World number three ranked BMX rider Marc Willers has finished fourth in the opening round of the UCI Supercross World Cup near San Diego. The Californian-based kiwi had a solid opening weekend of the international season although the kiwi is not yet in the dominant form of last year in the Supercross event at the USA Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista. Compatriot Kurt Pickard from Tauranga impressed in todays qualifying rounds but he unclipped after hitting the gate at the start of his quarterfinal eventually finishing fifth. Willers was pleased with his time trial run for 14th fastest on the opening day, burying the ghosts of his serious crash at Chula Vista in the final round of the Supercross last year. He came up against the in-form American Connor Fields in his qualifying motos, who proved the dominant rider this weekend, winning every heat, his quarterfinal, semifinal and final. Willers was second overall in qualifying and in his quarterfinal. He got squeezed for real estate on the inside lane in his semifinal, and was forced to power through on the third straight to grab the final spot for the final. That forced him to an outside lane in the final and while he enjoyed a strong run, the riders in the inside lanes prospered with Fields winning from Australian Sam Willoughby with David Herman (USA) third ahead of the kiwi. Marc was disappointed because he always comes to win, said BikeNZ assistant coach Ryan Hollows. He did manage to bury those demons from his crash here. He made another final and got through unscathed with a number of big falls here. Its still in his early training phase which is aimed firstly at the world championships in May and then London so theres a long way to go yet. Pickard was among the fastest of all riders in todays qualifying motos after he was 21st in the opening time trials. Pickard, who turned 21 a week ago, showed he had come of age on the BMX track in winning his opening two qualifying motos to top his group. He unluckily pulled his foot out of his clip at the start of the quarterfinal after hitting the gate and dropped to last. He showed some fight to force his way up to fifth finishing a wheel away from progressing to his first BMX Supercross semifinal. The group will remain to train in California this week before heading to Europe for the next rounds in Norway and The Netherlands. The BikeNZ staff expect top ranked Sarah Walker to resume full training this week and travel to Europe after withdrawing from competition this week after aggravating a shoulder injury in practice at Chula Vista. Results, UCI BMX Supercross: Mens final: Connor Fields (USA) 1, Sam Willoughby (AUS) 2, David Herman (USA) 3. Also: Marc Willers (NZL) 4. Semifinal: Fields 1, Twan Van Gendt (NED) 2, Tory Nyhaug (CAN) 3, Willers 4. Semifinal 2: Maris Strombergs (LAT) 1, Willoughby 2, Herman 3, Joey Bradford (USA) 4. Quarterfinal 1: Fields 1, Willers 2, Donny Robinson (USA) 3. Quarterfinal 2: Van Gendt 1, Tyler Faoro (USA) 2, Nyhaug 3. Also: Kurt Pickard (NZL) 5. Qualifying Moto 1: Fields 1, Willers 2, Kory Cook (USA) 3. Qualifying Moto 4: Pickard 1, Van Gendt 2, Vincent Pelluard (FRA) 3. Womens final: Magalie Pottier (FRA) 1, Laetitia Le Corguille (FRA) 2, Amanda Geving (USA) 3.
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