



MD C1 : Christophe SUDAN (Switzerland)



MD C2: Anthony COFFRE (junior) (France)



MD D1: Jason FOURNIER (junior) (France)



MD D2: Jean-Michel HOOG (France)


Sunday 26 Febryary 2012 - 3rd Manche

Sunday we have had the third and final heat of this really splendid FISTC European Championship Middle Distance and Long Trail.
In the morning the weather was cloudy and really foggy on the stake-out and at the start and finish line. From time to time the visibility did not exceed 30m and it was also snowing, but it was excellent for dogs and mushers.
All trails had been prepared once again in a perfect way and as they were a little bit icy, they were much faster than the first two days.
Yesterday evening the musher dinner was very well organised and all mushers and their friends enjoyed it.
All longtrailers left from the normal starting place at 10:00 every two minutes. Once again all longtrailers were so happy with this beautifull race that has been an excellent publicity also for the other race the "TRANSALP VAUDOISE", a six days race organised by the FISTC Swiss club every year in early February that also finishes here in Gryon.
The leader in LTO, Eric Martinez (F) has won the title of European Champion, while Beate Jaehnig (D) is second and vice-European Champion with a total time difference of 12'. Third and Bronze medal is the Swiss Eric Chateau.
Another German musher, Wolfgang Speer, is the winner in LT2.
The European Champion in LT1 class is Muriel Dufros (F) and vice Champion is Frantisek Sadilek (CZ).

In Middle distance we have had once again a spectacular race.
In SJ2, Zdenka Duskova (CZ) gets the title of European Champion and the vice-champion is Walter Geringer (A).
Roman Reistetter in SkJ 1dog class is European Champion (I cannot remember how many titles he has wonduring all these years in the FISTC with his beautiful Siberian Husky female) and Gerald Buet (F) is the vice-champion.
In O class Jean Combazard (F), European Champion did not leave any chance to win to Baltasar Gallardo from Spain who is the vice Champion.
The Swiss Donato Egli, one of the really best mushers I have met in recent years is European Champion in A class followed by Andrea Marcenaro (I), vice-European Champion.
In B1 class the French musher, Elodie Darras, wins the title, and the vice champion is the Italian Claudio De Ferrari. In B2 Alain Diffort (F) is the European Champion and Florian Thevoz (CH) who was also one of the organisers of the race is vice-champion.
In C1 class, Christophe Sudan (CH), wins the title as Filippo Piccinini (I), second and vice champion who was faster on the third day could not recover all the time lost on the first day.
In C2, Three French mushers got the three medals with Anthony Coffre (Junior) becoming European Champion with his three Greenland dogs (the ones that fighted between themselves in Travisio) and Laurent Blot is vice Champion (4 Greenland dogs) while Sebastien Parent gets the Bronze medal.
Another French junior, Jason Fournier wins the title of European Champion in D1 class but the Italian Rinaldo Marioli gets the silver medal and title of vice champion, while the French Marc Joguet finished at the third place with the bronze medal.
In D2 Jean Michel Hoog is European Champion with a difference of only 31 seconds on the second and vice Champion Lionel Eich (F), both with 2 Malamutes. What a race, 31 seconds difference after three days and 4 hours and 45 minutes of race !!!

What a beautiful championship ! All mushers were happy and they all expresed their thanks to the organisers and also to the excellent FISTC Vet on this race, an Italian young vet Alessandro Martini who will be on the next FISTC Championships Cart and sprint.
And once again many thanks to the Swiss club CSCPT and the city and community of Gryon for such a perfect organisation and the FISTC and many mushers said while leaving, see you soon again in Gryon!

