Scott Beaumont, Josie McFall, Duncan Ferris and Sophie Cade were crowned the national champions at the Malverns Classic Festival, with dual slalom and 4X races across the weekend.
After the huge success of the 2023 edition, the 2024 Dual Slalom and 4X National Championships were held at Malverns Classic festival.
Dual Slalom
A two rider start gate would set riders off into 16 corners for both the red and blue lanes. Riders would get a run in each lane, times added together, and the winner would move on to the next round until the winners were crowned.
In senior women’s qualifying, new mum Sophie Cade took the fastest time ahead of Josie McFall and Becci Skelton. Meanwhile, the senior open was extremely tight, with Scott Beaumont taking the fastest time ahead of Sam Reynolds, Ian Forsyth and Duncan Ferris - all four separated by just 0.1 seconds.
In the senior women’s small final, downhill superstar Skelton was able to take the win to give her a bronze medal for the day. The main final was tense between Cade and McFall. In the first run, it was Cade who was able to put a good gap on McFall and take the win, but the second run saw McFall close the gap. A tight finish saw Cade just seize the win, and on combined times, was crowned the national champion.
The senior men were absolutely flying all day, making the tricky course look easy. In the semi-final, the upset came when Ferris was able to beat the fastest qualifier Beaumont by just 0.06 over two runs. In the small final, Beaumont made sure to get a medal by beating Will Evans over the two runs and claiming the bronze. In the main final it was Ferris faced Reynolds, with the first run seeing Ferris just edge past Reynolds in the penultimate corner to take the first win. In the second round, Ferris showed his vast experience and simply sat on the wheel of Reynolds all the way, keeping it smooth and giving a little burst across the finish to take the win and take the national title.
4X
On the Sunday, the riders lined up for the National 4X Championships on a fast and flowing track.
Defending champion Sophie Cade took the fastest time in qualifying ahead of Morgan Haslam and Josie McFall. In the open category, Scott Beaumont was the winning qualifier, going two seconds quicker than his closest rivals.
Fastest qualifier Cade chose gate three, with Morgan Haslam in gate one, Josie McFall in gate two and Katherine Byng in gate four. McFall had the holeshot from the gate, but the battle for second was close in turn two. Haslam emerged to chase McFall down, and entered into the finishing section neck-and-neck. McFall held on to take the win ahead of Haslam from Byng and Cade.
Beaumont lined up in gate one for the senior open race, with Duncan Ferris in two, Will Evans in three and Ian Forsyth in four. The gate dropped and Beaumont got the snap but Ferris was not letting him have his own way. The two were bar-to-bar into turn one, and on the second straight, Beaumont was just able to inch ahead. Ferris then suffered a mechanical, leaving Forsyth and Evans to fight for second and Beaumont pulled away with a 20 metre lead to claim his 12th national title. Evans managed to secure second, with Forsyth third and Ferris in fourth.
2024 National Dual Slalom Champions Podiums
10-12 Rippers: Marcus Mullen
Juvenile Open: Reed Darley
Juvenile Women: Phoebe Fairbairn
Youth Open: Harris Meikle
Youth Women: Willow Baker
Junior Open: Izak Williams
Senior Open: Duncan Ferris
Senior Women: Sophie Cade
Masters Open: Ryan Fergus
Veteran Open: Andy Weames
Grand Veteran Open: Nigel Page
2024 National 4X Champions
10-12 Rippers Open: Joshua Arthur
10-12 Rippers Women: Seren Stepto
Juvenile Open: Reed Darley
Juvenile Women: Poppy Gosling
Youth Open: George Cawdell
Youth Women: Hollie Alderson
Junior Open: Lucas Rose
Junior Women: Molly Ruskin
Senior Open: Scott Beaumont
Senior Women: Josie McFall
Masters Open: James Whitby
Masters Women: Saskia Kelly
Veteran Open: Aiden Bishop
Grand Veteran Open: Nigel Page
