Estonia stripped of quadcross bronze after French hosts find scoring error

Estonia's quad racing team suffered an unusual setback at the FIM SidecarCross & QuadCross of Nations round in Dardon-Gueugnon, France, after being stripped of a hard-earned third-place finish.

The trio of Rasmus Sõna, Karl-Robin Rillo and Kevin Saar had qualified second and entered Sunday's races chasing a medal. After the third and final race, Estonia finished third overall for the second consecutive year, matching last year's result. The riders even took part in the podium ceremony before officials returned and reclaimed their medals and trophies, reassigning third place to host nation France, which had finished level on points with Estonia. The United States took first place, with Norway second.

Estonian Motorcycle Sport Federation vice president Kert Pääbo said a French official approached the team after the ceremony, explaining that a scoring miscalculation had actually put France in third. Pääbo also questioned a separate decision earlier in the weekend, when Saar received a two-place penalty in the first race for allegedly ignoring a yellow flag near a blind corner where, he argued, the flag could not have been seen at high speed. Without that penalty, Pääbo said, Estonia would have kept its podium spot. The federation intends to file a formal complaint with the International Motorcycling Federation.

Saar, a reigning world champion, said he found the episode deeply disappointing, noting he had experienced similar situations in France before. He also pointed to a technical problem that hampered him in the final race, which he suggested cost the team an even better result.

Estonia's sidecar crews fared worse than last year, with the team finishing eighth of nine overall compared with fifth in the previous edition. A third Estonian sidecar crew, Markus Normak and Tomass Dukulis, did not compete at all after a serious crash during Saturday's qualifying left Normak briefly unconscious with a broken thumb bone.

The Motocross of Nations, a separate event, is scheduled for next weekend in Ernée, also in France.