Finland will once again host the world's best Ice Cross Downhill athletes for a Riders Cup race on January 22/23 in the Finnish town of Rautalampi on a track designed by former World Champion Arttu Pihlainen – the third of six Riders Cup races this season.
Canada's Dean Moriarity and Scott Croxall will be going all out this weekend at Rautalampi in Northern Savonia to stop American Cameron Naasz from widening his lead in the overall world championship standings while Finnish riders such as Miikka Jouhkimainen and Paavo Klintrup will be attempting to take advantage of their ice-cold home climate to revive their title hopes.
Following his victory in Avoriaz in the French Alps, Moriarity jumped into second place overall in the championship standings ahead of defending champion Croxall as the half-way point of the season nears. Naasz, who has won both Red Bull Crashed Ice races so far this season in Quebec City and Munich, holds a commanding lead heading into this Riders Cup race and the next Red Bull Crashed Ice race a week later in Jyväskylä-Laajis.
Temperatures are expected to plunge far below zero in the small town of 3,500 inhabitants known for its forests, lakes and fondness for sports, and which lies 350 kilometers north of Helsinki and 90 kilometers northeast of Jyväskylä. Despite the bitter cold weather, the coldest of the season so far, Finland has emerged as one of the major hotspots of Ice Cross Downhill with two races this winter - as many as powerhouse nations Canada and the United States have. The extremely fast natural ice track, set up near the center of the town, was designed by Pihlainen, Samuel Sjöman and built by Rämäkkä Holidays with Star Fastlane Oy. It is 400 meters long with an 80-meter vertical drop built at a former skiing center.
The Riders Cup was created as a new feeder event to open the sport to even more competitors in more locations and the atmosphere at the race in Austria was once again phenomenal. The six Riders Cup races this season, where winners earn up to 250 championship points, are part of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship alongside the four Red Bull Crashed Ice competitions, where winners earn up to 1,000 championship points. Whoever wins the most points from three of the four Red Bull Crashed Ice events and from three of the six Riders Cup races will be crowned Ice Cross Downhill World Champion.