Click here to see the final result list (page 1)


Click here to see the final result list (page 2)

Saturday 25 Febryary 2012 - 2nd Manche

To day, Saturday we have had an almost perffect race.
The weather was cloudy from time to time and not hot, so almost perfect for dogs and mushers. All trails had been prepared in a perfect way and were much faster than yesterday.
Should there be a perfect race in mid and long distance, Gryon is close to be that one.
All longtrailers left the bivouac this morning at 8:00, every two minutes after a really nice evening with "raclette", music and drinks and night spent at about 7km from the stake-out. Despite the difficulty of the trail, that is really tough to run with heavy sleds, all longtrailers were so happy !! This is the right mentality for mushers.
The leader in LTO is Eric Martinez (F), closely followed by Beate Jaehnig (D). Another excellent German misher, Wolfgang Speer, is first in LT2 with 8 Siberian Huskies. The LT1 class is leaded by Muriel Dufros (F) followed by Frantisek Sadilek (CZ). We should note how good these women are in long trail.
In Middle distance we have had once again a spectacular race. In SJ2, Zdenka Duskova CZ)increased slightly her advance on Walter Gehringer (A) second. Roman Reistetter in SkJ 1dog class also increased his advantage on the second, Gerald Buet (F).
The O class is leaded by Jean Combazard (F) closely followed by Baltasar Gallardo (E).The Swiss Donato Egli, leads the A class followed by Andrea Marcenaro (I).
The B1 and B2 classes continue to be leaded by French mushers, respectively Elodie Darras and Alain Diffort, who both increased the gap with their direct competitors, Claudio De Ferrari (I) and Florian Thevoz (CH).
In C1 class, Christophe Sudan (CH), continues to lead this class in front of Filippo Piccinini (I). In C2, Three French mushers are leading the class with Anthony Coffre (Junior) being to day again the fastest with his three Greenland dogs.
Another French junior, Jason Fournier leads the D1 class but he is now folowed by another French musher, Marc Joguet who passed Rinaldo Marioli (I) but the time difference is now of only 1 minute.
In D2 Lionel Eich (F) has passed the other French Jean Michel Hoog, both with Malamutes.
Tomorrow, the finals will be quite exciting as, with such tough trails, nothing is done yet.
But what a beautiful championship, with all mushers being happy (or too tired to complain, lol).
And once again many thanks to the Swiss club CSCPT and the city and community of Gryon for such a perfect organisation and warm welcome.

Friday 24 Febryary 2012 - 1st Manche

Today, Friday we have had a fantastic sunny day. The place is really beautiful and all musher agreed that they have been racing on some of the most beautiful trails in Europe.
The weather was sunny but a little bit hot, with a max temperature of 8°C, but that cause no injury or problem to any dog.
Due to the splendid alpine environment, all trails were quite tough but also extremely attractive and all mushers enjoyed them.
However it was a real tough and selective championships with the level difference of 900 m for small teams and up to 1900 m for long teams and longtrailers.
In Middle distance we have had a really spectacular race. In SJ2, the nice Czech lady Zdenka Duskova wins the first heat, while our Slovak Champion, Roman Reistetter leads the Skj 1dog class.
IThe O class is leaded by Jean Combazard (F) closely followed by an excellent Spanish musher, Baltasar Gallardo.The Swiss Egli, an astonishing musher, leads the A class, while the B1 and B2 classes are leaded by French mushers, respectively Elodie Darras and Alain Diffort.
In C1 class, another Swiss musher was flying over the snow, Christophe Sudan, leading t
his class in front of Filippo Piccinini the 2011 European Champion. In C2, Three French mushers are leading the class with Anthony Coffre (Junior) being the fastest.
Another French junior, Jason Fournier leads the D1 class, while in D2 another French Jean Michel Hoog with his Malamutes is first.
Tomorrow will be another beautifull day and we expect a lot of remarkable races in all classes.
Finally for the longtrailers, trails were quite hard but the bivouc place was really nice with fire, wine and "Raclette" (a Swiss specialty), offered by the city of Gryon with anice athmosphere and music.
Tomorrow the continuation of the race and the pictures of the race...
But what a beautiful race and a perfetc Swiss organisation.

 

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