4X ProTour 2018 – Winterberg
Scott Beaumont
Qualifying – 6th
Race – 13th
Round one of the 2018 4X ProTour took place in Winterberg, Germany at the weekend. After a strong winter of training, Scott Beaumont was looking to cement himself in the running for the overall title in Winterberg with a track that really played to his strengths.
Held as part of the Dirt Masters Festival, this event attracts thousands of fans who flock to Winterberg in Germany to watch 4X ProTour, IXS Downhill Cup and the impressive Slopestyle event.
The race had nearly 200 riders entered so practice was busy and the track had a constant flow of riders as everyone got to grips with it. The weather was dry for qualifying making the track super-fast and dusty. The sun was shining and the track was absolutely perfect.
Scott has had some great results here in the past and always rides his track well so we were confident heading into qualifying.
With all the top riders injury free, this year’s 4X ProTour looked set to be one of the best ever. With 10 of the elite men riders all more than capable of taking wins and the overall title, the strength in depth of 4X ProTour is now better than ever. Scott knows that consistency will be the key and was looking for a decent qualifying run to put himself in a good position for racing.
In his qualifying run, visually, Scott looked one of the quickest on course and as he crossed the finish line the time agreed placing Scott in 6th position. Disappointed with the run Scott said:
“I made a great start and rode all the lines well. I was a little conservative on the table tops lower down on the track. It was a good run but to be 0.8 seconds off and all the way down in 6th is disappointing.”
After qualifying, there was a short break and then straight into racing and Scott was ready. The Yeti race bikes were prepped and Scott rode a couple of practice laps to prepare for the racing. Winning his first round of racing Scott was looking good. In his second round Scott made a mistake out of the start and slipped into 2nd around the first turn. He held this position all the way to the finish and transferred into the quarter final.
In the quarter final, Scott made his best gate of the weekend and battled for the lead into turn one. It all got a bit close and Scott was forced wide, slipping back to 3rd. He fought on the second straight and moved himself back into 2nd. Holding the position until the last turn, the rider behind made an amazing pass on Scott. Clean and smart, taking the spot away and unfortunately Scott’s race was over.
After the race, Scott said:
“Well that was a tough day in the office. I felt good and didn’t make any mistakes in the quarter final. Sometimes the other rider simply makes a great pass and there was nothing I could do about it. I’m gutted with 13th, but I only have to wait a week to go again in Poland. I can’t wait”.
As Scott mentioned there, the teams next event is 4X ProTour round 2 in Szczawno Zdroj, Poland this Saturday.
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