The 2012 South Australian downhill series kicked off at Mount Torrens, approximately 45 minutes from the city and held on private property, Torrens has been a venue used in the state series for some time now. The track has slowly evolved over time, this year the track received a new wooden berm just before the infamous ‘jetty jump’ and a few other tweaks higher up the course.
18mm of rain fell on Saturday night giving the track much needed moisture afterA�the day’sA�practice. With Mount Torrens being a push up track riders really have to make practice count without using up too much energy.
With South Australia’sA�current heavy hitters Troy Brosnan and Connor Fearon both not racing and the addition of riders such as Steve Marsh and Will Rischbieth back on the start list, it was going to be a tough race to pick. Seeding revealed that Steve Marsh was back and meant business seeding first. All day clouds were lingering over the track, no rain had fallen as racing started for the Under 19 Men. Under 19 is always a hotly contested class but in the end the fastest time recorded during the Under 19’s belonged to CallumA�Morrison who races Under 17 but also does a run in Under 19’s to help improve his racing. In the end the winner of Under 19’s was James Chambers closely followed by Bryce Wing.
The times for Elite Men kept dropping and dropping, it was Steve Gebert who grabbed the hot seat early after a puncture in his seeding run had him coming down the hill early. It was Ngari Jenkins in the hot seat with Will Rischbieth second and Simon Buzacott in third as the fastest seeding rider Steve Marsh came down the hill. Steve had a small issue with his clip in pedal coming out of a corner near the top of the track, on a track like Torrens small issues count on the time board, Steve finished fifthA�leaving Ngari to win the first race of the season.
