4x ProTour – Scott Beaumont rips it up at Willingen

The 4x ProTour is a fast and frenetic spectacle of bikes, blistering speeds and bad crashes. You could call it the ultimate event in short track MTB racing, it makes for one of the most enjoyable spectator sports within cycling.

For those of you new to 4X the event is run over a short, highly technical and intense track with jumps, rock sections and loose surfaces. All riders do qualifying runs on the track and are seeded accordingly. Heats are then run with the top 2 finishers each progressing to the next round all culminating with an all out final for the top 4 riders. Racing is hotly contested and the great mix of speed, technical tracks and BMX style intensity has seen the event grow massively in popularity.

Bikesoup sponsored rider, Scott Beaumont, brought us the race report. Scott is also joint organiser (with Chris Roberts’ of Naked Racing) of the 4X ProTour, but still finds time to mix it up with the young guns and big boys and showcases his talent, as he explains:

Famous for its 50 foot pro line double jumps and incredibly difficult rhythm section, Willigem, Germany is really tough and keeping focused is key. I was loving it and an hour into practice, I had all the jumps dialled and was looking forward to the qualifying session.

In qualifying, I was getting ready behind the start, when the rain came! 70 riders had already qualified, but the remaining 20 were unlucky. With the number 1 plate, I had to wait until the end. Still confident, I made a great start and rode a good lap… across the finish line and I was gutted to see 19^th next to my time. I rode a good lap but was 1.7 seconds down on the leader.

A bad qualifying position meant that I would not have gate choice through the night and would find myself on the outside lanes for most of the races. A tough challenge as the first straight at Willingen is short, but I was focused and confident.

In the first race, I made a good gate from lane 2, but could not get to the inside. I settled into 2^nd and progressed to the next round. In the second round, I made a better gate but still found myself in 2^nd. Down the rhythm straight I jumped into the lead. So it was onto the quarter finals. Again, like the other races, I just could not get to the inside leading by the first corner. I was in 2^nd this time behind world champion Michal Prokop. I rode on his wheel all the way and watched his lines ready for the semi final. I had the speed on the track but just needed to get in from gate 4 for the first corner. We moved on to the semi finals.

My plan for the semi-final was to cut inside in the first corner, although this didn’t go according to plan and I was pipped to second place by Mucas Menchura.

This placed me into the small final (for positions 5-8) against world champion Prokop, Quentin Derbier and Nico Vink.  This time I made a perfect gate and got across to Prokop. I followed his wheel all the way and knew the rhythm section was the place for the pass. I set it up and got level with him, but across the line he just edged me. So 2^nd in the small final gave me 6^th on the night which I was happy with but most importantly, I had done enough to secure 5^th overall in the 4X ProTour for 2012 and get myself on the overall podium.