Australian National Round 4 - Awaba

downhill247com Awaba Sat Brosnan1 — You have to give credit where credit is due! It may be a bit repetitive seeing the photos of the same riders over and over but when positions one and two put over four seconds into the field you have to take notice.

Today was interesting day here in Awaba, the weather, incidents on the track and other events out of control of the race organisers’ meant it was not your average day of seeding.

Over night here in Awaba the rain continued to fall, fortunately for practice and seeding the rain stopped. However, this meant that the track became harder to ride, most riders found it easier to ride when the rain was keeping the track grippy and washing the mud off the rocks.

downhill247com Awaba Sat clean — Despite the rain holding off, the track was still a mud bath, with riders having to clean their bikes constantly.

The morning started off with a open practice and then a practice purely for Elite and Under 19 riders, with a lot of riders not getting much track time yesterday today would be super important. Unfortunately, not everything went to plan, an injured rider shortened the Elite and Under 19 practice, with most riders only getting theA�chance to do one run in this session.

downhill247com Sat Awaba two riders — Practice was a busy time with riders trying to make the most of it. Here David McMillan (who seeded third in Under 19) and Troy Brosnan (who seeded first in Elite) head down. Troy was impressed with Dave's sneaky jump line near the top of the track.

downhill247com Awaba Sat Lines — The length of the track, combined with its technical nature, meant that a lot of riders were still unsure on their lines.

Seeding itself was an interesting affair.A�A crash earlier on in the day meant thatA�access for the shuttle buses was restricted by an ambulance seeding itself was delayed. When it finally started the seeding orderA�appeared to be totally random with Under 19’s and EliteA�all seeding in one large random group. Can’t say we have ever seen that before but with light quickly fading and not all riders being at the top, due to the restricted transport, it was a decision that had to be made.

downhill247com Awaba Sat Moir — Fastest in Under 19 Men was Jack Moir with a 4.19.68, Jack's been improving every race, he could be looking at his best result for the season here at Awaba.

Looking at the seeding results, afterA�all riders had completed their seeding runs,A�there were definitely aA�few points of interest! Firstly in Under 19 Men riders who had been strong all season, knocking on the door of podium results, had really lifted their game here at Awaba. Jack Moir and Peter Knott, first and second respectively, had carried their good form from the previous races here to Awaba and had displaced favourites such as Connor Fearon, Tom Crimmins, Joey Vejvoda and Dean Lucas.

downhill247com Awaba Sat Knott — Peter Knott has continued his good form from last weeks' National Champs here in Awaba. Second place in seeding with a 4.22.20.

Under 19 Men:

1. Jack Moir 4.16.98

2. Peter Knott 4.22.20 + 2.52

3. Dave McMillan 4.25.07 + 5.39

4. Connor Fearon 4.26.48 + 6.80

5. Tom Crimmins 4.29.72 + 10.04

Seeding for this race has seen the biggest time gaps for the top riders of any race we have seen this season, in either Under 19 or Elite. This is due to two main factors, one being it is a very technical track and two it is longer than some of the other tracks raced on this season.

Copy of IMG_2398 (640x380) — A long, technical, gravity fed track meant this was a common occurance for many riders. Brake pads were literally falling out on the track!

Elite Men was a similar story to the Under 19’s with the seeding times varying greatly, the top five were separated by over fourteen seconds. It was Troy Brosnan and Sam Hill, in first and second respectively, that showed theirA�world beatingA�pedigree by seeding over four seconds ahead of third placed Graeme Mudd.

Elite Men:

1. Troy Brosnan 4.09.77

2. Sam Hill 4.10.23 + 0.46

3. Graeme Mudd 4.14.28 + 4.51

4. Rhys Willemse 4.23.62 + 13.85

5. Ricky Boyer 4.24.25 + 14.48

Look at the time difference from first to fifth, tenth place was over 28 seconds behind Troy, talk about a time blow out! The rest of the field has to turn it up a notch to bring back Troy and Sam.