World championships 2008 Taiyuan China
In China team Crupi-fly Europe was present with 6 riders, The Schipper brothers, Merle van Benthem, Jelle van Gorkom and Liam Phillips, due to injuries Dana Sprengers and Lorin Martinez were not able to attend.
The track looked good and when country practice started most riders did not have too much trouble with the track. With a huge starting hill riders were getting good speed on the first straight, the turns were wide open and not too steep, the second straight was pretty easy, the third straight was real technical and the last straight was pretty easy again.
During Tuesdays practice there was a lot of wind which made it a little tricky, the smog and dust made it hard to breathe for the riders. Wednesday the wind was not as bad and there was no dust and little smog so practice was easier for the riders.
In the Challenge classes most off the top riders were in attendance but with only 589 riders entering the race the turnout was a bit small. In Junior and Elite a total off 207 riders entered the race on 20"and 82 on cruiser.
Thursday was race day 1 for challenge, for riders from age 5 till 14 years old. In attendance today were Jay and Jordi Schippers. Both raced good and made it through the motos pretty easy. Jay went straight to the final were he was a little to quick leaving the gate, but he still managed to bring his Crupi over the finish line in 7th position. Jordi had to race a semi final first before he could make it to the main event, with little trouble a did what he had to do and made it to the main event were he made a good gate but got caught in the pack after the dust was settled he brought his Crupi over the finish line in 3rd position. Well done guys.
Friday was race day 2 for challenge, for riders from 15 till 30& over years old. Today we had Nick Schippers and Merle van Benthem on the track. Nick was having a hard time on the track but still was able to make it out of his motos. The quarter finals were his next mission but this seamed to by to much for him today. In the girls Merle cruised trough the motos straight into the main event, were she had to settle for second for two straights but going into the third straight she put the pedal to the medal and start jumping the technical straight and was able to pass the leader to bring here Crupi over the finish line in first position!
Saturday brought out the big guns in BMX the Junior and Elite riders. Today Jelle van Gorkom and Liam Phillips were the guys to fly the Crupi-Fly-Europe colours around the track. The motos were going good for Jelle with the second best time in the Junior class he knew he could hang easily with the guys. In the quarter he met up with the fasted timed Junior rider of the day, both looked strong and fast. A good snap and a strong first straight brought Jelle out in front into the first turn but for some reason a could not carve the turn hard enough and went on top of the turn, he barley could hang onto his bike to avoid a crash but lost to much speed to make it over the pro section! Changes went up in smoke when he past the finish line in 5th place. To bad he could have made podium today. Better luck Sunday on the cruiser.
In Elite men Liam had a tough moto but never the less he went for it. First moto full out over the first jump but he got caught in the pack and went down hard face first into the ground. After the dust settled he was okay, the second and third moto he could not pull any strings which made it a short race for Liam. So Saturday was a tough day for the Crupi-Fly-Europe crew.
Sunday was cruiser day in the morning challenge and in the afternoon Junior and Elite. All riders except Liam came into action one more time. Jay raced 12& under cruiser were he showed that a can ride this bike as well as his 20" by making it to the main event taking his Crupi junior cruiser over the finish line in 6th position. Jordi had a hard time in cruiser 13-14 were he is the youngest but he made it out of his motos into the semi final were an outside gate position made it almost impossible for him to make it to the main event, a 6th position in the semi was all he could do. Nick was in cruisers 15-16 were he is also the youngest he could not get into the groove today and he went out with equal points in the motos. Merle cruised her way to the main event were she took here Crupi cruiser out of the gate and never looked back at here competition to take 1st place.
In Junior cruiser Jelle looked strong again trying to forget and make up for his mistake on 20". No problem in the motos as he cruised through them with ease. In the semi a wind hose caused his group to take it easy over the pro section causing a not too fast qualifying time for gate position in the main event. With an outside gate he still managed to get to the front in the first turn but being pushed high it took his toll on the second straight, but Jelle didn’t settle for this and fought his way back onto the podium by crossing the finish line abroad his Crupi in 3rd position.
Thanks guys for trying the best you can and bringing home a few wins and podium spots.
Congratulations go out to all the world champions and challenge winners from us here at Crupi-Fly-Europe. See you all at the world’s next year down under!
