BMX Australia News Release: It was a coming of age performance by Olympic hopeful Bodi Turner overnight, as he upstaged compatriot Sam Willoughby (Redline) to finish second in the third round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Angelholm, Sweden.

The wind was more subdued at the Sibirien BMX Arena, Sunday/Finals Day after it had forced a re-schedule to the competition the previous day.

Although still a niggling presence, it didn’t stop a number of Aussie riders from producing season best performances, as Lauren Reynolds (Ssquared/Answer) also got in on the action to finish in third. Australia’s extended practice time on the track over the past two weeks seemingly paying dividends.

Ultimately, the day belonged to Turner, looking every bit an international contender in what was his first final on the world cup stage, his raw talent on full display when he flew by reigning world champion Niek Kimmann to grab second position on the third straight, eventually finishing behind Great Britain’s Liam Phillips (Pro-Gate). Willoughby finished third after he too passed Kimmann, diving down the inside on the final turn.

An ecstatic Turner highlighted the importance of getting to know the track, especially given the havoc the wind had played across the weekend.

“I’m so pumped, this is so awesome, I don’t have any words to describe it, there has been so many positive vibes this week,” Turner said.

“I love this track, you need some skill to get through it, it gets quite technical through the pro straight, and the wind makes things tricky.

“It forces you to play it smarter, and that paid off for me today.

“Just been able to ride it and have fun on it over the past couple of weeks you learn to love it, and when you feel good you ride good.”

The result see’s Willoughby lose his UCI BMX SX series lead to Phillips, and now trails by 30 points with two rounds remaining, while Turner jumps up considerably to ninth.

In the elite women, Reynolds chose lane eight in the women’s final, and after a less than ideal start weaved her way through the pack to finish third, as Alise Post (Redline) claimed the win from Olympic champion Mariana Pajon.

Kirsten Deller produced her best performance of the season to finish in 10th, falling just short of qualifying for her first world cup final, while Caroline Buchanan finished in 14th after she was forced to avoid a fallen rider, subsequently losing control of her bike. The result see’s her slip to fifth in the season standings behind new leader Post, while Reynolds is now sixth.

Other Aussies in action on the day were Rachel Jones (22nd), Melinda McLeod (31st) and Leanna Curtis (32nd). As well as Josh Callan (18th), Corey Frieswyk (26th), Anthony Dean (29th), Matthew Juster (34th), Kai Sakakibara (45th) and Bradley Game 64th.

Attention now turns to the fourth round of the season in Santiago Del Estero, Argentina from September 5 - 6.

It had been a real stressful couple of weeks also. Because I knew I had to make top 8 at the World Champs to keep my salary, which makes me able to do what I love the most “riding my bike”. On Friday at Zolder we had the World Champs time trial. My first lap was okay, but not perfect. Top 16 guys had to race the Super Final. I got 12th, so happy to do another time trial lap. This one had to be faster to make top 8. Finally the difference between the top 16 guys was so small (less then 1,5sec). I was in the hot seat for a while, but at the end I was satisfied with 7th place.

Saturday, The Big Race: A complete different day with bad weather forecast! The organization had the change the time schedule and decided not racing the big Supercross starting hill because of the heavy wind gusts. We had like 10min training to get used to the small starting hill just before racing started. There was no time for thinking, just do it… I won my qualification run, from there on racing got intense with many fast riders and some big crashes.

My quarter final was a tough one, with 4 other team mates! When the gate dropped the speaker called us the “Dutch Train” because we we’re in 1,2,3,4,5th position. Unfortunately one rider had to eliminated. I made it through, together with Niek, Jelle and Twan van Gendt.

The semifinal was a bit bumpy, but I got 4th and qualified myself for the final! My goal was to make the final, so I was happy, but when I walked up the starting hill I knew a podium finish was possible. My start was too aggressive, because I hit the gate with my front wheel and almost went over the bars. I had to start behind the rest of group, but I was able to close the gap. 2 guys crashed, unfortunately I couldn’t make a pass on anybody so I got 6th place at the World Championship. It felt like a win to me after a long road with physical and mental struggles duo injuries and personal things…

Huge thank to my coach, team, staff, medical team, sponsors, friends, family and fans who keep having faith in me! Congrats to my teammates Niek Kimmann and Jelle v Gorkom with 1st and 2nd place! #TeamNL #roadtorio

ANGELHOLM, Sweden—This weekend’s UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Angelholm will be Marc Willer’s last international race as he winds down his 12-year pro career and retires at the end of 2015.

