Scott Beaumont
Qualifying – 6th
Race – 9th
This will be one of the hardest race reports to write. Our team rider, Scott Beaumont has just been through the most emotional 2 weeks of his career with results that he would rather forget.
Plagued by a serious injury all year; 2 prolapse discs in his back, has mean’t that he has been in pain during every race in 2015. At the World Championships 2 weeks ago he had a photo finish which unfortunately did not go his way in the semi final.
This week at the 4X ProTour finals in Malmedy, Belgium, Scott had the chance to become the 2015 4X ProTour Champion. However, it was a step too far and Scott came up short on his ultimate goal of winning the title.
The track in Malmedy was huge at over 60 seconds long, it was physically demanding, which from the start of practice, Scott was aware that it was going to be a tough race for him. Limiting his practice as much as possible, Scott tried to save what he could for the race.
Qualifying arrived and the track was drying out. With no rain for the 3 hours of practice, it was all looking good.
Scott laid down a decent run that was enough for 6th position. Certainly not his best result of the year, but something similar in the race would be enough to take the overall title.
So it was time to race. Scott wheelspun off the gate in his first race and ended up finishing 2nd – enough to transfer through to the next round. In the quarter finals though it all came unstuck. With a good gate, Scott was in 2nd and looking safe. Then in turn 2 the rider in 3rd dived inside and Scott had no where to go. Re grouping Scott chased down the leaders, but in a bizarre twist, the guy in 2nd hit the biggest puddle on the track which threw muddy water all over Scott heading into 4 tight chicanes. Scott had no time to pull a tear off, so had to ride this technical section almost blind.
Exiting the chicanes, Scott had clear vision again after removing a tear off but the damage was done and Scott couldn’t make up the lost time.
Scott was out and placed 9th for the evening.
Unfortunately it was not enough and Scott missed out on the overall 2015 4X ProTour title by just 13 points. A gap that would have been bridged had he finished 7th.
It was heartbreak for Scott who has put his injuries on hold all year so he could chase the dream of winning the overall. Unfortunately the season simply took its toll this last 2 weeks and 2nd is the end result.
So right now Scott is taking a 2 week break from everything and assessing the best move for treatment of his back injuries. There will be further scans and tests, but we have a fixed goal of being back to 100% by Christmas.
Photo Credits: COD Photography, Wannes Bosman, Davy De Blieck.