Saar on top as McLernon bags Quadcross SIlver
By Words: Leen van der Sluis Photos: Bert van der Sluis on 15th Sep 26
When the FIM Quadcross World Championship left Gdask in early June, Patrick Turrini still appeared to have the inaugural title under control. The Italian had 251 points despite his second-moto mechanical failure in Poland, Kevin Saar was chasing on 222 and Harry Walker remained firmly in contention on 197. Mark McLernon, meanwhile, sat fifth on 165 points.
Four Grands Prix remained and nobody could have predicted quite how dramatically the championship would change before the season reached its finale at Varsseveld.
What followed through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania transformed the title race. Turrini’s campaign was derailed by injury, Walker’s challenge was interrupted first by difficult results and later by the happiest possible family circumstances, McLernon emerged as the championship’s model of consistency and Saar produced a superb Baltic campaign to become the first FIM Quadcross World Champion.
Only one week after Gdask, the paddock travelled north to Karksi-Nuia in Estonia for round six and Saar’s home Grand Prix.
Conditions were difficult after heavy rain, but the home favourite immediately looked comfortable and the weekend would ultimately prove decisive in the championship.
The defining moment, however, concerned championship leader Turrini. A practice crash at Karksi-Nuia left the Italian with a broken left wrist and forced him to withdraw from the remainder of the Grand Prix.
With six weeks before the next round at Madona there was hope of a recovery, but an injury to his throttle-side wrist was always going to make a return to top-level quad racing difficult. Suddenly, the championship door had been thrown wide open.
Saar needed no second invitation.
Racing in front of his home supporters, the Estonian capitalised on Turrini’s absence and emerged from Karksi-Nuia with the red plate. He left Estonia on 276 points, 25 ahead of the injured Italian.
For the British and Irish contenders, the weekend was mixed. Walker, who had been one of Turrini’s closest challengers through the opening part of the season, suffered another costly non-score in the first moto before salvaging points in race two.
McLernon, by contrast, was becoming increasingly difficult to overlook. The Northern Irishman kept accumulating points when others encountered trouble and left Estonia with 209 points, just seven behind Walker.
For Saar, Karksi-Nuia marked the moment the championship changed direction. He had arrived chasing the red plate and left carrying it.
After a six-week summer break, the championship resumed at Madona in Latvia on July 25 and 26.
Turrini returned, but the Italian was clearly not yet the rider who had controlled the opening five rounds. Still recovering from the broken wrist suffered in Estonia, his priority was now as much about preserving championship points as fighting for Grand Prix victories.
At the front, fellow Estonian Karl Robin Rillo emerged as the man to beat, but McLernon produced one of his strongest weekends of the season. He was already among the leading riders in practice and then converted that speed into a major haul of championship points.
The significance went far beyond the Grand Prix result.
Saar left Latvia still leading on 311 points, but the battle behind him had changed completely. Turrini remained second with 263 while McLernon had surged to 258 – only five points behind the former championship leader.
The Northern Irishman, fifth in the standings after Poland, was suddenly on the verge of becoming Saar’s closest championship challenger.
Walker’s weekend was considerably more difficult. The Englishman collected only 14 points from the second moto and remained on 194. His early-season title challenge was slipping away, although circumstances were about to put racing into a very different perspective.
Two days after the Madona Grand Prix, on Monday, July 27 at 18:19, Harry and Sophie Walker welcomed their daughter, Poppy Anne Walker, into the world.
With the next World Championship round at Anykšiai in Lithuania beginning only five days later, Walker understandably stayed at home with his growing family rather than contesting the penultimate Grand Prix.
It effectively ended any remaining mathematical hopes he had of challenging at the very top of the championship, but for the best possible reason.
Without Walker, the championship moved just one week later to Anykšiai in Lithuania, where Saar had his first opportunity to become World Champion.
Turrini made the journey, but the consequences of his Karksi-Nuia accident were still clearly being felt. The Italian was not at 100 per cent fitness following his practice crash in Estonia. He was only eighth fastest in timed practice and faced an increasingly difficult task even to retain second in the standings.
Saar, meanwhile, was operating at an entirely different level.
The Estonian topped both free and timed practice, with Rillo second and McLernon third. In Saturday’s qualifying race Saar took control and disappeared, eventually winning by around 20 seconds.
McLernon again delivered exactly what his championship campaign required, taking second ahead of his direct rival Turrini.
Saar’s championship advantage had now grown to 50 points, with only 60 available from a full Grand Prix weekend.
Sunday, Saar completed the job.
