The track at Bright is very similar to last year, there are a few additions, such as these corners at the bottom which Graeme Mudd is investigating.
For the second year in a row we are at Bright in the Victorian Alps for the MTBA National Championships. With the track being very similar to last year riders were up to speed early, the general consensus was that the track is already rougher than last year. The three most noticeable differences to the track this year are the new road gap at the top, the new rock garden half way down and a new finishing straight. We will leave you with a few pictures as we battle internet speed issues!
Connor Fearon up to speed early sending the higher line through the chute.Dean Lucas checking the lines but looking fast when he was coming down.David ‘Mayhem’ McMillan getting wild! The hashtag #mayhemdave celebrates it’s one year anniversary at this event.Tracey Hannah will be looking to retain her national championships winners sleeve.Older brother ‘Sik Mik’ Hannah looked fast on track.
Check back soon as we get some photos loaded for you all!
Get more downhill action on Facebook.com/downhill247 or follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
Continuing our Inside Info experiences of the 2014 Nationals tracks, we have Bright, Victoria by Connor Fearon. From this head cam taken during National Championships, you can see why it’s one of the favourite stops on the series; fast and loose, see it for yourself!
Bright is the home of the final race for Victorian Downhill Series. Now we know you have seen all of our coverage from Bright of the Australian National Championshipsa�� So we wanted to make this one a little different, no one enjoys seeing the same thing over and over, so we sent Jason out with a challenge! He has to shoot the entire track with a 300mm lens, for anyone who has been to Bright, you will know ita��s not really an open track, so thata��s quite a challenge (a 300mm lens is super zoomed in if youa��re wondering why a 300mm would be hard!).
Alex Swann gives us some horns on the walk to the start ramp.Nato throws in some style in the fast drop section towards the first corner.
Bright has turned on the weather again, though there was an awesome storm Friday night, the track didn’t seem all that effected in a negative way at all. By the time practice started on Saturday the track was in unbelievable condition, with more and more riders passing over it, it became tacky, and there was no dust! A rare sight at Bright, and a really strange feeling, we almost missed the dusta�� Almost!
Shanon Hewitson pushes through the warm sunlight that added to the great conditions.Jackson Davis navigates around the trees at the bottom of a steep shoot.
With the track being so sticky riders were gathering confidence at rapid pace! Some getting carried away, and the track put them back in their place, with many small crashes and off track excursions. As the sun started to lower through the trees the track started to dry slightly, but not to the point where everything was dusty. Riders who have ridden here before, either for champs or in free time were enjoying the improved track conditions, the new riders were loving it too, the steepness a little daunting for many riders though.
Oskar White uses his size to sneak through some trees.Then tracks this photographer down…!Rhys Atkinson bursts into the open over the road crossing at high speed.Then drops into the wooded section, no time for the awesome views!Kyle & Darcy Coutts wait for brother Damon to appear out of the woods.
Sunday morning arrived and there was a heavy dew around, it didn’t seem to penetrate the trees though. However, the track did generally get slightly moister, keeping everything super grippy. We had a chat with local, Aiden Varley before practice and he claimed the track would be dry and dusty by race runs, surely this local knowledge was an advantage. As riders rolled down throughout practice it appeared Aiden was right on the money, with the track drying quickly and catching a lot of riders out, with the crashes becoming more and more theatrical throughout the morning, with some providing quite a scare for both the riders and us spectators watching.
Trent Piribauer throws in some style over the little kicker in the open.Benny Hill won’t be outdone and also throws in some signature style.Hannah Beeton navigates some roots in some amazing natural light, no flashes here!Elijah Marinov pushes hard out of the roots.Ben Kelaart cruises down, satisfied with surviving the steep root section.
As qualifying came around the track was almost dry, not to the point of inhaling kilograms of dust but still very dry, this meant some of those ruts were becoming very slippy and extremely deep. Qualifying seemed to run seamlessly and we saw no crashes of extreme measure nor mechanicals.
Rhys basking in the afternoon sun.Team mate, Jackson Davis also making the most of the afternoon sun.Dean Lucas entering one of the steep off camber sections at high speed.Elliot Ried had a weekend of misfortune, this shot sums it up well.Dean Lucas, entering the final corner much faster than anyone else we saw
With qualifying complete racing started. Some of the loose rocks and wayward roots began playing havoc with the bikes as riders pushed harder and harder, many finding their way to the bottom with mechanicals, especially broken chains and derailleurs.
At the end of the day the results ended up as follows:
Men
1. Liam Panozzo
2. Dean Lucas
3. Oliver Zwar
4. Rhys Atkinson
5. Ricky Clarke
Women
1. Tegan Molloy
2. Ellie Wale
3. Sarah Booth
4. Liching Li
5. Carrie McLachlan
Post race chats. Hashtag: lifestyleThose views…!Yeah, this is a long lens, and a darn good challenge!Women’s Podium.Men’s podium.
