Hard to believe but 2012 has come and gone, here are some of our favourite images that explain the year as it happened, soA�without much further a do, let’s have a look back pictorially;
January
The year kicked off with the second round of the National Series at Mount Buller. After taking out round 1 of the National Series, Troy Brosnan continued on his winning way at Mount Buller taking out the race by over five seconds from team mate Sam Hill.
February
We did an Inside Info with Josh Button (here) as he recovered from an injury he sustained at the 2011 World Championships.The third round of the National Series saw Troy Brosnan take win number three in Elite Men, Connor Fearon won Under 19a�?s, his second National Series race victory in a row.The National Champs were held in Adelaide at Eagle Mountain Bike Park in hot conditions, Adelaide welcomed some big names including Jill Kintner who was in Australia over summer.
March
The final National Series race was held in a wet Awaba, Connor Fearon won Under 19’s, Troy Brosnan crashed and finished second, so close to a perfect domestic season, he won three of the four National rounds and the National Champs (as did Connor Fearon in Under 19’s). The first World Cup kicked off the season in South Africa and it marked a successful return to international racing for Tracey Hannah as she took the win. Photo: PhunktIt was Greg Minnaar who took the win in the men’s category at his home World Cup.
April
The traditional season opener, Sea Otter, kicked off and saw Jared Graves claim victory in his return to full time downhill racing. Photo: Dean Henthorn.
May
Chris Kovarik took out Newtons Nation in Bathurst. We dropped the news (in a world exclusive?!) that Specialized would be releasing their carbon demo to the world at the Val di Sole World Cup.We did an inside info with Troy Brosnan at around the same time he injured himself in Leogang.
June
June was a month full of World Cups starting with Val di Sole in Italy.
Dean Lucas raced his first World Cup at Val di Sole.Connor Fearon was looking for a good result on a track that suits him, he finished a solid 41st.The next World Cup race was across the Channel at Fort William, as usual Sam Hill donned his pink kit for charity and auctioned off his bike after the race.
Heading to North America for round 4 saw the Australian junior team join the World Cup circuit in preparation for the upcoming World Champs.
David McMillan was one of the juniors who raced gaining experience for the World Champs, on tracks totally different to those in Australia.Junior rider Jack Moir finished 44th at his first World Cup, an amazing effort!
July
The Windham Word Cup saw Mitch Delfs bring it home in eleventh place, his best result for the season.Downhill247.com turned one year old!We did an Inside Info on the Trail Mix – Procon team.The Val d’Isere World Cup provided the first flat pedalled winner of the season, unfortunately it wasn’t an Aussie but rather Kiwi Brook MacDonald, Sam Hill crashed during his race run but showed real promise leading up to the World Champs.
August
Downhill247.com version two went live.Mic Hannah finished second in the Canadian Open during Crankworx, one of the biggest events of the year. Photo Owen Perry.
Mean while the various state series here in Australia were in full swing;
The South Australian State Series saw the return of Troy Brosnan from injury.The New South Wales Series saw a wet weekend of racing in Lithgow.David McMillan won the CORC race at Isaacs.
September
September was a big month for downhill247.com we hit the ground running in Leogang, Austria for the World Championships’ the biggest race of the year!
The first medal for Australia was Danielle Beecroft bringing home third in Junior Women.Junior Men had varied results but overall Australia finished second in the team’s rankings.The ranking was helped by Connor Fearon’s third place finish!The Senior Women’s race saw a surprised Morgane Charre take the win!Not everything went as planned in Senior Men for Troy Brosnan as he crashed injuring his shoulder, the rest of the Australian contingent had a successful outing, highlighted by Mic Hannah’s fourth place.This was the story of the day for Senior Men, Aaron Gwin and what was apparently a double brake failure.Greg Minnaar 2012 World Champion.Shortly after the World Championships we headed to Norway for the final round of the World Cup Series.The top section of the track saw a lot of style being thrown down, as Connor Fearon demonstrates!Norway saw Greg Minnaar debut his new set of stripes!Norway delivered Stevie Smith his first World Cup win and it was smiles all round.We introduced video’s on to the site with a 100% original video from the 2012 New South Wales State Series at Mount Stromlo.
October
October was another busy month as many State’s held their State Chanpionships’A�among other events.
Connor Fearon took out the State Championships, on board a short travel trail bike none the less…Our coverage of the VicDH Series kicked off from Mount Taylor, this is arguably the biggest series in the nation, here Ben Hill comes home for third place. Look out for an Inside Info of Ben in 2013.Over 150 riders hit Ourimbah State forest for the N.S.W State Champs, which we delivered another exclusive video edit for.
November
November saw the second round of the 2012 Tasmanian Gravity series held at The Lea in the statea��s south.We went to Welcome to Mt. Tarrengower for round 2 of the Victorian Downhill Series.We covered the Specialized Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge for the second year in a row, this is quickly becoming one of the premier events in the Asia/Oceania area!Thredbo and the legendary Cannon Ball Run hosted round five of the NSW/ACT State Series.Just as the World Enduro Series was announced we covered round 2 of the Alpine Gravity Series in Bright, Victoria.
December
The year comes to a close in December but there was still plenty of happening on the site!
Round three of the Victorian Downhill Series from Kinglake produced some of our favourite and most popular images, including this beauty of Timmy Eaton taken by Jase Stevens.We did an Inside Info with Callum Morrison, a name for the future!Round three of the Tasmanian State Series was the last race we covered for 2012!Finally we counted down the days to Christmas!
Well 2012 was certainly an amazing ride, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you! 2013 here we come!