Willers laid out the reason for ending his career in his usual frank manner: “It sucks losing. And that’s been happening for so long that racing isn’t fun any more. The last thing I want is to start hating the sport I love."

After leaving New Zealand to live and race in the United States fulltime in 2010, Willers’ career took off, peaking in 2011 with the ABA National Number Pro title, a bronze at the World Championships, two World Cup wins, a nearly unbroken string of ABA podium spots going back to 2010 and winning the NORA Cup. That also was the year he signed with BOX Components.

“Marc impressed me from the first time I met him. He walked into our booth at Interbike with confidence and swagger. I knew he was the guy who could beat Maris. And when we decided to hire someone for Speed, Marc was our guy,” said Toby Henderson, CGI’s founder.

Following a solid 2012 when he narrowly lost the USA BMX National Number Pro tile to Sam Willoughby at the Grands, an off-season back injury delayed the start of his 2013 season. He only managed a couple of USA BMX podium spots that year, but salvaged the season with a silver medal in front of his home country at the World Championships in Auckland. That was the last time he stood on the podium.

“Marc’s decision doesn’t come as a surprise, but that doesn’t make it any less of a bummer. We’ve known how disappointed and frustrated he’s been. But we’ve seen glimmers of his former self and hoped things would turn around,” said Michael Gamstetter, CGI’s marketing manager and senior brand manager, adding, “It’s been an honor to have worked with him the past four-plus years. I’m very fortunate to have been a witness to his successes and disappointments and to have played a small role in his career.”

Although he hasn’t written off a vet-pro comeback or a future in coaching, Willers’ immediate career plans will come as no surprise to his social media followers. “I want to try and finish some cars and start flipping them. I want to be the next Chip Foose kinda thing,” he said.

Building custom cars in not new to Willers, who worked as a professional auto painter from 17-20.

Willers competed in 31 UCI World Cup races (Angelholm will be his 32^nd), two Olympic Games, 15 World Championships and won 18 ABA/USA BMX Nationals. His last race will be the USA BMX Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It has been 16 years in the evolution, and 8 months in the making, but BMXPresss Global Magazine is now here and it is the Worlds First Fully Interactive BMX Magazine App.

First we made the App, then we made the magazine. If we were to print this as a paper magazine issue #70 would be over 250 pages, but now you can not only read all the in-depth articles as usual, but you can watch the embedded videos, read pop-up articles, slide out results, zoom in or slide on selected images and many other interactive features or go direct to some of our favorite websites with hyperlinks.

We have included the worlds first 3D Hologram cover, and have a hidden cover that you can switch to. All this is built into the Magazine App.

We covered a record breaking 15 races from 8 countries, and have many other feature articles and exclusive video shot for BMXPress Global Magazine by some of the biggest names in BMX on the planet.

BMXPress Global Magazine will now take BMX to over 250 countries on 3300 mobile devices.

BMXPress' new format now has global coverage, featuring all the best riders, at the best events, on the best tracks globally.

This new interactive App format is NOT a flipbook style, it is NOT a static PDF, and is NOT an online web zine, BMXPress is a fully blown interactive, take anywhere, don’t have to be online Magazine App.

Using your tablet, type in "BMXPress Global Magazine” into the search bar of ITunes Apps store or Google Play Apps store to purchase individual copies or subscribe.

Issue #70 is out now…

Enquiries to editor@bmxpressmag.com – www.bmxpressmag.com

Or see our new BMXPress Global Magazine YouTube TV Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW2JeA2j5mM

Thank you to everyone for all your support. ..... Flex / Editor. BMXPress, Since 1999.

Check out the 2015 UCI BMX Worlds Elite Race Report Page, RIGHT HERE!