Well that wraps up the racing for the Victorian Downhill Series, a big thanks to Jason Stephens Photography for their hard work, let’s not muck around they killed it with the 300mm challenge this weekend!
Bright National Champs threw up one great weekend of racing, let’s finish our coverage of the weekend with a Pick Of The Pics. Our dedicated and hardworking photo g’s were scrambling up and down the mountain all weekend fighting dust, starvation and the background scenery to bring you the goods, enjoy!
Troy Brosnan was rocking a different kit every day #factory.Art!Epic scenery in Bright, with a mix of native vegetation and pine forests, Mic Hannah rolling on by.B-Lake! Blake Nielsen negotiating one of the chutes on the track!One foot madness for David ‘Mayhem’ McMillan.Send, send, send!Riders charged straight down the fireroad into this tight right-hander with a lot of speed.Tegan Molloy got the job done and took home the national title.Not only was the view great but the conditions were too!Andrew Crimmins is looking good for the upcoming world cup season.On the hunt! There was talk of the new 650B coming to Bright but that wasn’t the case.A new bike for Jack Moir but it didn’t slow him down.A good time for Rhys, Jackson and David from one of the strongest teams on the grid.By the end of the weekend ruts were a foot deep down some parts of the track.A good result at Bright would have capped a very successful come back for Josh Button, the result wasn’t quite what he was hoping for . It doesn’t take anything away from what he has achieved, we can’t wait to see him at Cairns.Oops!Not all the action was focused on the track!Scoping lines.No shortage of dust!Another whoopsy!This may seem like an unusual image but let us explain! The rider in the dust had come through the chutes and binned it. On the way as they rolled down the hill they clipped Jason Steven’s gear bag sending it tumbling it down the hill. As the rider stop they managed to grab the bag and stop it from rolling any further, hence the joyous arm raise from Jason!That golden light strikes again!Rhys Atkinson has been all across over the past few months building trails for us all to enjoy, cheers Rhys!He’s another rider we are looking forward to seeing racing in Cairns.Different lines for riders as they negotiated there way down the hill.Sic Mic, having changed a few major components over the off season it doesn’t seem to have slowed him down though.Doing the dance!Jared Rando was on the bike and showing everyone why he is one of Australia’s downhill legends.
Coming into one of the high speed, wide open areas of the track!Throwing a bit of style into the mix.Connor Fearon is gathering momentum for his overseas campaign.The same can be said for Tracey Hannah.
That wraps up the coverage of Bright and the Australian national championships.
Images: Jason Stevens Photography, JB Photo Media & house images.
Come Sunday, race day, the trail was feeling the brunt of the biggest National DH event of 2014. Overall the track was in excellent racing condition, but there were a few loose sections to remember…
Day 4 of the Bright National Championships and the business end of proceedings! A short practice session before racing for both the A and B categories let riders ensure they had their lines sorted but more importantly to see how much the track had deteriorated before they tried to race on it! When seasoned world cup riders are exclaiming how much they enjoy the track and that it should be a stop on the world cup calendar you know it is the real deal. A large portion of the track has a ‘natural’ feel to it with very few man made obstacles to ruin this experience, as we found out in racing though the track did get rougher and more blown out over the course of the four days….
A picture says a thousand words so we have gone all out to show you a range of shots from the weekend below.
Tracey Hannah rode fast all weekend, seeding very well on Saturday afternoon. Both Tracey and Sik Mik turned heads all weekend in their matching kit, silent bikes and sheer speed. From weekend warrior to World Cup racer, riders were having so much fun.After picking up the pace, and with a trail that would only get rougher, Connor Fearon switched to clip pedals on Saturday morning, dropping 3 clipped practice runs in over the weekend.Outside of the forest the view was picturesque. A beautiful summer alpine scene with dozens of paragliders!In the forest the chutes were steep, and the trees were tight; closing in on riders as the weekend wore on. That only meant one thing, go faster!U17’s standout Remy Morton has been dominating in 2014, showing very impressive speed and skill, under a cool and calm face off the bike. Finishing off the season with a convincing 18 second gap win is very promising for Remy’s future. Here he gets above the rough stuff and into the next corner, with seemingly minimal effort.
There’s always good racing in the B category, despite not being the premier classes. We do have to make mention of Remy Morton and his emphatic win in under 17’s with a time 18 seconds ahead of his closest competitor and good enough for 6th place in Under 19. We are going to bring you further insight into one of our sports brightest potentials soon!
Moving on to the A racing and it was the junior females who started off proceedings, it was always going to be hard to see Tegan Molloy not win. In the end she did, we can’t wait to see what she can produce overseas this year.
An emphatic and well deserved win for Tegan Molloy.
Next came the junior men, with the chance to represent your country at the world champs on the line riders were going hammer and tong. Some crashed (some multiple times), some had mechanicals and some put together the run of their lives. With Ben Hill absent there was definitely another place freed up near the pointy end of the field, in the end a quality field rounded out the podium.
