The 2024 BMX race season got underway during the weekend at the National Indoor BMX Arena in Manchester. The facility at British Cycling headquarters is incredible. A £24 million building which holds the world’s only permanent indoor BMX track and seating for 2,000 spectators. It is brilliant and Scott’s favourite BMX track. It also happens to be the venue where Scott spends a lot of his time training, so coming into this race he was confident about starting his season strong.

The racing started on Saturday with round 1. After signing on and registering his transponder for racing, Scott took to the track for his practice session. Just a couple of laps were needed to get up to speed and he was ready to race. 

At this event, his class would race in a grand prix style format. This meant that all 4 races would count towards an overall score, so every race was vital.

Scott got off to the worst start possible. The music kicked in whilst he was on the gate and he didn’t hear the start beeps clearly meaning he was last out of the gate. However. He made the best first turn we have seen in years! Exiting the corner in 3rd! He then worked his way into position and made his move in the final corner, sliding into 2nd. It was a great salvage! The second lap was much better and he took the win. In he set his fastest lap time and took a commanding win. He was riding at his best and going into the final race had a 5 point lead!

With grand prix, start gates are allotted to riders and Scott was given the outside gate. Not ideal but he had points to spare. He made a great start and rocketed towards the first turn. He didn’t quite get there in the lead, but came out of turn 1 in 2nd. On the third straight he carried a lot of speed and into the final turn went for it, but the move did not stick. Losing all his speed, he was able to finish in 4th and took the overall win.

Scott was very happy:

“That was an awesome race. I gave 100% and I’m stoked to take the win. A perfect start and I’ll be looking for the same tomorrow.”

It was then time for food in the Adria motorhome and a relaxing night to regroup ahead of round 2 on Sunday.

Sunday Round 2:

Sunday morning arrived and we were ready to go again. Riders were allowed to do a single lap of practice ahead of racing. Scott made it count with a solid lap that looked as strong as his Saturday laps.

On Sunday, British Cycling decided to merge Scott’s class with the 19-29 category to give riders more racing. The results would still be separated for each class though. 

Onto racing and Scott was looking strong. His first heat was a great lap to get the day started. He made a good start and was able to secure 3rd in that race. In heat 2 he came from gate 3 but got a bump on the first straight. He was able to hustle and across the finish held on for 4th. In the 3rd heat, he rode his best lap of the weekend and finished 2nd.

That moved him into the quarter finals in this merged category. Only 2 other riders made it this far from Scott’s category, so he was assured a top 3 result.

In the quarter final he chose gate 4. He made a good start but the rider next to him bumped his handlebar on the run down the start. Scott’s experience kicked in and he braked, tucked in and dived inside in turn 1. The move was extraordinary but about 4 inches short. He exited the first turn in 5th and the chase began. He rode flat out and across the finish line was very close but it was not to be. Out in the quarter final in 5th.  

However. The good news was, his competitors in his class also exited in the quarters, meaning Scott took the class win!

Commenting after the race, Scott said: “I can’t believe that I’ve won the race after going out in the quarter final! I’m stoked to leave Manchester with maximum points and look forward to Cyclopark in Kent in 4 weeks.”

So a perfect start to 2024. 

Thank you to all our sponsors for your support. We couldn’t do this without you.

After an incredible year, it was crowned by becoming the 2023 Schwalbe British 4X Series Champion.
8 rounds of British 4X Series around the country with the best 6 scores to count meant Scott won the title with a round to spare.
Now it’s time to look towards 2024!

On Sunday, thousands of spectators lined the race track to watch the 2023 4X National Championships at the Malverns Classic Festival. 

Thankfully the weather was dry and sunny and at 11am practice got underway. The track was a little different to what we are used to seeing on the British 4X Series. At about a minute long, and speeds in excess of 40mph, the track was fast, flowing and physical.

At 1pm, it was time for qualifying. The senior men and women would qualify against the clock, whilst the other categories would use the traditional 3 moto format for qualifying. 

Qualifying:

Seeded as the number 1 rider, Scott would leave the start gate last as riders qualified in reverse order.

