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HE almost crashed in the first straight and again as the finish line loomed, but Alex Cameron managed to stay upright on Saturday afternoon to claim the BMX Australia elite men’s national championship.
While Cameron had previously taken out the national championship in 2010, he was the slowest of the eight riders who advanced from the semi-final stage to the decider.
However, two big threats had fallen in the semi-finals, Brandon Te Hiko crashing with the finish line in reach, while defending champion Corey Frieswyk ran too high on the first turn and slipped over the top of the lip.
Then, only seconds into the final, the dangerous Kai Sakakibara went down as well. He was the fastest qualifier, having won his semi in 34.951 seconds.
Though there was still six quality rivals left in contention and semi-final number two winner Matthew Juster led the way out of the first turn, Cameron kept coming.
He burst through the middle of the pack to pass Juster and survived a late scare to take the win.
He clocked a time of 35.800 to beat home Wade Turner (35.874) and Juster (35.897).
“I kind of made it up as I went, I got a good start and good first turn,” the Liverpool City BMX Club rider said.
“I came out of the last turn and I was right on the white line and I thought ‘I am off the track here’, but somehow I just kind of shut my eyes, went through the section and just put in a couple of pedals and lunged to the finish line and that was it.”
Cameron revealed he thought his challenge was over when Sakakibara crashed next to him, then in the closing stages as he tried to hold off a late move from Turner he was again lucky not to fall.
“I buzzed his [Sakakibara’s] tyre on the way past, that was super close. I thought I was going down, but at the same time I knew I was far enough ahead to get past him and it worked out,” Cameron said.
“The boys got a good run on me out of the last straight, but I just tried to use the last turn, I didn’t put on my brakes and tried to carry as much momentum as I could over those last few jumps.
“When I put that lunge in I almost flipped, that would have been it, but I was across the line.”
After an error cost Cameron in the final round of the BMX Australia National Series on Thursday, Josh Callan taking out that decider, he was simply aiming to make Saturday’s final.
He ran second in his quarter-final and fourth - the final qualifying spot - in the semi-final to book his place in the decider.
Though that was mission accomplished for Cameron, he still gave everything to try and win the final and his risks paid off.
“Today I was just hoping to make the main, that was my goal. Thursday didn’t go to plan and I made amends for that today,” he said.
“Overall it felt really good to get the win, it’s my first Aussie title since 2010, so it has been a long time between drinks. I’m over the moon and don’t have many more words for this.
“The track here is great, I could ride it all the time. It’s of the best tracks I’ve ridden, if not the best track in New South Wales hands down
