Round 2 of the 2011 Euro Four Cross Series took place on Saturday night in front of 5,000 screaming fans. The venue was in the middle of Szczawno Zdroj, an hour north of the Polish capital Wroclaw.
Heavy rain in the days leading up to the race forced the organisers to abandon the practice session on Friday evening to save the track for race day. It was a perfect call as come race day, the sun was out and the track dried out perfectly for the afternoon practice session.
The riders loved the track, which has evolved over the years. Those in attendance included Cedric Gracia back on his four bike and enjoying the event as well as World Champion Tomas Slavik, Joost Wichman and Michal Marosi, Lucas and Michael Mechura, Johannes Fischbach, Scott Beaumont and Kamil Tatarkovic. All looked good going into qualification, and it was anyone's guess as to who would be the fastest.
One by one, the riders did their qualification runs. 64 riders qualified into the finals and it was the World Champion Slavik who took the fastest time ahead of Wichman, Jacob Riha, Beaumont and Johannes Fischbach.
In the first round, one of the contenders crashed out in a pretty big way. Beaumont, whilst leading his first heat, made an uncharacteristic mistake and crashed out of the race. Likewise in his first heat, Gracia was eliminated, whilst in second position. He found himself in a drag race with Adrian Weiss on the final straight. Weiss got the better of him and Gracia was out. Scott Roberts was also caught out by the track, crashing in turn three. Three major World Cup riders were all out in the first round!
In the second round, Adam Stasek, who finished third in the opening round at Houffalize a few weeks ago, crashed out of contention and was eliminated also. Slavik, Fischbach, Michael Mechura and Riha moved forward into the semi-finals #1 and Wichman, Lucas Mechura, Pesko and Hnidak went into semi 2.
The gate dropped for semi 1 and the riders battled into turn one. In one of the best passes ever seen, Michael Mechura cut back on the loose first turn and got underneath Fischbach. It was clean and timed to absolute perfection. Fischy fought hard all the way to the finish but Slavik moved to the final with Michael Mechura.
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In semi 2, Michael's brother Lucas was looking to put himself into the final too. Wichman made the snap and got into the lead in front of Lucas. There were a few passes back and forth but into the final went Wichman and Lucas Mechura.
So for the final, and it was two RSP riders versus two Chain Reaction/Nukeproof riders. It was the first time in a major four cross competition that two brothers were in the final together. Slavik made the start and got into turn one leading ahead of Wichman. In turn three, Wichman slipped and gave Michael Mechura enough space to squeeze through and take second place in the race, followed by Wichman and Lucas Mechura.
The night though belonged to Slavik. As the fastest qualifier and winner of the race , he rode in the style that compliments the World Champion. He seemed to be under no pressure all night and it was a strong race win for him.
