For those of you who haven’t seen the 2016 4X World Championships (and we suggest you do), here is the full replay. Enjoy:

Good morning all. We have just returned from the 2016 UCI 4X World Championships, which were held over the weekend at Val Di Sole, Italy. 

The track which is located high in the mountains in Northern Italy is one of Scott’s favourites. With several podiums before, Scott was confident and ready for battle.

Here is the story and photos from the whole event. Enjoy.

Practice – Day 1:

The week started off with practice session 1. With the weather perfect and the track in pristine condition, the gate opened and riders got practice underway. The track in Val Di Sole is loose due to the conditions being so consistently dry. Huge 180 degree corners offer plenty of line choices whilst the huge jumps and rocks offer the technical challenge to the riders.

Right from the word go, Scott was looking great. He was fast and precise and certainly looking in the mood for a great result. The practice session lasted for 1.5 hours and afterwards Scott was happy: 

‘I love this track and I think it is in the best shape it has ever been in’. It was time for some food and a chance to reflect on the session and prepare for the next day and qualifying.

Practice & Qualifying – Day 2:

Day 2 arrived and it was an hour long practice session followed by qualifying. This session sees the riders going for full runs and using predominantly outside lines as they search for the fastest line down the 45 second track.

Scott again looked good and he was extremely focused on getting a good qualifying time to give himself the best possible chance come race time.

Practice finished and Scott began his warm up for his qualifying run. The ruthless format of 4X meant that only 32 riders would qualify. With 45 of the World’s best riders lining up, 13 would unfortunately not make it past the qualifying stage. The pressure was on all the riders to not make a mistake.

Scott was the fourth rider to leave the start gate. With a perfect snap, he was on track and looking great. Nailing every line perfectly and carrying really good speed; the run looked great. Across the finish line and Scott took the lead. He was happy with the run and said:

‘It was a good run. I was a little cautious in the top turns as they are so loose but overall I am happy with it. I want to be in the top 3.’

That wish ultimately came true with only 2 other riders going faster – Tomas Slavik from the Czech Republic and Hannes Slavik (no relation) from Austria.

3rd position for Scott in qualifying and a great opportunity for the inside gate positions for racing.

Media – Day 3:

The race was scheduled to take place at 20.45 so Scott had the day to walk the track and focus on the job in hand. Some good food and plenty of USN hydration during the day meant he was ready for action. Of course in between were some TV interviews and media commitments!

Race – Day 3:

So all the preparation, all the planning and all the training came down to this. Race time. Scott’s draw was tough, but at World Championships every race is tough and if he wanted to be World Champion, he would have to prove it by beating the World’s best riders along the way.

The floodlights were on and there were thousands of spectators lining the track. The atmosphere was incredible with horns, whistles and chainsaws making all the noise. Everything was set. Race time.

In Scott’s first race he would take on some of the best European 4X riders including last year’s World Champion – Aiko Gohler. The gate drooped and Scott took the lead. Pulling away by the last straight Scott had a huge lead and took a convincing win.

Round 2 and another tough race for Scott. Defending Champion Aiko Gohler, last year’s bronze medalist Benedikt Last and one of the World’s fastest BMX riders, Sylvain Andre. Scott made a great gate, but got jumped in the first turn. Staying strong in turn 2 Scott then received a huge bang from Andre. Staying on the bike Scott was in second and got the hammer down, pulling away and qualifying through no problem. There was a scare in turn 2 but Scott held it together to qualify.

Scott was straight back to the start for the semi finals. In gate 1 would be Hannes Slavik, Scott was in 2, USA BMX rider Barry Nobles in 3 and Benedikt Last in 4. The gate dropped and Scott was level with Slavik and Nobles. Slavik then just moved across enough to give Scott no space so he dropped back and cut up the inside in turn one. The move was so close to working, but unfortunately Scott found himself in last position. Losing a lot of ground, Scott re grouped and began his charge back from 10 bike lengths behind third position. 

In what was probably one of the rides of the night, Scott made up the ground he had lost along the final two straights. Powering along the flat straight, railing the turn and riding the rocks faster than any other rider all night, Scott bumped Nobles in the last turn but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Scott crossed the line in third and the World Champion dream was over. Absolutely distraught in the finish, Scott was clearly gutted. However, at World’s riders have to regroup and head up the hill to determine 5th to 8th places in the small final.

The small final lined up on the gate. Scott took gate 1, USA’s Blake Carney in 2, Benedikt Last in 3 and Slovenia’s Mitja Ergaver in 4. Scott was in the gate, then there was a commotion behind him. In the other semi final Tomas Slavik, fastest qualifier had cut the lines out of the start and had been demoted to the small final. There were arguments and discussions for 10 minutes as he argued the case, but in the end Ergaver went to the main final and Slavik was in the small final.

Scott calmly sat there and kept his head. The gate dropped and Slavik took the holeshot from Scott in 2nd. Scott was tracking his back wheel lining up a pass in turn 5,  but he didn’t have to as in turn 4 Tomas crashed out of the race. Scott was committed to the huge pro doubles and had to pull up with everything he had on the first one. He cased that and then had to pull left out of the section as he did not have enough speed. Benedikt Last jumped into the lead at this point. Scott in a move similar to his semi final again carried huge amounts of speed into the rocks and simply did not brake. He rode around Last and took the lead, held his line in the final turn and took the win to give him 5th position at the 2016 4X World Championships.

In an incredible final, it was Slovenia’s Mitja Ergaver who took the win after qualifying 21st! It again went to show that 4X is an incredible sport and predicting a winner is extremely tough! 

