In a very close final battle of the 92th "Six days of Berlin" (Berliner Sechstagerennen), Switzerland's Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart won the 31st 6-day competition all over their career, but the first one for them in Berlin's Velodorom, and the first in 50 years for their country. On Tuesday night, in front of a crowd of 12,000, the "Alpen express" edged out Italian veterans Silvio Martinello and Marco Villa by 5 points only.

A great success for the Helvetic pair, who improved the World record for Six Day wins they already hold, a bit of a disappointment for 40-year-old Martinello, who came so close to put an end to his sensational career with another victory (it would have been the 29th for him in six-day races), as he and Villa was leading the field before the final, decisive 60-minute Madison, but eventually failed by such a narrow margin. In spite of the disappointment, Martinello himself admitted that "the best ones won".

But also the final winners were gentlemen to their main challengers, and besides saying that "after seven attempts, we finally managed to win one the best races in the World. We had previously won other races all over the World, so we ask why it took so long for us to claim victory here", admitted that "Silvio and Marco deserved the victory as well".

Both top pairs achieved a 300-point score, consequently gaining a bonus lap in the last part of the night. Also Scott McGrory and Matt Gilmore had gained a lap earlier in the final session, but nevertheless they didn't manage to improve their overall ranking and hit a podium place, as the Australian-Belgian duo finished behind local idols Andreas Kappes and Andreas Beikrich too. Same number of laps for both teams, but a better score for the "two Andreas", who notched up another podium place for the host country.

Britain's man in the race, reigining World Champion Chris Newton, along with italian partner Adriano Baffi (himself taking part in the last 6-day race in his career), finished eighth overall, 8 laps down on GC.

Whereas Silvio Martinello couldn't succeed in repeating last year's victory, two Germans could in lesser competitions. Two-time Olympic Champion Jens Fielder from Chemnitz was the best in the Sprinter contest, while home favourite (and European Champion) Carsten Podlesch of Berlin got a home win, the seventh so far in his career, among the Stayers.

92th Six Days of Berlin - Final Standings (Updated)

1. Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SWI) - 307 points

2. Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA) - 302 points

at 1 lap

3. Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikrich (GER) - 250 points

4. Scott McGrory (AUS) – Matthew Gilmore (BEL) - 234 points

at 4 laps

5. Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (HOL) - 176 points

6. Franco Marvulli – Alexander Aeschbach (SWI) - 171 points

at 6 laps

7. Guido Fulst – Andreas Müller (GER) - 166 points

at 8 laps

8. Adriano Baffi (ITA) – Chris Newton (GBR) - 79 points

at 11 laps

9. Jimmi Madsen – Michael Sandstød (DEN) - 27 points

at 15 laps

10. Lars Teutenberg – Frank Kowatschitsch (GER) - 70 points

at 16 laps

11. Gerd Dörich - Jens Lehmann (GER) - 104 points

12. Marty Nothstein (USA) - Jean-Pierre van Zyl (RSA) - 103 points

13. Jérôme Neuville - Franck Perque (FRA) - 65 points

14. Christian Bach - Erik Weispfennig (GER) - 63 points

15. Franz Stocher (AUT) - Jozef Zabka (SVK) - 36 points

at 17 laps

16. Stefan Steinweg - Marc Altmann (GER) - 47 points

at 21 laps

17. Mario Vonhof (GER) - Jimmy Hansen (DEN) - 91 points

18. Lorenzo Lapage (BEL) - Ronny Lauke (GER) - 32 points

Latest winners of the Six Days of Berlin (since 1998):

1998. Silvio Martinello - Marco Villa (ITA)

1999. Andreas Kappes (GER) - Etienne de Wilde (BEL)

2000. Silvio Martinello - Marco Villa (ITA)

2001. Rolf Aldag (GER) - Silvio Martinello (ITA)

2002. Rolf Aldag (GER) - Silvio Martinello (ITA)

2003. Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SWI)

More news and detailed results later. Stay tuned !