Stevo & Christy win Moneyscalp 4X!

By Nigel Elder

Aug 05

The Real Cycles 4x Sunday the 28th August.

My alarm went off at eight am , when i looked outside, it was raining and the wind was howling. My first impression was that today was going to be a repeat of the first 4X of the season, also at Moneyscalp. Along with my camera equipment, I armed myself with some waterproofs and an umbrella. Thankfully, the waterproofs and umbrella were not required.

When I arrived at Moneyscalp the sun was out. The wind, however, was still blowing strong, obviously going to provide problems for the riders over the jump's. The track was dusty dry, and practice had already begun. As I expected, the step down and the doubles that followed, were already causing riders problems. As i made my way down the track, I saw an ambulance pulling away from the roadside. I was informed that one of the riders had taken a nasty spill on the approach to the step down. In need of some stitches, and suffering concussion, he was taken away by the paramedics. I’m not too sure who this rider was, but I would like to wish him a speedy recovery.

The track was pretty much the same as last time, with a few minor alterations. Some of the jumps appeared to have been built up slightly, and a small berm had been constructed on the inside line after the doubles.

A wide track, from top to bottom, and lot's of line choices provided plenty of opportunity for passing. With both age groups being so closely contended, riders made use of every inch of the track to try and gain the lead. A few tangles were had along the way. Wallace Irwin and Joey O'Neill almost collided in mid air over the step down, this caused Wallace to run wide and getting the tape caught in his back wheel, the result of this saw the tape wind around the rear cassette and jamming Wallace's drive train. Colin Franklin almost landed on top of Carl O'Sullivan over the doubles at the bottom of the track and knocking Carl off his bike.

With the race format consisting of three motos in each age group to the quarter finals, from here, the first two riders would advance until we reached the finals.

The underage final saw Christy Brown, Colin Franklin, Chris Murtagh and Ewan Doherty battle for the win. Christy had it in the bag from the gate, closely followed by Ewan Doherty. Third place went to Colin Franklin, and fourth went to Chris Murtagh.

In the overage final, the line up was, Andy Yoong, Stephen Beattie, Jamie McCullough and Tom Power. This was a closely contested race, with Stevo taking the win ahead of Jamie, who was right on his tail. Andy took third place, and fourth went to Tom.

I must also mention that our queen of downhill, Michele Macartney was also racing today. Looking composed and in control, although not just as quick as the lad's. Well done girl.

With racing over, it was on to the prize giving. Thanks goes to Steve, at Real Cycles for sponsoring this race, and providing prizes. I can not praise Stephen Maginn enough for sculpting this track to perfection, undoubtedly the best in Ireland . Creator, and race organiser, thanks Stephen.

After the prize giving, a few of the riders styled it up over the first set of doubles. Tom Power throwing down nice x-ups, Joey O'Neill whipping it out, (his bike that is), Stephen McClintock's one hander, and various other styles. These will be in the gallery by the end of the week.

And so I bid you farewell, see you in Waterford .

Pictures from the 4x held in Moneyscalp in May can be found HERE and a Report HERE