Race Report: The Malverns Classic 2023 Pumptrack
Words by Nick Bentley
As always the opening event at the Malverns Classic festival is the pumptrack with riders of all ages battling it out on this portable pumptrack infront of a crowd fresh from the bar. There's always plenty of fun, laughs and not so serious racing to be had. It really does kick off the laid back, chilled out festival atmosphere that the Malverns classic embodies. Sit back and enjoy some sunset bike riding photos, albeit round a plastic pumptrack.
Pumptrack racing is the start of the Malverns weekend and is always one of the most relaxed atmospheres you'll find
It's been a tough week for the Malverns' main man Si Paton getting everything set up and ready to go, but the site looks better than ever. He and his team have done an amazing job
Evel Knievel even came out to ride
Timing's out - it must be time for some racing
Freddie Robinson couldn't help but send it, not sure it's the fastest route through the whoops but he sure looked like he was having fun
Medics were on hand just in case
For the first night of the Malverns it was a great turnout
Who doesn't love some freebies!? Matt Carr was more than happy to throw out some big bobble hat freebies to the crowd
Harry Schofield was putting on a show, spending more time on his back wheel than on both of them but mostly he was going full gas
The pumptrack was brought to you by DMR, they even had some free pedal protectors to give out
Some of the crowd were really getting in the spirit early on
Sunset, beer and some fun pumptrack racing - what more do you need on a Thursday night?
It's not all jumpbikes, there's a few BMXs out racing too
Riders of all ages were out, Martha was having loads of fun
Traharn Chidley, one of the 6 women having some fun on the pumptrack this Thursday. It' great to see the women's field slowly growing in participation
Evie made it through to the super final; however had a bit of an off but finished off in third place. A great way to start off her festival weekend
Charlotte Lawton Silva carving her way through the beautiful blue skies at the Malverns
Female pumptrack winner Josie McFall on the charge through the finish line
The weather was perfect for a bit of pumptrack racing
Riders young and old competed against each other in a simple male or female category
Jacob Darley manualling his way past the timing tent
As always the trustworthy hands of Chris Roberts and his team at Action Sport Timing were on hand to make sure everyone got their race times right
These BMX kids are always fast
Evel was in the mood to put on a show
Matt Jones recently got engaged, congratulations to Matt - he celebrated by doing a cheeky rebel run round the pumptrack
Matt posted a very quick time but unfortunately as he wasn't entered, it didn't count
Ricky Good was all about the good times
Not everybody was quite up to speed with the pumptrack. Louie mistimed this section and ended up coming off the side of the track
Matt Carrs always the cheerleader
Not everybody's run went to plan
Oli Milsom, fastest man of the day, charged hard from his first practice all the way through to winning the super final for the men
The setting sun did make parts of the track a little tricky
It's all about the gram
Harry Schofield was one of the fastest riders on Thursday night, however, he didn't quite manage to keep it on track for his race run
Game face time
Harry Schofield did a cheeky lap whilst we waited for the times for the super finals. Harry wanted to send it as hard as he could off the side of the track. For some reason, he decided to do this gap to manual which worked out OK for a while, but straw covered grass plus jumpbike tyres and high speed manuals don't really mix so this ended up going just as well as you would expect
This is what the Malverns is all about, riders of all ages having loads of fun
As the sun set Oli Milsom lapped up the applause after coming out on top
Your female podium was Josie McFall in first, Charlotte Lawton Silva in second and Evie Jefferis in third
Men's podium was Oli Milsom in first, Jacob Darley in second and Reed Darley in third
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6 Comments
- 4 0
jimmyricard
(Aug 25, 2023 at 5:41)
Pump tracks rule! The plastic ones are SKETCHYYYY
- 3 0
powderhoundbrr
FL (Aug 25, 2023 at 11:24)
Lol why are the winners on both podiums 10 or even 15 years older than the literal kids beside them?
- 1 0
andrewbikeguide
(Aug 26, 2023 at 8:37)
It is in the article: one open category, for each gender, so everyone races everyone else regardless of age. And the groms are obviously faster than a lot of adults.
- 2 0
bikebike69
(Aug 25, 2023 at 8:50)
BMX….the original jump bike.
- 2 0
mariomtblt
(Aug 25, 2023 at 13:15)
those skinny pump tracks are not easy to go full speed on
- 1 0
Frank191
(Aug 25, 2023 at 17:25)
That’s what it’s all about
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