Redfest 2020

We finally got back to racing at Redhill, Gloucestershire at the start of September. Here is our weekend edit by Lewis Bradley:

Redfest ‘King of the Hill

Friday 4th September saw racing start again in the UK with ‘Redfest’ – a weekend of different disciplines at the famous Redhill venue.

The weekend started with King of the Hill. A time trial event where riders raced down the 4X track on their own against the clock. The fastest time wins!

Heres a great edit by JPWC Media:

Redfest 2020: Redhill, Gloucestershire

It’s fair to say that 2020 has not gone to plan! The Covid 19 global pandemic has been ruthless in tearing up societies ‘norm’ and the sport of 4X suffered as much as every other sport.

On September 4th, we were back to racing though with Reddest. A 3 day festival comprising of Time Trial, Dual Slalom and 4X events.

With a fully revamped track for 2020, the scene was set and Dethleffs Racing headed to Redhill to finally get back to racing.

Friday: ‘King of the Hill’

Friday night Scott lined up for the inaugural ‘King of the Hill’ event. A time trial race that would see riders racing against the clock to see who was the fastest.

The best riders from 4X, BMX, DH and Enduro lined up to see who would be the fastest. Everyone had 2 runs and the best run would count.

Scott’s first run was great and he set the fastest time of 43.61 seconds.

His second run was even better. Nailing a perfect run, Scott crossed the line with a time of 42.71! No one was able to better this time and Scott was crowned ‘King of the Hill’.

A great start to the weekend for Scott and the team.

The podium celebrations

The podium took place after the race and Scott’s daughter Astrid was ecstatic that daddy won the race!

One for the photo album!

So it was the first win of the weekend and the team were looking forward to the next day and Dual Slalom.

Saturday: Dual Slalom

Next up was Dual Slalom. One of the most simple formats of Mountain Biking. 2 riders and a series of parallel flags that the riders race in and out of to see who’s the fastest.

Scott start his day of perfectly setting the fastest time. In Dual Slalom, the fastest time always gives a rider confidence as it simply comes down to clean runs and hopefully a good result!

Scott transferred through his opening rounds easily. Then in his quarter final he made a good start and was able to take the win.

So it was into the semi final to land a spot in the final. Scott made a great start and over the 2 runs was able to book his place in the final!

A great weekend so far and unbeaten but could Scott make it 2 wins from 2 events.

The Final

The red lane was slightly slower and Scott had the red lane first. With a Le Mans style start, riders ran to their bikes, picked them up and shot off down the hill. It turns out Scott’s sprint speed is pretty good! He made a great getaway and was just 0.1 seconds off winning on the red lane!

The riders switched lanes and Scott was confident on the blue lane. He didn’t make as good a start as the first round but he pulled a lot of time back in the mid section and crossing the line he took a convincing win.

So after day 2 Scott was unbeaten at Redfest!

Sunday: Schwalbe British 4X

The final day of racing and it is what everyone had been waiting 6 months for! A return to 4X racing.

The 4X track at Redhill was completely redesigned and re built in the summer just after lockdown ended in the UK. A new, spectacular track with big jumps and huge corners would now redefine the standard of UK 4X tracks.

Practice got underway and after winning King of the Hill on Friday evening, we knew Scott had the speed. He immediately looked very quick.

In his motos, Scott was simply untouchable. Winning all 3 races comfortably and even in the final moto winning from the outside gate. He was looking fast and certainly in the mood to clean sweep the weekend with 3 wins.

Semi Final

With first gate choice, Scott went for the favoured inside gate position. All looked good as Scott got ready for the gate to drop. As the beeps and lights fired to start the race Scott made his trade mark fast snap out of the gate but immediately disaster struck. His chain snapped. Somehow he managed to stay on his bike. He pumped his bike down the first straight hoping that the chain would fall free so that he could try to get down the track, but in turn 1 the chain locked up in his back wheel.

Scott untangled it and set off rolling down the track. Unfortunately it was too late as the other riders were gone, but he still put on a show, jumping all the big jumps and carry so much speed even though he couldn’t even pedal!

Of course Scott was gutted but at the same time happy with what was a perfect weekend until that point.

Thank You……

So that was it for the Redfest weekend. 2 wins and a 7th was enough to give Scott the overall title for the weekend, although he was certainly looking good for the clean sweep!

We just wanted to take this chance to thank you all for your continued support throughout 2020. It is very much appreciated.

We wanted to wish you and all your families continued good health and we look forward to more races and regular press releases going forwards.

Many thanks.

All images by Charles Robertson