Walker, Willers chase BMX World titles in USA
Thursday 29 September 2011, 9:15AM
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New Zealand BMX stars Sarah Walker and Marc Willers are hoping to finish their international season on top of the world, literally, in the USA on the weekend.
They are chasing world titles in the fourth and final round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup at Chula Vista near San Diego.
Walker leads the elite women’s standings by a comfortable margin going into the last round after winning the final in The Netherlands, placing third in South African final and second at the Olympic test event final in London.
This year a new time trial qualifying system was used, with a second super qualifying run with those points added to the grand final for overall World Cup honours.
In overall points Walker placed second in South Africa, first in The Netherlands and fourth in London where she chose a no-risk policy in the time trial. The 22 year old takes a 106 point lead into the final round from Frenchwomen Magalie Pottier with Australian Caroline Buchanan a further 90 points in arrears in third place just ahead of world champion Mariana Pajon (ARG).
Willers was eighth in the final in South Africa and won the finals at Papendal (NED) and London to be second, 56 points behind world champion Joris Daudet (FRA) who has finished on the podium in every event although yet to win a final.
Both Cambridge-based riders will be expecting plenty of homegrown US competition this weekend as Chula Vista, the first international Supercross track, is based at the USA Olympic Centre and a regular training stop for the Americans.
No Americans are in the chase for overall Supercross honours so the New Zealanders are expecting an all-out attack from the US riders.
Willers, who is based an hour away in southern California, has been the class rider all season, particularly in the US while Daudet has been the standout in Europe. Many expect another showdown between the pair at Chula Vista, while Australian Sam Willoughby, another based nearby, has promised much this year.
Walker, 22, has been the most consistently strong performer this year and should prove the class of the field, especially with Great Britain’s world champion Shanaze Reade bypassing the competition.
The other BikeNZ riders in the field include Tauranga’s Kurt Pickard, currently 29th overall in the Supercross world rankings, Kurt James (Cambridge) who is 58th and Trent Woodcock (Pukekohe), the junior world silver medallist, who is 87th.
Practice is tomorrow (Friday, NZ time) with time trials on Saturday and racing on Sunday which includes three qualifying motos, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.