Date: 26th May 2012

Venue: National Indoor Arena Birmingham, Great Britain

Race: UCI World Championships 2012

Class: 16 boys

Result: Quarter Final

Weather: Fine, but didn’t matter because it was indoors.

Course condition: Smooth and fast.

 

Redline, Blackman Bicycles, Time, Champion System, Michram Industries, Peabody

 

The World Championships this year were held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, Great Britain. The track was brand new built just for the event, which was why I was surprised to see asphalt corners on the track. The World Championship week consisted of 2 designated practice sessions for the challenge classes, then into racing.

The day started off with practice from 11:00am, then got into racing at 12:30pm. The three motos and 1/8 finals for us were run before the elites came on for their motos.

 

I came out of lane 6 in moto 1. My start was fine, but the Brazilian rider from the outside came out fast and came right across down the first straight. My front wheel almost got taken out over the jump into the first corner, and I was forced to unclip. This put me into second last coming around the first corner. There were riders everywhere throughout the lap, but I managed to catch up and make a pass into 4th around the last corner. I finished 4th.

 

My second moto was a cleaner run. I came out strong out of lane 3, but the Brazilian, Felippi Goncalves came out strong as well on the inside. I was in 2nd coming into the first corner, but Donald Ross made a sharp turn on the inside of Felippi Goncalves into 1st, which put me back to 3rd. I was able to pass Felippi down the second straight though, so that got me into 2nd. I followed it through from there with a 2nd.

 

My start was strong out of lane 5 in the last moto, but it was hard to come across with Felippi Goncalves and an American on the inside of me. I got stuck on the outside around the first corner, and that gave room for a French rider to come through into the 3rd. I was in 4th coming down the second straight. There was a clash between 2 riders right in front of me around the second corner and I couldn’t get the speed that I wanted for the rhythm straight. This allowed Donald Ross to come through, and put me back into 5th. There was no catching up from there, and I finished 5th.

 

It was an action packed heat in my motos, but I qualified through to the 1/8 final.

 

The carnage in my motos gave me bad points and 7th lane choice for the 1/8 final. I got lane 7. My start was good, but Felippi Goncalves and Donald Ross came out strong as well on the inside of me. I came around the first corner in 3rd. I had a fine run down the second straight, but left the exit of the second corner open for an American rider to come through and close me off. This pushed me back to 4th and I lost my speed coming down the rhythm straight. It was tight, but I held on with the 4th and progressed to the ¼ final.

 

There was a long break for us after the 1/8 final, in which the Elites had their motos. The ¼ finals started at 7:00pm.

The 4th in the 1/8 final once again gave me 7th lane choice for the ¼ final. I got lane 7. My start was strong and I followed through well down the first straight, but got stuck on the outside with 3 riders on the inside of me. I had no option but to go wide, and riders just kept slipping under around the first corner. I got locked up with an American rider around the corner, and ended up on the very outside coming into the second straight. There was jostling within a couple of guys infront of me and I had no where to go. I ran into the pack and went over onto the ground. I got up to finish the race, but didn’t qualify through to the semi finals.

 

It was a disappointing result for me, but I took a lot out of the racing and am keen on working hard to ensure that I am up there next time.