On Sunday 29th September, round 7 of the 2019 Schwalbe British 4X Series took place at Redhill in Gloucestershire. The season finals were held on this iconic track and with the Overall Elite Men’s title still wide open, team rider Scott Beaumont had a mathematical chance of winning the title. Scott’s job was simple. He had to win every single race in the day and rely on others finishing in certain positions.
Scott had continued his training on from rounds 5 and 6 three weeks ago so he was firing on all cylinders and ready to battle for the title.
A cornerstone of the British 4X Series for many years, Redhill is fast, flowing and always a favourite for riders and spectators. With fun jumps, high berms and split lines on the track, racing is always amazing, however on Sunday it was slightly different. Torrential rain all week meant that the organisers were forced to make some track changes as parts of the track were totally saturated and unrideable. So a couple of sections were changed into grass turns on the side of the track.
Scott did a small amount of practice on Sunday morning just to get ready for racing but also save a little energy for the big day ahead. The track was really tricky. Super muddy and sticky as the rain continued fall.
The British 4X Series uses the moto system for qualification which means Scott raced 3 qualifying races against different riders to qualify through to the knockout rounds. The hope was he would race against his fellow title contenders, so he could hopefully take points from them and help his quest for the title.
Racing got underway at 12.00. Scott rode flawless and took 3 convincing wins in his motos – however he didn’t meet his title contenders and they amassed the points needed to make winning the overall impossible for Scott. So it was down to simply winning the race to go into the off season on a high.
By the time the semi-finals rolled around, Scott was feeling confident. His track speed was very good, and gates were perfect. In his semi-final he made a great gate and he stamped his authority on the race and took the win to book his place in the final.
In the final, Scott chose gate 1. Saving his best till last, Scott made a perfect start and checked out. Laying down a perfect lap and pulling a big lead, Scott raced past the team pit area nodding and already celebrating before the finish line. Across the line he punched the air with delight as he took the win.
This result was enough to secure 3rd overall in the series. An incredible result as he only raced in 4 rounds of the 7 round series with his major injuries this year preventing him from racing the other events.
“I could not be any happier. A perfect weekend doesn’t come along too often but we have been able to back up the perfect weekend in Falmouth with another one here in Redhill. I didn’t expect to win today as the conditions were so tricky, so I am absolutely stoked to have done it. Thank you to everyone for their support.”
This fantastic result means that although Scott lost the battle, he won the war as he ends the year as the UK number 1 rider on the British Cycling National Rankings for 2019.
See you all again in 2020!
Images – Charles Robertson