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UCI WORLDS 2009
The track was built indoors in the Adelaide showgrounds and was 310 metres long. That is a bit shorter than normal but within the 300-400m requirement. It still proved to be a good mix of jumps and a challenge where skill and fitness would be tested. In comparison to the China worlds track, Adelaide had one or two less jumps on the straights. First straight had 2 big jumps. An 8.5 m double, and 9.5 metre double followed by step down, saw lots of crashes on both jumps in practice and racing. 2nd straight a succession of medium jumps for elite women and all amateur classes , plus a split straight for the Elite men with more huge jumps. Again lots of crashes right through in practice. 3rd straight was rollers for rhythm, which was a bit tricky with inconsistent heights to challenge the riders. It needed the most practice and saw lots of crashes at the end of the straight. 4th straight, a couple of jumps to the finish that didn’t cause much trouble. Berms were clay, rather than sealed.
Practice. Nobody could see the track until 30 minutes before official practice. NZ riders had just 40 minutes track time on Tuesday morning, and again Wednesday morning. Then just 2 laps before racing the next day. Riders warmed up in another area prior to getting on the track.
Riders had great speed off the high start ramp and the launch of the first jump (8.5m double) was shaped to promote jumping. Kapiti’s Liam (12) Cara (15) and Philip (18) had no problems, jumping it pretty well straight up in practice as many of their age also did so. The youngest Kapiti rider, Luey (UCI 9), also attempted it after seeing some extremely talented 8/9 year olds from USA clear it, but crashed heavily, with bruising and chest pains. A tough task for a young rider. He was under observation for a day in case of concussion, but given the go ahead for his 20 inch racing next day.
The second jump, at over 9m, was mainly for the teenage plus aged riders to jump. The rest rode over. Of the younger teenagers, only a few attempted it, some very talented 14+ girls and younger boys clearing it. Riders up to 40+ cleared it too. Some of the older riders still really had it in them. Philip (18) was the only Kapiti rider jumping it. Many crashed there heavily in practice. Some were carted off - some with fractures, neck braces, and an Aussie woman with a concussion and memory loss after a face plant when short landing. She was still unconscious after carried out. That was before the second straight!
Racing was often tight and close. Racing saw lots of crashes in the turns and rest of track. Nobody could say that anyone had any race in the bag until the finish line was in sight. Positions changed regularly through the whole track, particularly in cornering moves.
Format Riders initially raced 3 qualifying motos against the same riders. The draw was random apart from previous world top 8 being seeded and spread over the groups. Top 4 on points in each moto group through to the knockouts. They consist of one moto for each stage of 1/8 (8 groups of 8) , ¼ (4 groups of 8), semi (2 groups of 8), and finals, top 4 always going through.
Entries In the age challenge classes were 1800 from all round the world, 250 from NZ over the ages and classes. Several top 8 results achieved by NZers, and a couple of World 1 results in the younger groups. Some have come home with injuries including a few shoulder repairs needed.
The local Kapiti riders Luey, Liam, Cara and Philip had trained extensively. They knew that Worlds competition was going to be tough with a fairly big entry list. The challenge was added by the fact that most other riders were still in the middle of their BMX season, being from warmer climates and the Northern hemisphere summer, whereas NZ had pretty well closed down months earlier. Over several months they had done countless amounts of gate training, street sprints, fitness work and track work. Often gates were done in 2 or 3 degrees under lights in evenings. It is hard training this time of year as it is our off season, but they did a great job of being really fit and keeping their skills up. The only real deficiency in their training was the lack of recent race meetings. Club nights were no longer run at Kapiti and so trips were made up country for some limited pre world’s race meets to get in some competition practice.
Australian based Kapiti riders. Former 2002 Kapiti president , Derek Harris (Melbourne), and Steve Ewart (Brisbane), also rode under the Kapiti banner. Both went to Whangarei at Easter to ride the 09 Nationals. Their results qualified them a spot at the worlds, and where they would therefore ride as NZers rather than Aussies.
Results:
All 4 local Kapiti riders made the cut by qualifying past their heats, but problems for our Aussie based riders. From those that qualified, there were mixed outcomes.
Liam Perry World 8
Liam Perry 12 yr boys 20 inch - 4,2,1 in qualifying motos........3 (1/8s) 4 (1/4s) 3 (semis) 8th in final The only Kiwi in the final of 12 boys. Liam went well beyond his own goals by scoring top 4 in all his knockouts to progress all the way to the final, the only Kiwi in his age group to do so. His great form saw him come through strongly from the gate all the way to the finish in the tightly packed fields. His skill, fitness and race craft was outstanding. Liam has the honour of carrying W8 on his plate. Only the top 8 have the privilege of carrying a “W” plate.
Cara Leyten 15 yr girls 20 inch – 2,2,2 in qualifying motos........3 (1/4s), 6 (semi).
Cara was confident after dialling the track in fairly quickly. She was disappointed at not achieving her goal of making the final, but pleased to have been racing closely, in her heats and quarter final, right on the back wheel of the eventual W5 placed rider and winner of 3 heats(from Germany), to realize that her pace was not far off. Only one Kiwi made the final, finishing 6th.
