In the elite women, Caroline Buchanan looked to continue her rich vain of form with yet another win, however it wasn’t an ideal lap from the 24-year old, making a couple of mistakes on her way to sixth. Fierce rival and Olympic gold medalist Marian Pajon claimed the victory with a flawless performance; setting up what promises to be another thrilling contest between the two when racing gets underway.
Although not the complete performance Willoughby was after, a predicted change of weather tomorrow has the South Australian confident of going back to back after claiming a come from behind win last year, as he looks to cap off what has been a busy period.
“The wind made things tricky out there but it was manageable, unfortunately I over jumped the step up around the back corner and that cost me vital time,” Willoughby said.
“Physically I’m feeling really good after what has been a particularly hectic period, with two world cup events and the National Championships in three weeks.
“It’s predicted to be good weather tomorrow so hopefully I can go back to back.”
Earlier in the day, a number of Australian riders produced some impressive performances to dominate qualifying for tomorrow’s main field.
Anthony Dean made it three wins from three races to qualify third overall, while Bodi Turner was similarly impressive qualifying in fourth. Josh Callan qualified in sixth, Kai Sakakibara was 27th, while recently crowned Australian champion Corey Frieswyk qualified 28th.
Unfortunately Blake Moore fell short of the top 48 qualifying positions finishing 65th, so to Tristyn Kronk in 126th, while junior elite rider Brandon Te Hiko finished 88th in his first world cup outing.
In the women’s qualifying Lauren Reynolds looked very comfortable on her way to sixth overall, while Kirsten Dellar also earned her way through to the main field, finishing 19th. Rachel Jones and Harriet Burbidge-Smith unfortunately fell short of the 24 qualifying positions finishing 39th and 43rd respectively.
It promises to be another action packed day of racing from Papendal, with the action scheduled to get underway at 9.05pm EST, and can be live streamed at bmxlive.tv
Willoughby eyes back to back wins in Papendal as Aussies impress
Reigning BMX world champion Sam Willoughby will once again have a target on his back when racing gets underway in the second round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series in Papendal tonight, after he finished third in the Time Trial Superfinal overnight. Located at the Olympic Training Centre, the long, expansive outdoor track is notorious for swirling winds and challenging conditions, and it delivered, as riders were forced to adapt to the constantly changing winds.
Contested by the top 16 men and top eight women based on current supercross rankings, the Time Trial Superfinal provided some thrilling action as the riders looked to gain a mental edge on the rest of the competition.
Willoughby, who’s raw power is perfectly suited to the track, held the fasted time out of the first turn, however a slight mistake cost him the lead as he slipped to third, finishing just .303 seconds behind winner American Connor Fields.
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