He won both Grand Prix motos for a perfect 50-point race score. Rillo followed him home in both, while McLernon again produced an important result with fifth in the opening race and third in race two, giving the Northern Irishman fourth overall with 36 points.
Oliver Sansom also enjoyed a productive Lithuanian weekend, finishing 13th overall with 17 points.
For Turrini, Anykšiai confirmed how badly the wrist injury had damaged his championship. Still not fully fit, he collected only a single point from the two motos.
And for Saar, the mathematics were complete.
With the Dutch finale still to come, Kevin Saar was the inaugural FIM Quadcross World Champion.
The transformation since Poland had been remarkable. Saar left Lithuania with 371 points, while McLernon’s relentless consistency had carried him all the way to second on 303. Turrini was third on 272 and Walker, having missed Lithuania following the birth of Poppy Anne, remained sixth on 194.
Saar had travelled to his home GP at Karksi-Nuia as the hunter. He left the Baltic states as World Champion.
Six weeks later, the championship reconvened for one final time at Varsseveld and the Giant GP of the Netherlands. The title was settled, but there was still plenty at stake.
McLernon arrived with 303 points and an excellent opportunity to secure the World Championship silver medal. Turrini and Manfred Zienecker were both unable to contest the finale through injury, leaving Sylvain Petit as the only mathematical threat to McLernon’s second place.
Walker was back too. After missing Anykšiai following the birth of his daughter, the Englishman returned to Grand Prix action determined to finish a turbulent season on a high.
20 quads lined up in the Netherlands and Saar immediately demonstrated that becoming World Champion had done nothing to diminish his appetite for winning. He was quickest in free practice ahead of Mike van Grinsven and McLernon.
Saturday’s qualifying race, however, initially belonged to the British and Irish contingent.
McLernon made an excellent start and led Walker as the field charged through the opening stages. The Northern Irishman held the advantage until Dutch riders Mike Verboven and Van Grinsven began moving forward.
Verboven eventually took command and resisted Van Grinsven all the way to the chequered flag, winning by less than half a second. Walker finished fourth, Saar recovered to fifth and McLernon, after playing such a prominent role at the front, was pushed back to sixth.
Sunday was Van Grinsven versus the World Champion.
The opening moto produced one of the finest battles of the finale. Van Grinsven launched away from the gate and took the lead, with McLernon initially second and Saar quickly joining the fight.
The newly crowned champion found his way past McLernon and set off after the Dutchman.
What followed was a superb confrontation. Saar repeatedly closed onto Van Grinsven and attacked, only for the Dutchman to respond. At times Saar was almost on his rear wheels; at others Van Grinsven opened a small advantage before the Estonian dragged himself back into contention.
Van Grinsven refused to crack.
In the closing stages Saar finally allowed the gap to grow and the Dutchman crossed the line to take a hugely popular home victory. Saar was second.
Behind them came another fascinating contest involving McLernon, Walker and Matteo Stiller. McLernon initially held his fellow British championship rival behind him before Stiller joined the battle.
The German briefly displaced Walker and put enormous pressure on McLernon, at times running almost wheel-to-wheel with the Northern Irishman.
Meanwhile, Walker regrouped. First he repassed Stiller and then found his way past McLernon, taking an excellent third place on his return to World Championship racing.
McLernon resisted Stiller to finish fourth.
For Walker, it was a timely reminder of the speed that had made him a genuine title contender during the opening part of the season.
In heat two, Saar had the final word.
One race remained in the first FIM Quadcross World Championship season and Saar was determined that the final chequered flag should belong to the champion.
This time he made no mistake from the start.
Saar took the lead ahead of Van Grinsven and McLernon, with Walker fourth. The leading trio quickly broke clear from the rest of the field and the shape of the race was established.
Van Grinsven could not quite match Saar’s pace but had enough speed to pull away from McLernon. The Northern Irishman settled into third while, behind him, Walker became embroiled in a lively battle with Verboven, Tadeáš Rejdík and Stiller.
Positions changed repeatedly before Verboven emerged at the front of that group. The Dutchman then began closing rapidly on McLernon and almost reached him before the finish, but the Northern Irishman held on to third.
Walker crossed the line fifth.
At the front, Saar completed his championship season exactly as a World Champion would want – with victory in the final moto.
Saar and Van Grinsven ended the Dutch GP level on points after taking a victory and second place apiece, but Saar’s win in the final moto broke the tie and gave him the overall Grand Prix victory. McLernon completed the Varsseveld podium in third.
And that was the season over. Kevin Saar, the first FIM Quadcross World Champion, and Mark McLernon – Vice-World Champion with silver. And Harry Walker, after everything the season had thrown at him, fought back to fourth in the final standings.
