Scott Beaumont 4X ProTour Round 4 Fort William Scotland
06.11.12 I have just arrived home from what was another amazing 4X ProTour race. As ever the racing simply did not disappoint and kept the huge crowd on its feet all night.
Being the home race for all the British riders, it is always a special race for us and as ever the crowd were right behind all of us.
Qualifying went fantastic for me. I made a great gate and put together a near perfect lap. Crossing the line I knew it was good and when the dust settled it placed me 6th. I was a little frustrated as I really wanted a top 5, but 6th, as it turned out gave me a good draw and plenty of confidence heading into the finals.
So onto the racing. 6th in qualifying gave me lane choice till the semi finals.
In the first race I chose gate 1, got a great start and won the race. The crowd were going absolutely nuts. In the second round I took gate 1 again. Just like the first race I got a great start and led the race from start to finish with no dramas. So that landed me in the quarter finals. Again I took gate 1. Just like the first 2 rounds I made a great start and led the race all the way. 3 races down and 3 wins. Things were looking good and most importantly I knew I had the speed to go all the way to the final.
I was in the 2nd semi final. Joost Wichman took 1, Patrik Bruckner was in 2, I was in 3 and Jakub Riha was in 4. As the gate dropped, we were level, but in a clash of handlebars between me Bruckner and Riha, I found myself on the ground and out of the race. I got up quickly and tried to chase them down, but they were just too far away. So I didnt make the final, but I still had a great chance to win the small final and get on the final step of the podium.
In the small final, Derbier made a great start and led the race ahead of me into the first turn. I stayed on his back wheel all the way setting up a last straight sprint. I swooped wide in the final turn and carried good speed on the final straight. I charged for the finish line but in a photo finish, Derbier just got the win to give him 5th overall on the night. 2nd in that race gave me 6th overall for the night. A good result for me and good points towards the overall ProTour standings....... but I know I could have made it through that semi final.
I am now cleaning and re packing as I leave for the final round of the 2012 4X ProTour on Wednesday. Our destination is Willingen in Germany. This is one of my favourite tracks so I will be looking to keep this good run going and try to get on the overall podium.
Media coverage:
There has been so much media coverage in the last week. It would be great if you can link to these 2 films on your websites, and social media outlets.
For the ProTour Series I have been introducing all of the PinkBike films. This is the film from Val Di Sole last week. There is also some great footage of my 3rd place ride:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Pinkbike-Video-4x-Pro-Tour-Round-3-2012.html
Here is my official film from last week:
https://vimeo.com/43769555
Attached are photos from the weekend in Fort William. They are copyright free for Internet use only and please can you credit Charles Robertson for them.
Full report from Willingen with you next week and the podcast from Fort William will also be released next week.
Cheers,
Boom Boom
Scott Beaumont
