The Championships started with Time Trials. Marie Hossay finished on place 26 in Junior Women and didn’t qualify for the Super Time Trials in which the TT World Champion is crowned.
Our 3 other Thrill Europe Factory Pilots did qualify.
Kristens Krigers qualified 7, the same spot he also took later in the Super Time Trials.
Aneta Hladikova took 16 place in the Time Trial and 15 in the Super Time Trial.
Edzus Treimanis qualified with a 7 time. His Super Time Trial put him in the hot seat, but shaking his head at the finish line indicated that he knew it wouldn’t be good enough for a podium spot. He finished 8th in the Super Time Trial.
In the Championship’s Race on Sunday, Marie Hossay, Aneta Hladikova and Kristens Krigers had to race the qualifications. As a rider in the top 16 of the UCI Ranking, Edzus automatically qualified for the 1/8 finals.
Marie didn’t make it through the qualifying motos.
Aneta put in some solid laps and qualified with a 4, 3 and 2 place for the elite women quarters. She was in qualifying position but lost a lot of speed in the last turn and was overtaken just a few meters before the finish line.
Kristens Krigers crashed hard during practice when he collided in mid-air with another rider and landed on the paved turn. It didn’t look like he would be able to race, but 10 minutes before the start he got up and to everybody’s surprise announced that he was going to race. His fellow countrymen nicknamed him “Zombie” for this event, as no normal person would race in this shape. He continued to impress as he qualified for the quarters and improving every lap with a second place in the semis and winning the semi. In the main event he crashed in a similar way giving him eighth place for the day. He got back on his bike to finish his lap… hard as nails!
After some warming up laps and gates, Edzus Treimanis was ready for his 1/8 final with instant elimination. With some low profile racing and good turns he managed to make it to the main with all 2 places. In the main event, Edzus was fighting for a podium spot when the 2 leaders rubbed elbows. 1 of them went down and took out the entire competitor field. By the time he managed to get back on his bike, 3 riders were gone leaving him with a fourth place, a solid result in the most important race of the year.
The riders will take a short break, but soon they will start preparing for the second part of the season with 2 more rounds in the World Cup SX Series.
The Thrill Factory Team is supported by Thrill BMX, Answer BMX, Tangent Product, Maxxis Tires, Stealth True Precision Hubs, C-Bear Ceramic Bearings, Alienation Rims, MJsport.de, Navada.Net