VicDH – State Champs

Liam Panozzo pushes through some woods that would easily fit into a Jurassic Park set.

The final piece of Victorian State Racing is the Victorian State Championships, this year to be held in the scenic Mt. Beauty. Over the years Mt. Beauty has gathered a reputation amongst riders as a very fast and wild track, having held state and national races over the years. This years state championships would be held on the Big Hill course, a long loose and high speed track with high speed rock gardens and flat out fire road sections, a track where the riders ability to trust their bike and let go of the brakes will be the difference in times.

With the track remaining relatively damp from the weeks rain prior the to event it was actually surprisingly tacky, with a few areas being greasy, but as the sun dried these they also became rather tacky. While the fire roads became loose pushing riders to continue to hold it wide open.

Tyson Brogden gets ejected in the rocks, one of the nastiest crashes we saw all weekend

Mac West-moor showing some style over the small kicker near tracks end

With the track open for practice it was the rock gardens catching most riders out, with a few crashes, but mainly riders being surprised to see the big rocks pop up out of no where at such high speeds there was a distinct sound of brakes and skids. Surprisingly the roots weren’t too slippery allowing riders to put maximum trust in their tires over the off camber and corner sections.

As Saturday wrapped up there where plenty of sore bodies strewn over the car park as the long track took its toll on riders. Many headed into town for the presentations for the overall season, partying the night away.

As Sunday arrived there were plenty up bright and early to get in a couple of practice runs before racing, and some not really wanting to leave bed due to the previous evening festivities. All riders would do a seeding run, this would test not only riders ability to maneuverer down the hill but also their fitness due to two race speed runs.

Alex Swann shreds the final corner during practice

When racing began it was clear these runs had worked well, with racing being very tight, producing many spacings of less than a second, very impressive for a track thats so long. With the elite men starting to roll down the hill everything went up a notch and the speeds increased while the gaps decreased, with only the top qualifier to come Oliver Zwar sat in the hot seat, could local Liam Panozzo get the one up over him? Liam crossed the line, taking the win and also taking a further 10 seconds off his already impressive qualifying time.

Shannon Hewitson pushes hard into the afternoon sun

Oskar Catoggio goes into traffic avoidance mode during early rock garden scouting

This wraps up our coverage of the Victorian State Downhill Series for this season, Thanks to everyone involved in running and organising the entire season. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Jason will now continue to cover the downhill, now switching to international coverage, starting in Cairns and continuing for the remainder of the World Cup Season.

Pinner Designs team manager gives us a smile to finish off the season

Sam Brownlie was looking fast all weekend having this section of track down quicker than anyone else

Elite Men
1 Liam Panozzo
2 Oliver Zwar
3 Joel Panozzo
4 Alex Swann
5 Trent Piribauer

Elite Women
1 Carrie McLachlan
2 Hannah Beeton
3 Ellie Wale
4 Liching Li
5 Amanda Hewitson

Womens Podium

A�Mens Podium

A�JL the media mogul has the right idea

Brett from Fektor tries to out ride the whole media clan, coming unstuck

For this race there was really only one option for the media, we all had to mount our bikes to cover the entire track in a day

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April 7, 2014

VicDH Round 5 – Maldon

Johnny Dawe pushes through the top rock garden, making it through unscathed this time.

The first weekend in March saw us head for Mount Tarrengower, right on the doorstep of Maldon for the 5th round of the Victorian Downhill State Series. The track has consecutively played a part in the series for a handful of years now. It has a reputation for its roughness and also its dust that seems to get everywhere, specializing in places it shouldn’t bea��

Sam Brownlie shows everyone how not to do it, but stays upright and on the bike.

Upon first inspection of the track the most notable thing was the top section, changes had been made through the top rock section, with speed being washed off and a higher line chosen. Though the track still traversed the same piece of the hill, there were a few changes to lines which meant everyone had to re-think how they were going to navigate the top section. As practice begun most people stopped to inspect the new section, but a few either didn’t hear about it or where boosted in confidence just pushing into it, this caught more than a few riders off guard, with plenty of harmless mistakes, but also some more serious ones to keep the medics busy!

Max Kreuzer stomps the landing after gapping the mid section of the rock garden.

Luke Ellison decides its easier to run through the rock garden.

From the top section onwards the track took a very similar course to the previous years, with some minor changes to corners with no real direct influence on the track, the large double and the creek jump were still part of the track and providing cases all weekend.

Kyle Coutts pushes hard out of the rocks and into the berms.

Pinner Designs team manager, Ben Ennis tries his hand at riding with the seasons end in sight.

As time passed and riders became more confident the rock gardens became a home for havoc, with many riders trying new lines where the smallest of mistakes could end with an ambulance ride. The medics became increasingly busy as incidents became more prevalent, until the late afternoon when there were so many accidents that they were happening in front on the medics treating another patient. By the end of Saturday practice the track had claimed quite a few top names in the elite field, leaving the race wide open as Dean Lucas had a broken wrist and did not attend Saturday practice.

Sunday rolled around and some of the injured riders were feeling a little less sore and a little more adventurous, jumping back on the bike for more riding, putting the injuries behind them to push for the potential podium. To everyonea��s surprise Dean Lucas showed up, with a bike, and proceeded to ride. This threw the mix all up in the air, would he race with his broken wrist? How quick can he actually go with a broken wrist? Nobody really knew, but after the first run, it looked like he could go just a quick as anyone else!

Luke Ellison shows us some more superior bike handing skills.

