Previous Next

Willoughby to Win BMX World Cup

FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2009


SOUTH AFRICA - Two time BMX World Junior Champion, Sam Willoughby from Australia, continued his meteoric rise to fame after winning the second round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, presented by Swatch in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on Saturday.

The current elite men's World Champion and World ranked number one rider, Donny Robinson from the USA placed second with Rob van den Wildenberg of the Netherlands in third.

Willoughby made history last month by be the first rider to claim back-to-back junior world titles in front of his home crowd and did not disappoint again today by winning every heat plus his quarterfinal and semifinal.

In the final, 18 year old Willoughby started in the favoured inside lane, with Robinson on his left in lane two. Willoughby's powerful start gave him the edge and this secured the all-important holeshot into the first turn.

A bike-length gap opened up and Willoughby kept his lead into the technical third straight. Willoughby gave his signature one arm up salute across the finish line to claim his first ever Supercross World Cup win.

"I'm really excited with this win! It's the right end to a perfect day I guess," said the charismatic Willoughby. "I had lane two in my first heat, but won that and held lane one for the rest of the day which proved decisive."

"It was exciting to win the junior (world championships)," explained Willoughby, "but it's all about the men's race. This is the real business now."

Robinson was full of praise for Willoughby but felt that the inside lane was undoubtedly a factor in the final result.

"Sam is improving all the time. He's a real talent and so consistent. I would have loved to have had lane one for the final, but he made the most of it and he never made a single mistake. I planned to run at him in the third straight, but he was flawless through there."

Van den Wildenberg claimed third making it his first ever podium in a World Cup.

In the elite women's race it was a clean sweep for newly crowned World Champion, Sarah Walker from New Zealand. The 21 year old Olympian was a hot favourite after qualifying fastest on Friday but a hand injury during practice put her in doubt during the day.

"It feels really good to get a World Cup win so soon after winning the World Championships," she said. "I have definitely developed a lot of confidence lately and it’s showing in my results."

"I took it a bit easy in the semifinal motos because I didn't want to risk doing something silly and not making the final. But in the final I let it all out and I had a really good race," smiled Walker, who had crashed during practice.

Walker recovered enough to win comfortably ahead of Maria Gabriela Diaz from Argentina in second. French rider Eva Ailloud claimed third. The best placed Australian was Rachel Bracken who crashed in the final but rode across the line to place sixth.

An enthusiastic crowd watched the first elite BMX race of its kind in Africa which is a precursor to the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships, which will also be held in Pietermaritzburg next July.

Previous Next