Luey Cotton 9 yr boys 20 inch - 3,6,3 in qualifying motos...........5 (1/4s)
Luey was well prepared and had done impressive amounts of training for such a young rider. He had the fitness and skills to go a long way. Unfortunately, after crashing the day before in practice, Luey raced hindered by chest pains. In a competition where the difference between making the next cut was divided by minimal amounts of performance, he was gutted by the effects of the injuries where he just needed to finish one spot better to progress. Luey 24 inch (cruiser) Racing in the 12 and under group, at age 9 didn’t expect to progress in this class. The class caters for the older riders only but he decided to enter for the extra track time and experience.
Philip Leyten 17-24 yr men 20 inch - 4,3,3 in qualifying motos......7 (1/8s) crashed out into another rider in turn 2. Loved the track and the experience and pleased to come home without injury after successfully jumping the big jumps.
Our Aussie Riders’ reports:
Steve Ewart 30+ men 20 inch and 40-44 cruiser. Unfortunately, I was taken out in my first 20" moto (while leading) by a French rider (who needed a guide dog!). This left me with a cracked tailbone, torn tendons in my lower back and a concussion. A great start for the week!
2 days later I lined up for the cruiser class, it was very hard for me to walk, let alone ride. I managed to get as far as the semi, where I just missed the main by finishing 5th. Overall finish 9th out of 59 is not too bad considering.
It was good to see the Kapiti crew in Adelaide, and I hope you guys will join me in South Africa. (2010 Worlds)
Until then, train hard and I’ll see you at the Nats.
Cheers,
Steve NZ 1.
Derek Harris 40-44 cruiser. In my 1st moto I had a great snap out of the gate next to current W6 and was 3rd out of the 1st corner but I didn’t block the 2 Aussies behind me and they rode me up the second corner and then I was 5th. I got mad and tried too hard to pass them back on the 3rd straight and fell off my bike, got back up quickly and finished 6th, but I had hurt my right knee. 2nd moto and I was hurting out of the gate and finished 5th. Tried 3 times on the second straight to pass the rider from Japan but he kept blocking me! 3rd moto and I was feeling a bit better, finished 4th. The best 4 from my group progressed through to the quarter finals, and I missed out by 4 points. I had the number plate stolen off my bike while it was in the pits, which was a rider’s only area, so that was the icing on the cake for me.
Elite NZers and winners:
Additional to the age challenge groups, were the junior (17-18) and Senior (19+)Elite classes of a couple hundred or so riders. The elites put on a spectacular show with exciting “pack” jumping and loads of action. There were loads of crashes in turn 1, on the big jumps on 2nd straight, and at end of the tricky 3rd straight. Often riders went down in turn 1 pileup's, sometimes taking out half the field. In one Elite men’s semi, 5 went down. Then the race was on to scramble back up and race for the remaining 4th spot to progress to the final.
Sarah Walker (NZ) is double 2009 Elite Women’s World Champion - in both the 20inch (main “Olympic” class) and Cruiser (24inch wheels)! She rode strongly all day and never lost a moto. In the 20 inch final, she was under pressure with close racing on much of the first straight, but opened a gap at the second jump to take the lead from there to the finish. Eva Ailloud (France) was 2nd, Arielle Martin (USA) 3rd.
Sarah is visiting Kapiti at the end of October.
Marc Willers, NZ's Olympic men’s rider, had strong qualifying heats. 2, 8 (crash), 1 to go through. Was looking strong with 2nd in the 1/8s but unfortunately crashed out of the contest in the next knockout round. The 2008 Olympic medallists continued their form with outstanding racing. Maris Stromberg’s (Latvia)(2008 world champion and Olympic Gold) had one of the highlight races of the day in his 1/8 knockout rounds. Was way behind the pack into turn 1 after not jumping the second jump, looking like he may have unclipped before, hunted the field to make the comeback of the day and reach 4th by turn 3 to progress to the quarters. Through to finals and not so good, made a tactical error in a turn, dropped back, yet came back through to take 4th. The new Elite men’s world champion is Donny Robinson (USA) (Olympic bronze) , 2nd Mike Day (USA) (Olympic silver) , 3rd Ramiro Marino (Argentina). Robinson was Junior champion many years ago, has been in great form in Supercross and world events in the last couple of years but never reached the World #1 in Elite men until now.
The next major event is the North Island Champs in Cambridge on Labour weekend this October 2009.
Check out this website, www.bmx-videos.com/ for video's of semi's and finals.
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| SE68 | UCI Worlds 2009 | 0 | Aug 12 2009, 2:46 AM EDT by SE68 | ||
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Thread started: Aug 12 2009, 2:46 AM EDT
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Hi Guys,
It seems as though we were forgotten from the club results.Derek Harris & myself also represented Kapiti at the worlds.We raced in the 40+ cruiser class & I raced the 30+ 20" challenge class too. Unfortunately I was taken out in my first 20" moto(while leading)by a french rider(who needed a guide dog).This left me with a cracked tailbone,torn tendons in my lower back &a concussion.A great start for the week! 2 days later I lined up for the cruiser class,it was very hard for me to walk,let alone ride.I managed to get as far as the semi,where I just missed the main by finishing 5th.Overall finish 9th out of 59.not too bad considering. It was good to see the kapiti crew in adelaide,and I hope you guys will join me in south africa. Until then ,train hard&I ll see you at the Nats. Cheers, Steve NZ 1. |
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