He fired out of the gate and was on a heater, pedalling everywhere and carrying great speed all the way. As he crossed the finish line, he slotted into 2nd position, 0.4 behind the fastest time. He was happy enough and set his focus on the racing.

Racing:

In the semi final racing got very serious. Scott went for gate 1. He made an incredible start and powered out of the gate, leading through turn 1. He carried good speed through the technical corners and pulled a good lead over the 2nd placed rider. As he carried on into the finish aren, Scott had a big lead and was able to coast into the finish and into the final. After a spin of his legs in the finish arena, he set off back to the top for the final.

Onto the final. Jono Jones took gate 2, Scott took 1, Dave Roberts went for 3 and Pete Watson took 4. The gate dropped and Scott got the snap leading down the first straight took the early lead. He continued to pull away down the track and even though the others closed up in the final turn, he had it under control. 

Taking his 11th Senior mens National 4X title and adding this to the Senior Mens Dual Slalom National Championship title that he won on Friday, it was a hell of a weekend for Boom Boom.

“I just can’t believe it. I felt good all day, but at National Championships, the pressure is always on. As soon as I got into turn 1 I knew I could win and I just hit all my marks on the track to bring it home. This one is for my family. The support they have given me throughout my career has been second to none and I can’t thank them enough for all their support.”

Scott was ecstatic in the finish area and didn’t leave until every kid had a high five who wanted one!

Next it was the podiums, a couple of photoshoots for British Cycling and MBUK and then it was home time after an incredible weekend at the Malverns Classic.

Thank you to all the riders, medics, commentators, officials, commissaires, marshals, family and friends who attended this race. It was incredible.

For the first time in over 25 years, the Dual Slalom National Championships were back! Held at The Malverns Classic Festival once again, this head to head format of Mountain Biking would wow crowds on Friday.

With National Champion Jerseys up for grabs in the Championship categories, this mtb festival that is normally about good times, fun and music would turn very serious for about 20 seconds per run!

The Track:

The great thing with Dual Slalom is that you can do it anywhere! The Malverns Classic literally proved this! A grass field became a race track with a few carefully placed flag poles! A 2 rider pro gate start gate would set riders off into 12 corners for both the red and blue lanes. Riders would get a run in each lane, times added together and the winner would move on to the next round until the winners were crowned.

A week earlier, Scott had been asked by the Malverns Classic organisers to create the Dual Slalom track. He had made it fast and flowing, utilising the whole hillside and hopefully making racing close.

Practice:

Scott looked fast right from his first practice run. He initially opted for Schwalbe Spike tyres – normally reserved for mud races, but on this occasion would bite into the grass hillside. 

Qualifying:

Qualifying started at 12.30. A single run down the red lane to determine the qualifying order and calculate the brackets for racing later.

Scott got into the gate and ready to go. He made a customary great start and powered along the start straight. Through the first 4 corners all was looking good until, he had a massive slide in turn 5 nearly crashing. He miraculously saved it and hammered the rest of the track, crossing the line in 3rd place, just 0.8 behind the leader!

‘Its time to switch to dry tyres now’ Scott said in the finish laughing about his qualifying run!

Before the finals we had some rain showers which certainly made the grass track tricky, but thankfully the track dried through the racing again.

Kockout stages:

Scott rode well in his first couple of rounds , moving through to the quarter finals. In the quarter finals, things started to get a lot tighter. In round 1 of the quarter final, Scott was able to win by 0.5 seconds in the blue lane. On the red lane he was able to control the race and again won by 0.3 seconds moving into the semi final.

In the semi final, Scott again put the hammer down in the blue lane taking a convincing win by 0.9 seconds. Like his quarter final, he was then able to control the 2nd round without pushing to the limit and won that race by just 0.1 seconds.

Onto the final.

In the first race, Scott was in the red lane to start. The gate dropped and both riders were level for the whole run until the penultimate corner when Jack Hudson washed his front tyre out and went down. Beaumont was able to take the win and Hudson was awarded the maximum first round deficit of 2 seconds.