After the race Scott was able to take loads of selfies with the fans and chat to the media about the race. He came to Italy to win, but 5th in the World is something that the team are extremely proud of.

What a fantastic weekend of racing in Telford for rounds 11 and 12 of the British BMX Series. The weather was dry all weekend however on Sunday the wind really became a factor with gales overnight causing havoc in the team area with tents ripped from their pegs. However, it stayed warm and dry all weekend and the track was amazing.

Practice was on Friday night and Scott was feeling great. This is Scott’s home track and he was having fun. The track was perfect and everything was set for a great weekend of racing.

Saturday:

Saturday morning arrived and Scott was able to get 4 laps of practice ahead of the racing which began at 12. Feeling great in his mottos Scott took 3 wins and transferred as the top qualifier through to the final.

In the final Scott took the favoured gate 1. He made the snap and led the race into turn 1. Michael Smart then cut back in turn 1 and the pair were level along the second straight. Scott then inched ahead into turn 2 to lead again but Smart cut back and they were level again on the third straight. In the last turn they both railed it at warp speed and onto the last straight they were level again. Across the finish line no one knew who won. It was a photo finish but by half an inch Smart took the win with Scott in second. It was the race of the day if not the weekend!

Sunday:

Sunday rolled around and so did the wind! Gale force gusts were making riding tricky, but again Scott was looking fairly comfortable and ready to race. In his motos Scott again took 3 wins. A good psychological win in his second race as he went head to head with Smart again and in an almost identical re run of Saturdays final, the pair needed to separated by a photo finish again! This time Scott taking the win.

Onto the semi finals and Scott took gate 1. With a great start Scott led the race from start to finish to book his place in the final.

So it was final time. Scott again chose gate 1. Making a perfect gate Scott led into turn 1. This time he moved a little wider and held a great line in turn 1 carrying full speed onto the second straight. Already with a small lead Scott was hitting the jumps and turns perfect and continued to build his lead the whole way around the track. Crossing the finish line, Scott took the win.

Immediately after the final Scott said: ‘This has been a great weekend. The Telford club have organised an amazing race and I am stoked to have been able to race at this home track. I am really happy with my riding over the weekend. Michael Smart has been a great opponent all weekend and it was great to show everyone some amazing battles on the track with not one bit of contact. That’s how it should be and I look forward to battling Michael again in 2017.’

Images by 2024 Magazine

Here is the edit from round 3 of the 2016 4X ProTour held in Jablonec, Czech Republic. An extremely tough weekend for Scott with racing just not going right for him. Check out the highs and lows in this great film by Lars Veenstra:

4X ProTour – Jablonec, Czech Republic

We have just returned from a roller coaster of a weekend in Jablonec, Czech Republic – venue for round 3 of the 2016 4X ProTour. 

Famed for the ‘Marosi Wall ride pass’; this track has it all. Gap jump from the start, huge jumps, wooded section full of roots and rocks, wall ride and technical jumps that really catch the riders out. It is the ultimate 4X challenge.

The event was scheduled to start on Thursday with practice. Unfortunately torrential rain all day meant that this session was cancelled and moved to an extended session on Friday. The track guys worked tirelessly throughout the night to get the track ready for practice on Friday and qualifying. On Thursday there was the opening ceremony in the centre of Jablonec town with the mayor giving out the number plates to the top ranked riders, along with interviews with them all in front of huge crowds. The atmosphere and expectation for the race was already bubbling with the locals, and it was great to see the whole city getting behind the event. 

Friday Practice and Qualifying:

On Friday the practice session was extended to 3 hours to give the riders plenty of time to get to grips with this extremely challenging track. Throughout the session the track dried out and by the time qualifying rolled around the track was in great condition. Scott was riding well, but like the majority of riders he was having trouble with the wet track and cross winds on the huge double jumps. 

In his qualifying run a slip made him elect to miss the huge doubles and instead carry speed around them. The rest of the run was really fast but that slip left Scott in 9th position. 

Saturday – Race Day

Saturday morning and thankfully the sun decided to make an appearance. The temperature was rising and the track was quickly drying. The final practice session started and the crowds were building. The crowds turned up in their thousands. At an estimate there were 10,000 passionate Czech 4X fans all with air horns, flags and whistles. There was a true party atmosphere and this was going to be a fantastic night of action. Scott spent the final practice session getting his lines dialled. He felt much quicker on Saturday so was confident heading into racing. 

Racing rolled around and Scott was ready. In his first round he made a good gate and was in the thick of the action. In turn 1 there was some bumping though and on the exit Scott found himself in 3rd. No panicking, Scott set his passing move up entering the woods. In the mid section he dived inside and on the exit had moved neatly into 2nd. Gaining on the leader across the finish line Scott almost made he pass for the win but settled into 2nd. Everything was going great and Scott moved into the quarter finals. In the quarter again Scott made a great start but some more bumping in turn 1 left Scott again in 3rd. Charging on the lower sections Scott was on the back wheel of the rider in 2nd but this time could not find a way through. 3rd place in the quarter final and Scott finished his night off in 10th overall. 

Not a great result by any means but this is a top 10 score which could be vital at the final round towards the overall rankings. 

4X ProTour now takes a break and Scott’s next 4X race will be the 2016 4X World Championships which will be held in Val Di Sole, Italy on September 10th. 

In the meantime this coming weekend sees Scott back on the small bike as he competes in the final 2 rounds of the British BMX Series.

All Images – Charles Robertson