Race report: The Specialized-SRAM Series #4 in Willingen
Willingen was the venue of the fourth race of the Specialized-SRAM 2014 Series this weekend. Unperturbed by the Football Worldcup kicking off in Brazil, more than 320 made their way to the most northern stop of the series and enjoyed a perfect race weekend.
The XS Power Drink Prologue, held on Saturday after practice, was the first highlight of the event. The classic slalom course down a meadow, directly next to the expo area of the BIKE Festival, provided great fun – a nice alternative to the traditional pedal-intensive prologues that normally feature in the series, offering plenty of spectacular drifting action. When the results were collected, the Focus Trail Team scored a double victory with Markus Reiser just in front of Fabian Scholz. Third place went to XC-Worldcup-experienced Belgian, Jeff Luyten (BEL – Two racing), despite his crash in the upper section – wow! The fastest lady on track was Kerstin Kögler (GER – BMC Enduro Racing Team) with Laura Brethauer (GER – Cube Action Team) close behind, followed by Birgit Braumann (AUT – TREK Gravity Girls).
But a prologue isn’t the full race and a top time does not guarantee overall victory! There were five stages left to be raced on Sunday, offering a diverse mix of the best trails around Willingen. While Stage 1 was a real mixture of flowing trails, rough and steep sections, and used some of the bikepark tracks, stage 2 had only one motto: full speed ahead! With top times taking over four minutes, stage 3 was the longest of the day, featuring a long pedaly section followed by a challenging technical part.
Stage 4 on the other hand, followed gravity once again and pleased the riders with a mix of loose soils and rocky sections. The final, fifth stage was full speed over meadows, ending with another run down the slalom course of the prologue- marking the finish of a long total course length of 27 km with 1000 meters of climbing.
While the finally recovered André Wagenknecht (GER – Cube Action Team) had a great comeback with second place, followed closely by Fabian Scholz (GER – Focus Trail Team), the first place went overseas: Joseph Nation from New Zealand gained precious seconds on stage 1 and 3 and took the win with a total time of 12:05.03. Radon Flow Team pilot Petrik Brückner got forth, followed by Marco Widmer (SUI – Giant Swiss Team).
The total Stage time of the fastest lady was 14:35.43: After taking the wins in stages 1 and 4, Raphaela Richter (GER – Radon Factory Enduro) proved too hard to catch and was faster than Kerstin Kögler (GER – BMC Enduro Racing Team) and Birgit Braumann.
In the Amateurs class, Daniel von Kossak (GER – Propain Factory Racing Team) managed to continue his series of victories – with a fast time of 12:15.85 he would have come fourth in the pro class! Second fastest amateur of the day was Hannes Brändlein (GER) in front of Kurt Exenberger (AUT – Bikeacademy.com). The Amateur Women class was won by Jana Goetze (GER – Last National Team), followed by Anja Düthmann (GER) and Christine Vöhringer (GER).
Die kompletten Ergebnislisten inklusive Stage-Zeiten findet ihr hier (PDF).
The next stop of the Specialized-SRAM Series is in two weeks in Kirchberg, where new challenges await the starters!
Potos: Christoph Bayer Words: Aaron Steinke
Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of ENDURO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality mountain bike journalism. Click here to learn more.
