After the long winter break, our 2023 4X season fired back into action with round 1 of the Schwalbe British 4X Series which was held at Chicksands in Bedfordshire on Sunday.
After filming a course preview film at the track on Thursday, Scott was immediately looking fast on the track and certainly looked like he had the pace to be at the sharp end in racing.
For the elites, the start was going to be absolutely vital with the ‘S’ bend at the top of the track where all the remaining action would take 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. He also made a huge mistake whilst leading the second moto where he nearly crashed but saved it!
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 into turn one, but heading into the S bends, another rider got inside and Scott had to ride the outside berm. He then got immediately shuffled back to 4th and the race went from perfect to a disaster in 2 seconds straight.
Unfortunately he did not make the main final. However. In 4X there is a small final to determine 5th to 8th positions and to award the final step of the 5 rider podium.
In the small final, Scott took gate 2 to give himself a bit more space. He made a great start and rode his best lap of the day, taking the win, 5th on the day and the final step on the podium.
‘Today has been great. It’s been a long winter and it feels great to get started with 2023 4X season. 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. It was awesome to see so many riders racing 4X in the UK and I’m excited to celebrate 20 years of British 4X all year’ Said Scott at the finish line.
The podiums were held immediately after the finals.
Round 2 will take place at Fly Up 417 in Gloucestershire on Sunday May 7th. See you all there.
Thank you to all our partners for the 2023 season. It’s going to be a great year.