Mark Cavendish and Iljo Caisse joined the Ghent Six Day title contenders by winning the Patrick Selk memorial race on the fourth day of competition.

The hour-long Madison race was dedicated to the memory of Selk, an 11-time Ghent Six Day winner who died in April at age 74. The race was initiated by his granddaughter, Camille, with his son, Christophe, working as part of the management team.

The race was interrupted for several minutes when a spectator dropped a pint of beer onto the track; already 45 minutes into the one-hour race, the drink fell through a gap between the fence at the top of the track (where fans often place their drinks) and a metal barrier.

Track manager Nico Impens climbed a ladder up the steep banking with drying equipment to avoid the risk of athletes slipping on the wet boards.

Cavendish and Caisse were chasing leaders Kenny de Ketele and Rob Gesse, Jasper de Baiste and Tosh van der Sande, and were just starting their attack to gain a lap when their beer spilled. Despite the beer spill, they then gained a lap before winning the sprint to take the win.

De Ketele, however, was not satisfied with the fiasco. 'We took a very fast lap and we gave everybody a lot of trouble,' de Ketele said. I was ready to put everyone in checkmate, but Pinto hit the track. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know where I was."

De Ketele and Gis ended the night in first place overall. De Baist won the points race and the super sprint, Moreno de Pauw won the 500m time trial, and Gis won the Derny Final.

With two days to go, de Quetere and Gis lead with 197 points, 13 points ahead of de Baiste and Van der Sande and 25 points ahead of Cavendish and Caisse.