Last weekend we attended Britains biggest mountain bike festival – The Malverns Classic. Scott has been attending this event since he began his mountain bike career in 1996! He has had some incredible results here over the years and it’s always exciting to be racing in front of fans who don’t necessarily attend many other races during the year!

The team arrived on Thursday to set up their team area ahead of the crowds arriving later that day. The Surf and Turf team tents looked amazing as always! Scott had a look at the dual slalom track ahead of the event on Friday.

Friday morning arrived and it was a full day of dual slalom. Practice in the morning, qualifying after lunch and then the racing later in the day.

This track is a proper old school slalom track. Poles on a grass field. Really simple. The track flowed really well and the riders were having plenty of fun.

Qualifying and it was the classic, one lap, no crap. Qualifying was done on the red lane and there was no room for mistakes. The top 32 would qualify to the racing and with only a couple of seconds separating the top 32, errors would be punished!

Scott put together a great lap. Cautious where he needed to be and fast in the flowing corners. It was good enough for 2nd position. Scott and the team were really happy with that and we headed back to the team tent to prep the race bikes.

Onto the racing. Scott was able to win his opening couple of rounds and was looking confident and in the mood for racing! In the quarter finals, things got interesting. The former Downhill World Cup Champion Josh Bryceland was the opponent.

Scott made a great start and was pushing very hard. He was in the lead when Josh pushed too hard and crashed out. In dual slalom this means a maximum time penalty of 2 seconds is applied for the second run. In the second run, Scott again pushed where he could and held the lead all the way down. It was a great win and he moved on to the semi finals.

In the semi finals it was slopestyle superstar Sam Reynolds as the opponent. Sam was 3rd fastest in qualifying so it was going to be a tough fight.

Scott used the same tactics again. He made a great start and took the lead. In the final turn Sam was trying to catch up and pushed too hard – crashing out. So again, Scott had a 2 second advantage into the second run. In the second run he again held the lead and controlled the race to take the win.

Final time!

In the final, Scott was up against the fastest qualifier Will Soffe – MBUK bike tester. Although Will isn’t a pro rider, he rides bikes every day and is easily as fast as most pro riders in the UK. In run 1 Scott was on the slower blue lane. He made a great start and put together an awesome lap – the fastest on the blue lane all day. Although he took 2nd in the run, it was only 0.135 behind. Knowing he had the faster red lane for the final run, he was extremely confident. 

In the second run he absolutely laid down his best lap of the day. Stormed to the win by over a second and became the 2022 Malverns Classic Dual Slalom Champion.

In the finish area Scott said: 

“That was a tough day! I’ve had so much fun racing today. Simple track and literally full concentration to keep the wheels in line. I felt fast all day and I’m really happy to take the win. I’ve had some tough rounds of racing to make it to the final – racing World Cup DH Champions, Slopestyle Champions and everyone in between! 

I’m buzzing. Now it’s off to Val DI Sole for 4X ProTour finals.”

As Scott mentioned, we had to leave the Malverns Festival on Friday night as we headed straight to Italy for the final 2 rounds of 4X ProTour – the World Series of 4X. Scott is currently sat in 2nd and he is looking to secure 2nd overall in the World for 2022.

Lets see what happens.

Round 6 is on Friday night. Round 7 is on Saturday night.

Update on Monday next week or follow Scott’s social media for updates – @beaumontracing on all platforms.

Thank you to all our team partners for your support in 2022.

The fifth round of the 2022 4X ProTour took place at MSV Bikepark in Germany yesterday. With big crowds watching all weekend, this race is certainly here to stay on the ProTour. The track was huge. Big jumps, high speed and a real challenge for all the riders.

Scott arrived at the track late Thursday evening and was excited to see the new track on Friday for the first official practice session. A track walk revealed just how technical the track was and just how dry the track was! 9 weeks without rain in Eisenhuttenstadt!

On Friday, riders had 2 hours to get to grips with this new challenge. It took Scott most of the session to really dial in the track. Wooded sections, rocks and a wall ride all took some working out. It was huge and a lot to work on to get up to speed. By the end of the session though, Scott was certainly looking quick and we were focused on a great result on Saturday.

Qualifying and the race took place on Saturday, so riders had to be ready for a full day of action. Seeded number 2 into this event, Scott would qualify as the penultimate rider. When qualifying started, the track was perfect – super dry and dusty. It was going to be a fast day. Scott got into the gate, focused and ready to go. Scott put together a great run and was able to hit all his marks. He crossed the line with the 3rd fastest time.

Racing went well for Scott winning his early heats and moving through to the quarter finals. In the quarter final, Scott made an incredible start and managed to get across to lead into turn 1 and then go on to win the race. It was a really impressive ride.

In the semi final Scott now found himself on gate 2. However, he was clearly in the mood. He made a great start and battled down the first straight. After a bump and a bang Scott had to settle into 2nd position. He held his lines well and was able to pull a good lead not the rider in 3rd to secure his spot in the final.

In the final, Scott had gate 3. The gate dropped and Scott was on point. Taking the holeshot, Scott was leading into turn 1 but fastest qualifier Tomas Slavik was holding the inside. With the track curving to the right, Slavik was able to move ahead. Then in turn 2 another rider followed Slavik through pushing Scott to 3rd. He regrouped and attacked hard. Into the wall ride Scott was centimetres away from the pass but then got cut off again. He defended into the final turn and was able to seal 3rd for the event.

In the finish area Scott said: 

“That has been a super tough day on a physical track. I am really happy with 3rd for a couple of reasons. 1 it’s my best result of the year and 2 I was able to beat my closest rivals which moves me back into 2nd overall with 2 rounds to go. It has been a great day of work. Thank you to all my sponsors for their support. We are having an incredible year. Time to finish it with bang.”

The result of 3rd place as mentioned by Scott now moves him into 2nd overall again. There are 2 rounds left and he is certainly fighting for the overall title.

The next round is in Val Di Sole, Italy where we will race the final 2 rounds. The biggest race of the year. Let’s finish this season strong.

Thank you to all our team partners for your support in 2022.