Scott Beaumont 4X ProTour Round 1 Report
Yeti Racing UK Race Report
For Yeti Racing UK, it was a frustrating weekend, but full of positives that we can move forward with.
Practice got underway on Friday night after all the riders had our Class of 2012 group photo shoot. The track at Houffalize is awesome. Huge corners, rocky, loose surface, a corkscrew bridge/tunnel and some big jumps. Both Dave and myself were riding really well and had the track dialled early. With qualifying straight after the practice session, we were confident and had some good speed, ready for the one lap, no crap qualification.
A major change we have made to qualifying, is we have reversed the order for qualification, so that the fastest riders go last and the atmosphere builds throughout qualifying. This worked fantastic on Friday and the crowd really got behind it.
Dave was up first. He made a great start and got his run going well. He said he was a little cautious under the bridge, but apart from that, he rode a clean lap and by the end of qualifying, he had finished in 40th position. His hopes for this race were to qualify firstly but hopefully in the top 50, so for Dave this was a fantastic result. I was seeded as the 6th rider to go from the end. I wanted to qualify in the top 10, but felt like more could be possible. Maybe it was pressure as a rider/organiser now, or maybe just the first race, but I made a decent start, and unfortunately unclipped from my spd pedals just out of the gate. I then had to roll the first double and lost some time. Got going again and rode a great lap. No other mistakes. Crossing the finish line, I was stoked as I moved into 4th. With 5 more riders to go, just 2 of them bettered my time and I ended qualifying in 6th. The best bit, just 1 second behind the fastest time. I was left contemplating what could have been, but also psyched on my speed and excited about the race on Saturday.
On Saturday, the weather was again great and the scene was set for a fantastic race. As practice started, there were alot of spectators there lining the track. Then more kept arriving, and more, and more. By the time racing started, the whole track was lined from start to finish and up to 10 deep in alot of places. It was a true festival atmosphere and one of the biggest crowds I have seen at a 4X in over 10 years of racing 4X. The support the public gave the 4X ProTour was evident to everyone at the event, and it made Chris and myself very proud.
Onto the racing and Dave was up first. From gate 4, he got away with the others but just could not get across on them into turn 1. Forced a little wide, he was in 4th, and to be honest just could not get past the other riders. The 4 of them were locked wheel to wheel, but it was a real stalemate race and he ended up 4th in that race which gave him 51st for the evening. A great start to his series and he will be back for round 2 in Poland in 3 weeks time.
So I was next up for the team. With 6th in qualifying, I had gate choice for most of the night. In heat 1 I made a great start and led start to finish no problem. In my 2nd round I did exactly the same, great gate, no mistakes and a win from start to finish. This put me into the quarter finals. For this race I was on gate 2 with Joost Wichman inside of me. I made another good gate and battled Joost all the way to the first turn. Going through the first turn I was battling with Joost, but left the inside door slightly open and Joosts team mate Patrik Bruckner dived inside and just got ahead of me. His momentum though took us both off the track. We got going again but I was in 4th and a way behind the other 3 riders. I caught them up again but could not get past them. So it was out in the quarter finals for me and 12th position.
