Willers makes winning start in US BMX Nationals

New Zealand BMX star Marc Willers made a strong start to his quest for the American Bicycle Association (ABA) BMX national series with a win in the opening round.

Willers, the Swatch Pro Team professional based in southern California, was in top form for the opening round of the series at Reno, Nevada which attracted nearly 2000 riders.

He won four of his five qualifying motos and had a strong ride in the semifinals. Willers, from Cambridge, made an excellent jump from the middle of the gate in the final to lead into the all-important first corner. From there he made no mistakes to claim the win ahead of talented first-year senior Corban Sharrah and fellow American Donny Robinson, the legendary four time world champion.

Willers found good form for the second round the following day, winning three of his four qualifiers before again making the jump to the front out of the gate in the semifinal. He slipped a pedal at the first jump and stumbled over in eighth place, chasing back to a photo finish for the final qualifying place for the final. However he was placed fifth, just 4/1000th of a second from fourth.

“That was a bit disappointing but overall I am very confident where I am at so in the bigger picture it was a really encouraging start to the season,” said the BikeNZ rider.

“We have the next two rounds coming up in Oklahoma in two weeks and I am looking forward to another strong performance and really start to make a serious charge for the year-end title.”

Results, ABA BMX Nationals, round 1, Reno, Nevada:
Elite men’s final: Marc Willers (NZL) 1, Corban Sharrah (USA) 2, Donny Robinson (USA) 3.