Round 2 of the 2018 Schwalbe British 4X Series was certainly an eventful race for Scott Beaumont. Here is our official film from the race by ‘Behind the tape productions’.
After a big crash in the final, Scott still retains the overall series points lead.
Get the kettle on, sit back and enjoy the highlights:
After an eventful start to the 2018 season at Chicksands for round 1, USN Racing entered round 2 in Harthill looking for a strong result ahead of the 4X ProTour starting in 3 weeks.
The track at Harthill in Cheshire has always treated Scott well and on this occasion the team were looking forward to a great days racing and some strong results.
With practice beginning at 9.30, Scott was immediately up to speed and looking fast. Scott had already practiced on Saturday morning and felt confident on the track.
In the motos Scott looked dominant in his first 2 races, winning from the outside gates and puling some decent leads. In his third moto, he made an uncharacteristic bad gate and found himself in 3rd through the first 2 corners. It was a good position though as Scott began searching around the track for different passing opportunities should he need them later in the day.
Into the semi final Scott took gate 2. Making a perfect gate, Scott led the race from start to finish which would see him through to the final.
In the final, Scott took gate 1 with former GB Elite BMX rider Grant Hill in 3, Will Evans in 4 and Davi Roberts on gate 2. The gate dropped and Scott was level with Grant down the start hill. Scott pulled a small lead on the first straight but it was close and over the double into turn 1 the 2 riders collided. Staying up right Scott moved into the lead but through turn 1 Grant did not brake and on the exit the 2 riders collided. When Elite 4X riders collide all that horsepower normally explodes and on this occasion it really did. The 2 riders flew through the air and hit the ground hard. Grant seemed ok and continued to finish the race in third but Scott didn’t move for quite a while. The medical team were on the case quickly and thankfully after a few minutes Scott was slowly back on his feet and rolled on his bike down to the finish line to complete the race.
The crash was a pure racing incident as the 2 fastest riders on the day battled hard into turn 1.
The sequence below shows the whole event:
At the finish line, Scott was clearly in pain, but looked towards the positives:
‘Today has been good. I have felt fast on the track and although I did not win, I am excited about how good I felt on the bike. We now have 3 weeks to get ready for round 1 of the 2018 4X ProTour.
The podiums were held immediately after the finals and Scott was happy to be walking and take 4th place.
Some interviews with the media and then it was home and back to training for an intense block of work ahead of the ProTour starting.
Thank you to all our partners for the 2018 season. It’s going to be a great year.
Images – Lewis Bradley
Round 2 of the 2018 Schwalbe British 4X Series was held at Harthill in Cheshire. Here Scott Beaumont takes us for a lap before the track was finally prepared and taped.
After the long winter break, USN Racing fired back into action with round 1 of the 2018 Schwalbe British 4X Series which was held at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.
After a film shoot with title sponsors USN on Tuesday at the track, team rider Scott Beaumont decided to miss Saturday afternoon’s practice and arrive on Sunday for practice and the race. The relatively smooth and flowing track is fairly simple so after a couple of practice runs on Sunday, Scott was immediately up to speed and looking good.
For the elites, the ‘S’ bend at the top of the track is where all the action takes place. Britain’s fastest riders, all still bunched together head into these turns trying to out brake each other. Sometimes it works and sometimes it all unleashes!
In the motos Scott took a win and two second places which he was fairly happy about. He led races, was passed and crucially made some great passes himself on this tight and technical track.
Into the semi final as the top seed in his race, Scott took gate one on the inside. Making a perfect gate, Scott led the race from start to finish which would in turn seed him through to the final as the top seed giving him the all important first gate pick.
Scott took gate one with former GB Elite BMX rider Grant Hill in two, local hero Connor Hudson in three and Junior National Champion Aaron Dalleywater in four. The gate dropped and Scott was level with Grant down the first and second straight. Into the ‘S’ bend Scott was on the outside and in position for a big move around the outside. Then Connor dived inside of both Grant and Scott. He lost the front wheel and crashed. Grant then went down in the domino effect and Scott with a quick decision jumped over Grant’s bike! Arron in the meantime picked a nice line around the inside of the carnage and went into the lead. About 10 bike lengths behind, Scott got going again. Riding the bottom part of the track like a freight train, Scott was impressive in closing the gap to just a bike length across the finish. He ran out of track to take the win, but Scott was happy with the day.
‘Today has been great. It’s been a long winter and now with just 8 weeks to go until the first 4X ProTour it is good to get racing again. Although I didn’t take the win today, there are a lot of positives to take away. My track speed was really good, and it has been a good start to the year. Congratulations to Aaron for taking his first win. It was awesome to see so many riders racing 4X in the UK.’ Said Scott at the finish line.
It is now back to training for an intense block of work ahead of the ProTour starting.
Thank you to all our partners for the 2018 season. It’s going to be a great year.
This Sunday, 11th March, the 2018 Schwalbe British 4X Season fires back into life with round 1 of the year at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.
Here is the track preview from USN Racing’s Scott Beaumont.
See you all trackside on Sunday.