In Junior Men, both Rihards Veide and Niklas Laustsen have recovered from a collarbone injury and together with Max Ganser all 3 Formula Team Members were competing in this Category. Niklas had some trouble finding his race rhythm, but he showed some flashes of what he is capable of with some good results in the motos. Saturday he finished 6th in the 1/8 final, but Sunday he made it to the semis, but after a less gate he had to settle for the last place. Rihards made a strong comeback easily transferring to the semis on both days, but didn¹t get further than 6th missing out on the mains. Rihards comment to his race this weekend: "I'm not settling for anything less than a spot in the finals in the last 6 rounds." Max is still struggling with an inconsistent gate and got 5th in the 1/8 finals on Saturday. On Sunday he was in qualifying position in quarter final, but in the last turn he was cut off, eliminating him from the race. Max is 10th position of the current ranking. Steven Wong and Edzus Treimanis were defending the Formula colors in the Elite Men category. Steven was riding on his home turf and was eager to show the progress he made in the UCI Training Centre in Aigle. Both days he made in to the semis with some strong first straights. On Saturday he finished 8th and on Sunday he stranded 1 spot away from the main. Steven has returned to the UCI Centre in Aigle to prepare for the European Finals and the Worlds in Australia. Edzus had a strong weekend in Dessel. He was out in front pretty much every lap and qualified for both mains with confidence. Saturday he got stuck on the outside of the first turn and had to chase the rest of the pack finishing in 6th. On Sunday, Edzus took the holeshot from lane 6 and he took a firm 10m lead. He kept his cool and took his first European Elite Men win, putting him in 4th place of the current ranking.
In Men 30+, Nico van Dartel was riding on his home track in Dessel. He made both mains with a 7th and 6th place.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.