Schwalbe British 4X Series - Round 3 Preview: Harthill

Published: 29th May 2013 | By AngusMcIntosh

This weekend, sees two days of 4X action coming to Harthill, with a British round on Saturday and a Euro round on Sunday.

On Saturday June 1st, the Schwalbe British 4X Series moves into Cheshire for round 3, at the awesome Harthill track. Host to British Series rounds, National Championships and Euro Series races in the past, Harthill always delivers exciting racing and unpredictable results.

The first two rounds of the 2013 British Series have been nothing short of fantastic; with record entries, plenty of new faces and racing from the top drawer. We now move onto Harthill for an awesome weekend of racing.

Katy Curd and Manon Carpenter have been battling all year for the women’s wins. So far it’s a win each, but this weekend Manon will not be there. However, with plenty of European riders coming over for the Euro round on Sunday, Katy will not have it all her own way. Lucia Oejten and Helene Fruhwirth will be pushing Katy all the way along with British riders, Cara Murray and Suzanne Lacey.

In the men’s, Scott Beaumont took the opening round with Czech Republic rider, Tomas Slavik winning round 2. That battle will resume again this weekend as both riders will be racing on both days. In the men’s race, there are a lot of European riders who are making the journey over so expect Michal Prokop, Hannes Slavik and Milan Mysik to be battling the Brits, including Isaac Mundy, Tom Dowie and Nate Parssons all the way.

DMR PumpTrack Challenge – Saturday Night:

On Saturday night, there will be a round of the DMR PumpTrack Challenge. With all of Europe’s top 4X riders in attendance plus plenty of Britain’s top dirt jumpers coming along for the PumpTrack Challenge, expect super close racing on this great pump track.

www.pumptrackchallenge.com

Schwalbe Euro 4X Series – Round 2 – Race Preview

Just 2 weeks ago, round 1 of the 2013 Schwalbe Euro 4X Series took place at Winterberg in Germany. Katy Curd and Tomas Slavik continued their dominance of 2013 by taking the wins.

In the women’s race, Katy will come into this race as the favourite, but Helene Fruhwirth will certainly be challenging. With Harthill being tight and races often being decided on the last straight, anything can happen and without a doubt, the women will all be looking to beat Katy.

In the men’s, Tomas Slavik has been in dominant mood all year. He has qualified the fastest and won both the 4X ProTour and Euro 4X Series opening rounds. He is the man to beat and comes to Harthill as the clear favourite.

Michal Prokop, Scott Beaumont, Felix Beckeman, Aiko Gohler, Hannes Slavik and Quentin Derbier have all been the challengers to Slavik so far and for sure they will again be in the mix by finals time on Sunday afternoon.

However, don’t discount any of the British contingent. Harthill is an awesome race track and sometimes being the fastest rider, is not always the best as leading the races and covering the inside here means losing speed.

Timetable:

Saturday – Schwalbe British 4X Series:

9.30am Open Practice
10.00am Gate Practice – Fun, Big Fun, Juvenile, Youth, Master, Veteran, Girls
10.30am Gate Practice – Junior, Senior & Pro Elite
11.00 Track Closed.
12.00pm Racing starts – 3 Moto Format
Moto 1,2,3
Run offs if required
1/8 Finals ( 33 Minimum number of riders required in a class)
1/4 Finals (17 Minimum number of riders required in a class)
Semi Finals (9 Minimum number of riders required in a class)
Finals
4.30pm Presentations

Sunday – Schwalbe Euro 4X Series:

09:00 – 10:00 Riders registration
10:00 – 11:00 Track open for training
11:00 – 11:30 Gate training
12:00 – 12:30 Timed Qualification for Senior
13:00 – 14:00 3 Motos Qualification
14:30 – 17:00 Quarters, Semis & Finals
18:00 - Awards ceremony

Address:

Hale Superbole,
Harthill nr Tattenhall,
Bolesworth Estate,
Chester,
Cheshire,
CH3 9LQ.

Ferry Terminals:

Folkestone – Driving distance 275 miles – about 4 hours 56 mins
Hull – Driving distance 140 miles – about 2 hr 31 min

Airports:

Manchester is 45 minutes by car
Liverpool Airport is 60 minutes by car

Camping:

There is a field right next to the track with a Cafe & Toilets.
Camping is £5 per person per night. Pay on site.
The camping field over looks the track, with showers and washing machine.
Catering on site all weekend.
Camping Fee is to payable Hales Superbole

The British 4X Series team would like to thank all the sponsors who are making the 2013 Series possible:

Schwalbe UK
Fox Europe
Kore
Trixter

Also a big thank you to British Cycling for all their help with organising the series.

To keep up to date with the Schwalbe British 4X Series:
www.british4x.com
www.facebook.com/british4x
www.twitter.com/british4x

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