It was a dead run when the tight duo entered checkpoint Karasjok on Monday afternoon. The victory is between home hope Brage Nilsen Jæger from Alta and Ronny Wingren from Finland. In Karasjok, both dogs and dog handlers took a mandatory six-hour rest. At 21.39 on Monday evening I set out on the last tenacious kilometers to the finish line in Alta. On Tuesday morning, only 20 minutes separate the two duelists. Just behind there again comes Finnish Urho Ahomaa. The winner is expected at the finish at around 08.30 Drama last night: Lost two dogs At each of the six checkpoints on the course, all dogs must be supervised by a veterinarian. Here, dogs can also be taken out of the pack, if the vet so decides. That’s exactly what happened last night. Because when Nilsen Jæger and Wingren reached Karasjok on Monday afternoon, both had seven of eight dogs left in the pack. But when the duo left Karasjok on Monday evening, Nilsen Jæger had one less dog. And pain was to become worse for the home hope. When he drove out of the last checkpoint in Jotka at half past five on Monday night, there were only five dogs in the pack. All five must reach the finish line for Nilsen Jæger to finish. Wingren, on the other hand, still has seven dogs in his pack. Brage Nilsen Jæger and Ronny Wingren entered checkpoint Karasjok exactly the same. Now there will be an exciting battle to see who gets to the finish line first in Alta. They are expected to finish early Tuesday morning. The Thriller Duell 600 class is the shortest of the two senior classes in the Finnmark race. Although the longest class (1,200 kilometers) is twice as long, the 600-kilometer class is considered the more intense of the two. Among other things, it is only allowed to have eight dogs in the team, in contrast to 14 in the 1200 class. In addition, the 600 class maintains a higher pace. The warm weather has made this year’s Finnmark race lead heavy. Many of the dogs have also gone to extra lengths.
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