Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships Qualifier | St. Charles, USA 2022
6th August 2022
Photos Stephen Smith
Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships Qualifier | St. Charles, USA 2022
6th August 2022
Photos Stephen Smith
The UCI Red Bull Pump Track World Championship series returned to Kinetic Park in St. Charles County, Missouri last weekend for another chance to qualify for the World Finals in November … and as always, the racing action was on point! Even better was seeing BMX in the driving seat yet again, in both the men’s and women’s classes … it’s the little things that make us happy.
This year’s St. Charles event was the largest USA qualifying event of the year with a big turnout of riders locally from the St. Louis area as well as some groups road tripping in from Iowa, Ohio, and other surrounding states. There were of course some familiar faces to the series in attendance. Brooklynn Shuetz, last year’s winner in St. Charles was back and looking to defend her title on home turf. Alec Bob, who has already qualified a worlds finals spot with his earlier win in Paris, Texas was also back and hoping to keep his skills sharp against the stacked field of riders.
As seems to be the norm now for these USA qualifiers, the weather was hot and humid. Riders did their best to dial in racing lines while saving their energy for a long day of racing in the heat. Qualifying kicked off and saw initial lap times in the low to mid 20 second range. Carly Kane, in her pump track racing debut, took the top slot on the women’s side ahead of another pump track newcomer, Madison Pitts, Brooklyn Shuetz, and Jacelyn Reno respectively. In the men’s category, Alec Bob took the early lead ahead of Amakye Anderson and Layne Gainer, until Louis Kaminsky laid down a hot lap to take the top spot in the men’s bracket heading into the knockout rounds.
Head-to-head rounds saw a men’s bracket of 32 move on without much drama until Kaminsky took a slam late in his lap that kept the top qualifier from advancing past the round of 16. The brackets played out mostly in the favour of the higher seeded riders with the women’s bracket seeing the top 4 qualifiers heading into the semifinals. The men’s side progressed similarly but without Kaminsky advancing, Grant Lampson snagged that last spot in the men’s semifinals.
An afternoon start to the event meant that racing drew on into the night, leading to plenty of racing action under the lights. The women’s semifinals pitted Carly Kane against Jacelyn Reno, and Madison Pitts against Brooklynn Shuetz. Reno, having already qualified for the World Finals was looking to win the free trip, but was ultimately bested by newcomer on the scene, Carly Kane. Shuetz put down a solid lap in front of the hometown crowd, hoping to defend her win here last year, but ultimately Pitts edged out the better lap and advanced on to the final.
Men’s semifinals saw Alec Bob pitted against Layne Gainer, and Amakye Anderson with Grant Lampson. With some of the fastest laps and tightest margins of the race day, these rounds made for high tensions and excited fans. Bob and Anderson ultimately bested their rivals and set up a rematch from last month’s qualifier in Texas. However, since Alec had won that previous matchup, he had already earned himself the trip to Chile and that prize would then go to the next placed finisher. That meant that Amakye Anderson, by virtue of earning at least second place by being in the final, got the trip by default.
The fastest racing action of the day was set to go down, under the lights and in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Madison Pitts going up against Carly Kane. Carly laid down a clean lap and held her breath as Madison took to the track. Another clean lap, but a small bonk just before the start timer took some of Pitts’ momentum and it turned out to be enough to keep her off the top step. Carly Kane took the win and the all-expenses paid trip to Santiago, Chile in November for the World finals. Over on the men’s side, the final was far less tense because both riders knew they had now earned themselves a ticket to Chile. That didn’t keep them from putting on some of the most exciting racing of the day though, as Amakye set a blistering pace in hopes of properly earning the win and that ticket. Alec however maintained his composure and stayed focused enough to put down a clean lap and narrowly beat out Anderson to take the win.
The whole scene in St Charles, from the crowd to the racers, all delivered once again for a great day of racing action. As this is the final USA qualifier of the year, and with only a few more around the world, the stage is almost set for the Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships in Santiago, Chile on November 20th.
Women:
1. Carly Kane
2. Madison Pitts
3. Jacelyn Reno
4. Brooklynn Shuetz
Men:
1. Alec Bob
2. Amakye Anderson
3. Layne Gainer
4. Grant Lampson
You can see the full set of results HERE
Upcoming qualifying rounds …
Switzerland, La Neuveville – 20 August
Norway, Harstad – 27 August
Netherlands, Eindhoven – 27 August
Canada, Lac-Delage – 1 September
Czech Republic, Heipark Tošovice – 17 September
World Championships, Santiago, Chile 18 – 20 November