In the second round, Scott showed his vast experience and simply sat on the wheel of Hudson all the way, keeping it smooth and actually giving it a little burst across the finish to take the win by 4 thousandths of a second.

“That was such an amazing day of racing. I am absolutely stoked to take the win and become the 2023 British Cycling Dual Slalom National Champion. Huge thank you to Schwalbe for their help today. We continued to switch tyres through the day seeking the perfect grip. This win is owed to them as I was able to push so hard in the last few races there. Half the job is done. 4X National Championships on Sunday to focus on now!” Said the new champion in the finish area.

Your Senior Men’s 2023 Dual Slalom National Champion was Scott Beaumont. Certainly well deserved, and the 45 year old continues to be the man to beat in head to head MTB racing.

A huge thanks to The Malverns Classic and British Cycling for organising this incredible event. 

Thank you to all the riders, medics, commentators, officials, commissaires, marshals, family and friends who attended this race. You made it a great day in a grass field!

The biggest BMX race of the season is of course the UCI BMX World Championships. An annual event that attracts over 3,000 riders from all around the World and during the course of 1 race, determines who is the best rider in each age category.

As many of you will know, Scott has won the BMX World Championships twice before and has the covered rainbow jerseys hanging proudly in his house. The goal for this year was to add a third title. Very simple!

Our journey began early on Friday morning when we drove 5 hours north to arrive in Glasgow at lunchtime. With the first practice session at 17.00, we had plenty of time to get organised and ready to train.

Riders generally get 4 or 5 laps of the track on the first day. This year, team GB separated out some age groups to give us the maximum chance to get the most laps. Scott was lucky and he managed to position himself in the pens to get plenty of track time. The track was super technical and fast with huge jumps and berms. Scott loved it and he looked great on track. Things were looking good.

Saturday and it was the second practice session. The temperatures were high and the track speed moved up a notch. Lap times were 40 seconds and with so many jumps in that lap on this huge track, we were in for some interesting racing on Wednesday. Scott ended the session with some gates and full laps with all the jumps dialled. He was ready to race.

On Monday we had a training session to keep the legs turning. Scott was flying and we were all getting excited about the prospects on Wednesday.

Tuesday, and a complete day of rest. A boat trip on Loch Lomond, some great food and the stage was set.

Wednesday – Race day:

9am and it was final practice. 2 laps to get everything set and then game time. Scott looked great. Nice and smooth.

First moto. Scott made a great start and settled nicely into 2nd. It was a great start, but there was a long way to go until the final.

Second moto and his start was very good again. He battled hard and and again settled into 2nd. He looked really comfortable out there and we were excited.

Third moto and it was the same story. 2nd again! A good start followed by a nice lap. It was easily enough to qualify through to the eighth finals and things were looking good.

Onto the eighth final. Now it was straight knockout. Eight riders in a race and just four qualifying to the next round. Scott ended up with gate four. Ice nailed another great gate and he hit the first turn in third. He rode a good lap and crossed the line in fourth. Although that sounds like it was close, he had the race well under control and he saved some energy for the quarter final.

Quarter final. Gate 5. He was extremely confident and made his best gate of the day. 2nd into turn 1 and then the unthinkable. The leader rode Scott extremely wide. Nearly off the track. He got back onto the racing line in third but he had lost a lot of speed. He held third all the way to the final corner when the guy behind dived inside running Scott wide again. Then the rider in fifth dived back inside. Scott was in a drag race but unfortunately lost out. Fifth across the line and he was out. World number 18 for the year on BMX.

In the finish area, the frustration and anger was plain to see. Scott said: “The week has gone so well. I felt strong and my lap times were fast. Everything was set. Today, I have been in control all day. I just can’t believe that rider took me so wide in turn 1. That ruined my whole race. I am absolutely gutted.”

Racing is a roller coaster and whilst Scott wins a lot of races, it is always gutting when things go wrong. However. The great thing is, after bad days, we have the chance to turn it around a week later.

Our next event is The Malverns Classic. The Dual Slalom National Championships and the 4X National Championships. This is a huge weekend for us. We will be ready.

Thank you again for your support. Let’s go.

Speak soon.