Rotorua rider Sarah Walker has sounded a warning to her rivals that she is starting to hit form a year out from the London Olympics by coming second at a meet in London.
Walker finished second behind Great Britain's Shanaze Reade in the women's final at the London UCI Supercross World Cup yesterday.
The 22-year-old was not the only Kiwi on the podium, Marc Willers won his rain-affected men's final, when he was forced to come from behind to claim victory.
Walker is virtually in an unbeatable position in the women's Supercross standing, while Willers closes to within 56 points of leader and world champion Joris Daudet with one round remaining in Chula Vista near San Diego next month.
There was a four-hour rain delay yesterday which threatened to rule out any racing, before competition finally got under way after 5pm local time. The usual three-moto qualifying was reduced to a single elimination round with only a few minutes of warm-up.
"It was just a matter of waiting around really. I didn't think we would get any racing. We had 10 minutes' warm-up but we had a crash in ours so I got in one lap," Walker said. "Then it was straight into racing with only three races in total. So it was a matter of preparing well out the back and getting the focus right."
Walker said she was pleased with her performances, especially the semifinal effort when she came from behind with a superb third straightaway to overtake Reade, the two-time world champion.
She drew level with Reade going into the first corner in the final but got squeezed out, and then tried the same manoeuvre on the third straight but missed pushing underneath the British star and had to settle for second.
"Overall I am proud of my performance. I know what has to be done and I am confident that I will be really competitive here in 12 months' time."
Willers again drew a loaded moto comprising two world champions, teammate Kurt Pickard and former world junior champion Sam Willoughby.
Pickard impressed to finish second ahead of Willers in the moto but made a slight mistake in the quarter-final to finish fifth and was eliminated.
Willers showed all his class in a brilliant final, getting the hit out of the gate before he was overtaken by Willoughby and then battled alongside Frenchman Joris Daudet, who edged the Kiwi for the world title two weeks ago. The Kiwi fought back superbly on the third straight to work underneath the Australian and then rode clear to claim the victory, showing a rare sign of emotion as he punched his hand in the air.
"Yes I thought the occasion deserved the fist pump," Willers said. "It has been an emotional couple of weeks after missing out at the world championship. It was totally crazy out there in the final. It was probably the hardest race I have been in," Willers said.
"There were passing chances here which is great. I gave it everything. This time that third straight, which was my undoing at the worlds, was my saviour here and I went for it. I knew Sam did not have the speed after his line to pass me.
"I have worked so hard and this confirms that I am on the right track. There's still a year until London and there's ... so much more hard work to do, but this is pretty satisfying."
Results
Men
Final: Marc Willers (NZL) 41.847, 1; Joris Daudet (FRA) 42.184, 2; Nic Long (USA) 42.560, 3. Semifinal 1: Sam Willoughby (AUS) 1, Long 2, Maris Strombergs (LAT 3. Semifinal 2: Willers 1, Daudet 2, David Herman (USA) 3. Quarter-final 2: Willers 1, Herman 2, Daudet 3, Damien Godet (FRA) 4, Kurt Pickard (NZL) 5.
Women
Final: Shanaze Reade (GBR) 38.275, 1; Sarah Walker (NZL) 38.724, 2; Lauren Reynolds (AUS) 39.052, 3. Semifinal 1: Amanda Carr (USA) 1, Laetitia Le Corguille (FRA) 3, Magalie Pottier (FRA) 3, Mariana Pajon (COL) 4.
Semifinal 2: Walker 1, Reade 2, Reynolds 3, Melinda McLeod (AUS) 4.