Ben Dengate took 5th on his Bilt.Jackson ‘The Mexican’ Davis had to contend with a low seeding position to claim 4th.Max Warshawsky has been riding well all year and 3rd pace confirmed this.Aiden Varley put his local knowledge to good use claiming second place. He will be back here in a few weeks to try and get his hands on the VicDH race win.With a 20+ minute shuttle process, there was plenty of time to recall runs and sections, and get mentally closer or further away from riding your best. Andrew Crimmins waits patiently to blast out another run… Little did he know the next time up he would arrive to the village U19 Australian National Champion.No denying Andrew Crimmins the win, a solid gap sees him avenge his overall series loss.
Next up we moved to Elite, a solid field were there to ensure that Tracey Hannah had to earn her victory, some good riding by a few lesser fancied riders kept everyone on their toes.
5th place for Michelle Crisp.First year elite rider Danielle Beecroft claimed a solid 4th.Shelly Flood can handle a crash or two but she kept it upright in the finals and claimed 3rd.Emma McNaughton used her years of experience to take 2nd place.As predicted by the seeding times, T Hannah took the Elite Women’s National Jersey, putting the power down in the last straight to lock it in by over 30 seconds.Realistically it was Tracey’s to lose but anything can happen in racing, Tracey showed us why she is such a class act.
With the females done and dusted for the day it left only the elite men at the top of the hill. Would the Hannah family be taking home all the gold? We didn’t have long to find out!
The view from the top was grand, the para-gliders in the area clearly loving it.Holding it?Not quite….! The last corner was the story of many riders day!The bus ride up was a mission in itself with the steep sides meaning you had to trust the drivers!
Any how Elite, it was going to be a shootout and the stakes were high! First rider down the hill was Troy Brosnan, after not seeding he was at the start of the list. He went straight into the hot seat, little did he know how long he would be spending in it!
Blake Nielsen scored an injury mid run and had to DNF, he will be back stronger then ever soon!Some riders were dancing, if you can call it that?! Down the hill with varied degrees of success…Photographers talk about golden light, Bright was a clinical study in it. Here Jason Stevens captures Sam Brownlie lapping it up – awesome!David McMillan on the hunt… Looking for those seconds.Timmy Eaton is bouncing back form an injury riddled 2013 year.Unfortunately Luke Ellison had a few injuries over the course of the weekend but was looking good. Next time Booga!6th place for Mayhem Dave, he has been riding well all season and really deserved a top 5!Mic Hannah getting wild! This was the case in his race run loosing a front wheel and going down with the ship, he recovered to claim 5th, super impressive!Todd Madsen surprised a few people with a handy 4th place.A new team and bike, Jack Moir claimed third, he almost had to go chainless after snapping a hanger but one was sourced!Cool, calm and collected! Connor Fearon took care of business in second.As Connor drops into the finish arena, the crowd was amped, on edge as he battled Troy’s time to the line, securing Second place just 2.26s behind Troy’s set time.After a shuttling issue left Troy’s bike unrideable, SRAM were quick to do what was necessary to get him on track again. With a couple of practice runs under his belt, after the final U19’s rider had crossed the line, Troy blasted out of the forest and into the arena, setting an incredible (and unbeatable on the day) time of 3:42:90!Some riders didn’t quite have the runs they were looking for!Eyes on the prize!Smashing corners – yeeewww!we can’t wait to go back to Bright, the whole vibe of the place is just amazing.Good times in the pits, everyone having a laugh before the serious end of proceedings.We saw some interesting things in the pits….But it was what we saw outside the pits that really had us worried haha!That golden light!
So a good weekend of racing, with crashes definitely keeping riders on their toes the track and town of Bright was top notch and we can’t wait to go back.
We aren’t quite done with our coverage with Bright as JB Photomedia and Jason Stevens Photography have provided so many amazing shots it would be an injustice not to show you guys, more to come soon!
Keep up to date with Downhill247.com on Facebook & Instagram:
Last minute practice for everyone before seeding to get lines dialled.
Day 3 here in Bright meant seeding! A short practice session immediately before seeding let riders check their lines before the first timed run of the weekend. Practice saw a few crashes, as well as some punctures but nothing major. Technical issues have stopped us from
Will Rischbieth sussing lines out.
Seeding started off with the junior females, Tegan Molloy seeded first despite a crash! Moving onto junior men and Max Warshawsky finished ahead of local rider Aiden Varley and Andrew Crimmins was third after two crashes. Elite women were next on the hill and Tracey Hannah took the number one spot by over 30 seconds! Silja Standler was second ahead of Emma McNaughton. Interesting times in elite men with Troy Brosnan not even getting a run after his bike fell of the transport trailer…. His team worked hard to get his bike ready for racing. In the end Mic Hannah was numero uno, Connnor Fearon second and the resurgent Josh Button third.
Technical issues have stopped us from showing you everything we wanted to but tune back soon.
