MTB World Cup #2 - B

Fort William, Scotland, May 31-June 1, 2003

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Race 2 - May 31: Four-cross

Greg Minnaar beats favourite Mike Carter

By Martin Drummond

Some downhill racers have been known to avoid 4-Cross events, wary of injuring themselves before the "main event". But with 4-Cross now having full-fledged World Cup status, nearly all the front runners lined up in front of 6,000 spectators at the Nevis Range, Fort William to take part. Chris Kovarik and Mick Hannah were about the only high-profile Dhers who didn't come to the line.

Ironically, defending DH World Cup champ Steve Peat managed to come off in practice, adding an ankle injury to his pre-existing iffy wrist. He wasn't the only top competitor to fall foul of the 4-Cross - Brian Lopes crashed on the first corner in the very first heat.

As befits a World Cup, the course was big and steep with carefully-designed lines and deep, deep berms. Some heats were decided on the first corner, some on the last corner and the rest at points in between, giving the spectators exciting and varied racing. The rapidity with which each heat got underway added to the spectacle too - there was rarely a wait of more than a few seconds between the end of one heat and the start of the next.

There were few surprises in the racing, with Peat gritting his teeth and working his way through to the final where he was joined by Greg Minnaar, Eric Carter and Michal Prokop. Before the final, though, was the "small final" comprising the left-overs from the semi-finals. Included in the small final was crowd favourite, 17 year old Gee Atherton. Atherton beat such luminaries as Cedric Gracia, Mike King and Bas de Bever before crashing in his semi-final. He crashed in the small final too, but it was still a much-appreciated performance including some audacious mid-air overtaking moves.

In the final, Carter looked like the favourite to win, having won every round thus far. The crowd were keen to see Peat win on British soil, but it wasn't to be - Minnaar and Carter got ahead early on and fought it out between them right to the line with Minnaar finally prevailing.

With only eight riders entered, the women's event was a considerably more low-key affair. Katrina Miller comprehensively out-rode the competition to win.

Results

Men
 
1 Greg Minnaar (RSA)                     50    pts
2 Eric Carter (USA)                      40
3 Steve Peat (GBr) Team Orange           30
4 Michal Prokop (Cze)                    25
5 Leiv Ove Nordmark (Nor)                21
6 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)                 18
7 Wade Bootes (Aus) Trek-Volkswagen      15
8 George Atherton (GBr)                  13
9 Guido Tschugg (Ger)                    11
10 Brian Schmith (USA)                   10
11 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)                 9
12 Mike King (USA)                        8
13 Bas De Bever (Ned) Be-One              7
14 Scott Beaumont (GBr)                   6
15 Will Longden (GBr)                     5
16 Dale Holmes (GBr)                      5
17 Cedric Gracia (Fra) Siemenscan.Dale    5
18 Dave Wardell (GBr)                     5
19 Romain Saladini (Fra) MSC Bikes        4
20 Nathan Rennie (Aus)                    3
21 David Klaassenvanoorscho (USA)         2
22 Chris Powell (USA)                     2
23 Caile Noble (USA)                      1
24 Daniel Auerswald (Ger)                 1
25 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)
26 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) MSC Bikes
27 Samuel Hill (Aus)
28 Koen Van Valkenhoef (Ned)
29 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)
30 Glyn O'brien (Irl)
31 Nigel Page (GBr)
32 Todd Bosch (USA)
33 Michal Marosi (Cze)
34 Jordie Lunn (Can)
35 Oscar Saiz (Spa) Maxxis-MSC
36 Marcus Klausmann (Ger)
37 Richard Batey (GBr)
38 Dylan Clayton (GBr)
39 Martin Ogden (GBr)
40 Filip Matus (Cze)
41 Jamis Vanags (Lat)
42 Jamie Popham (Irl)
43 Carl Wilson (GBr)
44 Steve Atkins (GBr)
45 Justin Havukainen (Aus)
46 Matej Charvat (Cze)
47 Jordan Gould (GBr)
48 Martin Hoferek (Cze)
49 Brian Lopes (USA)
50 Martyn Murray (GBr)
51 Filip Polc (Svk)
52 Markolf Berchtold (Bra) MSC Bikes
53 Maciej Jodko (Pol)
54 Scott Sharples (Aus)
55 Ben Reid (Irl)
56 Ross Tricker (GBr)
57 Trond Hansen (Nor)
58 Kenji Takamatsu (Jpn)
59 Andre Wagenknecht (Ger)
60 Marco Erbrich (Ger)
61 Duncan Ferris (GBr)
62 Nicholas Green (GBr)
63 Daniel Hume (GBr)
64 David Sibley (GBr)
65 Andrew Yoong (Irl)
66 Darren Howarth (GBr)
67 Dominic Bent (GBr)
68 Matthew Allnutt (GBr)
69 Frans Sjoblom (Swe)
70 Marco Dell Isola (GBr)
71 Alun Brooks (GBr)
72 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze)
73 William Evans (GBr)
74 Mickael Pascal (Fra) Maxxis-MSC
75 Simon Paton (GBr)
76 Miles Kirby (GBr)
77 Richard Jones (GBr)
78 Cyril Lagneau (Fra) Maxxis-MSC
79 Steven Ruffell (GBr)
80 Andi Deutschenbaur (Ger)
81 James Gould (GBr)
DNS Christopher Kovarik (Aus)
DNS Daniel Atherton (GBr)
DNS Mick Hannah (Aus)
DNS Waylon Smith (GBr)
 
Women
 
Final
 
1 Katrina Miller (Aus)                   50 pts
2 Moi Suemasa (Jpn) Trek-Volkswagen      40
3 Anneke Beerten (Ned)                   30
4 Tara Llanes (USA)                      20
 
Small Final
 
5 Celine Gros (Fra) Morzine Avoriaz      15
6 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra)                  10
7 Lisa Sher (USA)                         7
8 Fionn Griffiths (GBr)                   5
 
Qualifications
 
9 Jill Kinter (USA)                       4
9 Rhian Atherton (GBr)                    4
DNS Marissa Erbrich (Ger)
DNS Helen Gaskell (GBr)