Young kiwi talent shows through in BMX Supercross World Cup

New Zealand’s burgeoning BMX talent is on track with four riders through to the semifinals of the final UCI Supercross World Cup in Canada today.

BikeNZ sent four of their young emerging elite talent to the World Cup with Gisborne’s Nick Fox, 18, qualifying for the final while Daniel Franks, 18, (Christchurch) and Matt Cameron (New Plymouth) both made it through to the semifinals. Kaiapoi’s Trent Jones, who has just turned 18, was pipped for a semifinal place by one spot after a strong performance in his world cup debut.

The performances in Abbotsford, coupled with Olympians Marc Willers, Kurt Pickard and Sarah Walker on post-London breaks, auger well for the future of BMX in this country especially as New Zealand hosts next year’s UCI BMX World Championships in Auckland’s Vector Arena.

The tight track at Abbotsford produced its share of crashes with Fox left with a suspected broken arm after he was brought down in the final, which claimed five of the eight starters.

Both main finals involved significant crashes with four down in the women’s final and five men on the first straight.

Jones, who drew an outside lane, initially looked to have swerved clear but was high-sided as a bike clipped him.

“It was a pity for Nick who had raced so well throughout the two days,” said BMX national coach Ken Cools. “The boys all rode really well throughout the competition. It was an excellent chance for them to step up this weekend.

“They have all tasted world cup action before. This week had many of the top riders here but it didn’t have the depth of the other Supercross competition so it provided an opportunity for them to put their hands up and to ride deep into the elimination rounds.”

All four qualified in the time trials with Cameron 15th and Fox 16th in the Superfinal time Trial won by world champion Sam Willoughby (Australia).

Fox qualified second and Jones fourth behind Willoughby in their three-moto elimination heat today. Franks qualified third behind Americans Connor Fields and multi-world champion Donny Robinson with Cameron third in his heat won by local star Tory Nyhaug.

Fox was fourth in his quarterfinal just eliminating Jones who was fifth; Franks was an outstanding third in his quarter behind flying Americans Fields and Corben Sharrah while Cameron grabbed the final semifinal spot in his heat.

Both semifinals had their share of mishaps but Fox pushed through on the second straight after a conservative start to finish third behind Fields and Willoughby although Franks was pipped by Australian Brian Kirkham in the dash for the last final place.

Cameron got caught in a crash in his semifinal which wrecked his finals hope.

Dutch rider Twan van Gendt was free from the carnage on the first jump of the crash-marred final to claim his first world cup victory with Willoughby securing his fourth straight runner-up placing and the overall world cup honours for the year.

Olympic bronze medallist Lauren Smulders, training mate with Walker in their London preparation, took out the women’s final with Australia’s Caroline Buchanan winning out the overall world cup honours.
Results, BMX Supercross World Cup, Abbotsford, Canada:

Men’s final: Twan van Gendt (NED) 1, Sam Willoughby (AUS) 2, Brian Kirkham (AUS) 3. Also: Nic Fox (NZL) dnf. Semifinal 1: Connor Fields (USA) 1, Willoughby 2, Fox 3. Also: Daniel Franks (NZL) 5. Semifinal 2: Van Gendt 1, Tory Nyhaug (CAN) 2, Anthony Dean (AUS) 3. Also: Matt Cameron (NZL) dnf.
Qualifying: Willoughby 30.401, 1; Fields 30.911, 2; Nyhaug 30.980, 3. Also New Zealanders: Cameron 31.678, 13; Fox 31.687, 14; Franks 32.294, 29; Trent Jones 32.3448, 32.