The dreich failed to dampen spirits in Fort William, as the packed track and spectator stands saw a race fought down to just tenths of a second.
After a British 1-2-3 in qualifying, home crowd expectations were high, but American Aaron Gwin showed once again why he’s the man of the moment. There were no repeats of his Val Di Sole walkover though, Danny Hart crossing the line just 0.8s behind, despite putting in a massive effort in the driving rain to a home crowd that gave him every last ounce of encouragement.
With Danny’s run out of the way, the home crowd’s expectations were pinned on GT Factory Racing riders Gee Atherton and Marc Beaumont, the fastest men in qualifying. Gee’s run was close, but only enough for third place, while Marc Beaumont suffered a nightmare that left him trailing 32s off the pace.
Sam Hill put in a performance that left him with fourth place and Josh Bryceland had an excellent day, taking fifth place.
Steve Peat could file his race under nightmare as well; an injury leaving him out of contention.
Results
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result |
| 1 | Aaron GWIN | USA | 25 | 4:48.21 |
| 2 | Danny HART | GBR | 21 | 4:49.04 |
| 3 | Gee ATHERTON | GBR | 27 | 4:50.72 |
| 4 | Samuel HILL | AUS | 27 | 4:51.74 |
| 5 | Josh BRYCELAND | GBR | 22 | 4:53.26 |
| 6 | Greg MINNAAR | RSA | 31 | 4:53.33 |
| 7 | Joseph SMITH | GBR | 22 | 4:55.14 |
| 8 | Sam DALE | GBR | 22 | 4:55.35 |
| 9 | Matthew SIMMONDS | GBR | 25 | 4:55.59 |
| 10 | Cameron COLE | NZL | 24 | 4:55.77 |
| 11 | Rémi THIRION | FRA | 22 | 4:55.92 |
| 12 | Samuel BLENKINSOP | NZL | 24 | 4:56.24 |
| 13 | Andrew NEETHLING | RSA | 28 | 4:56.33 |
| 14 | Luke STROBEL | USA | 26 | 4:57.16 |
| 15 | Michael HANNAH | AUS | 29 | 4:57.48 |
| 16 | Loic BRUNI | FRA | 18 | 4:57.82 |
| 17 | Greg WILLIAMSON | GBR | 20 | 4:57.86 |
| 18 | Nick BEER | SUI | 25 | 4:59.35 |
| 19 | Steve SMITH | CAN | 23 | 4:59.39 |
| 20 | Bryn ATKINSON | AUS | 30 | 5:02.04 |
| 21 | George BRANNIGAN | NZL | 20 | 5:02.34 |
| 22 | Patrick THOME | FRA | 21 | 5:02.40 |
| 23 | Lewis BUCHANAN | GBR | 19 | 5:03.07 |
| 24 | Mitchell DELFS | AUS | 23 | 5:03.20 |
| 25 | Richard THOMAS | GBR | 24 | 5:03.33 |
| 26 | Filip POLC | SVK | 30 | 5:03.49 |
| 27 | Ben REID | IRL | 26 | 5:03.57 |
| 28 | Pierre Charles GEORGES | FRA | 26 | 5:03.96 |
| 29 | Brendan FAIRCLOUGH | GBR | 24 | 5:04.20 |
| 30 | Johannes FISCHBACH | GER | 24 | 5:04.36 |
Full results are on the UCI Website here.