A brief period of rain on Saturday morning would see the ruts dug out deeply by the sidecars before the first of the quadcross qualifying races took to the gate, and this could well have played into the strengths of home heroes Team Czech Republic, but with the initial pace shown by Team USA, it would be a tough challenge.
Qualifying – Group A
The gates slammed to the ground and 18 quads roared toward the first turn, with 5x European champion, Kevin Saar, taking the holeshot and the initial advantage, however, only two turns into proceedings, it would be the undefeated #1 Yamaha of Joel Hetrick who slotted into the race lead, with Sylvain Petit playing chase.
Despite an early race-lead, Saar could not quite match the metronomic consistency of of Hetrick, and soon fell into a relatively lonely race. The same could not be said, however, for Sylvain Petit who had not only Mike van Grinsven to contend with, but also Harry Walker, who was charging hard after losing out off of the gate.
Van Grinsven would soon find his way through on Petit who, at this could, had no time to relax as Walker was breathing down his neck, and almost riding on the rear axle of the Frenchman. An inspired move from the Briton put him into fourth position and, with a tailender coming into play, he knew he had to get by as soon as possible. He did exactly that and managed to increase his margin over Petit as he was slowed momentarily by the backmarker, and this was enough for the reigning European champion to bring home his #13 Yamaha in a solid fourth position.
A late race challenge from Mark Mclernon seemed to be on the cards, but time was not on his side, and he was to finish the event only 3 seconds in arrears.
Results
- Joel Hetrick (USA)
- Kevin Saar (EST)
- Mike van Grinsven (NED)
- Harry Walker (GBR)
- Sylvain Petit (FRA)
Qualifying – Group B
Somewhat of an unknown quantity in the SQXoN event was the #2 of Brandon Hoag, who was a Nations debutant for Team USA and taking part in his first quadcross race in Loket – could this be the time for the challengers to gain points?
The initial arguing for track position would settle out of the first turn, with #14 Dafydd Davies taking the holeshot ahead of Argentina’s #8, Juan Manuel Ondarcuhu. Seemingly, the feathers of Hoag were slightly ruffled, but he would soon make his intentions clear by slipping into second ahead of Ondarcuhu and, with a firm but fair move, took the reins on the race to which he would not relinquish.
Slightly further down the order, Christopher Tvaraen and Kyle Murphy were mired in the pack in the early stages, but decisive moves saw them climb up the order into an impressive fourth and eleventh respectively. Throughout the vast majority of the latter staged, Davies was coming under severely increasing pressure from Ondarcuhu, but the toughened Welshman would not give in and held on to the silver-medal position until the chequered with an incredible display of defensive riding.
A battle raged on in the mid-pack with Henrik Mogensen, Simone Mastronardi, Christopher Tvaraen and Laurent Boissy, but this would not stop the highly-impressive 24-year-old Brandon Hoag from taking victory in Qualifying B by 16 seconds, over Davies and Ondarcuhu.
Results
- Brandon Hoag (USA)
- Dafydd Davies (GBR)
- Juan Manuel Ondarcuhu (ARG)
- Christopher Tvaraen (DEN)
- Julian Veldman (NED)
Qualifying – Group C
The C group competitors for the 18 attending nations took to the gate under the setting sun and with the elongating shadows starting to stretch out before them, the gates dropped, and they were underway.
Team USA’s, #3 Bryce Ford, made an excellent launch from the gate and argued for the holeshot with teenage-sensation, Karl Robin Rillo. The former would eventually come out on top and, at the completion of the opening lap, had accumulated a staggering 10 seconds of an advantage over Rillo, who had significantly extended his margin over Tarald Hallebust. Further down the order, Chad Beevers had made a solid start in 12th position, but this was not enough for the young Brit as he endeavoured to pick off his competitors, one-by-one, over the proceeding 25 minutes of racing action.
Hellebust had 2023 EMX champion, Turrini, following very closely in his wheeltracks and with one swift move, the former European champion made his way into the final rostrum position. As mentioned, Beevers was to gain a position with every lap and, by the time the cheqeured flag was thrown, completed the race in an impressive 7th position.
At the head of the field, it would seem that no-one could match the consistency or pace of Bryce Ford who, after having a great season in the States, would carry his momentum forward and take victory in the final qualifying race of the day by an unheard of, 43 seconds, over Rillo.
Results
- Bryce Ford (USA)
- Karl Robin Rillo (EST)
- Patrick Turrini (ITA)
- Tarald Hellebust (NOR)
- Manfred Zienecker (GER)
Their performances as both individuals, and as a team, would suggest that once again Team USA are the team to beat, however, we have a saying in Quadcross that “it is not over, until it is over” and, while cliched, has proved to be the case on many occasions.