As riders rolled down for qualifying the track just began deteriorating under race conditions, with rocks moving under every rider through all the rocky sections, making line choice a split second decision upon arrival. Qualifying wound up with Tracey Hannah on top for the girls and Luke Ellison on top for the boys.

Oli Zwar flies through the final section of the track.

Racing began and no one really knew where to look, could Dean make up the time for first spot? with flat tyres and snapped derailleur hangers becoming almost more normal than a clean run everyone was wondering if anyone would make it down the hill in once piece with an operating bike.

Jackson Davis brought all of the loose and rocky WA knowledge to Maldon and walked away with the u/19 victory

Racing wrapped up with the following results:

Elite Men

1 Todd Madsen

2 Oliver Zwar

3 Liam Panozzo

4 Dean Lucas

5 Matt McCorkell

Elite Women

1 Tracey Hannah

2 Tegan Molloy

3 Ellie Wale

4 Hannah Beeton

5 Lucy Crundwell

Dean Lucas was out to show everyone a broken wrist wasn't going to ruin his track record of 6 years racing VDHS without missing a round! — Dean Lucas was out to show everyone a broken wrist wasn’t going to ruin his track record of 6 years racing VDHS without missing a round!

Trent Piribauer punches it out of the final turns.

Nathan Murphy gives this photographer a solid dusting.

Photography and report;A�Photography:A�Jason Stevens Photography

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March 3, 2014

VicDH – Round 4 -Mount Baw Baw

Dean Lucas cuts through the dense fog early Saturday morning.

Mount Baw Baw, home of cold weather, fog, and the 4th round of the Victorian Downhill Series. Upon arrival all we could see was fog, we were lucky to see 5m in front of us! In the morning we poked our heads around the top part of the track and the neat new berm that the team at Baw Baw have freshly installed for the VDHS round (but as a permanent structure). We were very impressed, as we walked further down the track we spotted all the work down in the infamous jeep track area, made somewhat famous by Jackson Davis last year. We could see the work put in to turning the track away from the classic lines, however for this race the classic jeep track line was in use, bunted slightly different but still very much the classic configuration, we were sure this would impress both riders and spectators.

Elijah Marinov pushes out of one of the first berms in the open section, already eyeing off the following one.

Lincoln Varass makes the most of the tacky-ness railing the corner.

Oli Zwar pops over the small drop about mid track.

Madeline Taylor makes her way down track with the fog now clearing.

As riders began to flow down through the fog, we were jumping off the track, relying more on bike sound over actual visuals! As the track snaked its way down the hill the fog began to thin and the trees opened up, we found ourselves in the switchback section with plenty of berms. The berms had also recently been worked on, there were plenty of riders feeling more than confident to dip some bars and get super low through these, this section was looking much faster this year, was it the sticky dirt due to conditions or was it the work on the berms? Time would tell!

Dean Lucas eyes off the upcoming corner.

Jesse Beare rockets through the small jumps and drop before entering the fire road.

Aiden Varley pushes hard into the final berm before the fire road, holding as much speed as possible.

Elliot Reed gives us some Euro action, shifting body weight.

The wet fresh dirt was being picked up by tires and spread all down the track, this made the following sections much more treacherous, with the already slippery shale rocks being coated with fresh mud, to stray off line meant lots of seconds wasted and a very sketchy re-entry. The fog had cleared by now and we entered the high speed fire road section. This was very fast as usual, but with the sun coming through the trees it was drying out rapidly, but in a very patchy manner making it a very un-predictable surface to travel across at high speed.

Angus Jackson navigates the top section.

Trent Piribauer holding as much speed as possible into this berm.

The track closed and riding was done for Saturday and there was time to ponder tomorrows conditions. Fog rolled in for the night, would it hang around Sunday morning or would it be like Saturday? Again time would tell.

The sun rose over the mountain awakening the hill for racing, with no fog in sight, just blue sky, this would dry the track up much more than Saturdays practice, would it be too much or would it stay tacky? Throughout practice the consensus was, it was definitely staying very tacky and grippy.

Madeline Taylor shifts allegiances, repping Australia on Australia Day.

Ben Zwar had a day he'd rather forget. — Ben Zwar had a day he’d rather forget.

Racing started and the crowds flocked down the hill, some were side attracted by the new berm, choosing to sit up the top and bask in the sunlight and enjoy the riders hitting the berm at high speed. However, but most couldna��t resist the potential for carnage and heckling at jeep track. As the spectators filled the section it got louder and louder and more rowdy, some riders revelled under these conditions and some felt the pressure to perform, pushing too hard and making mistakes. At the end of the day there were no really serious offs through the jeep track and Dean Lucas walked away with the win, again showing us just why he enjoyed the success of racing the World Cup circuit last year.

Max Kreuzer putting on a show for the crowd in Jeep Track.

Dean Lucas departs Keep Track on his way to victory.

Elite Men:

1. Dean Lucas

2. Rhys Atkinson

3. Liam Panozo

4. Oliver Zwar

5. Max Kreuzer

Elite Women:

1. Tegan Molloy

2. Sarah Booth

3. Madeline Taylor

4. Carrie McLachlan

5. Ellie Wale

Dean And Max making the most of the podium champagne.

A jolly bunch of podium getters and Media players.

That wraps up this round but the series continues to roll on.

Images and report: Jason Stephens Photography (Facebook.com/Jasonstephensphotography)

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January 28, 2014

Crash & Compression Session- VicDH Shepparton

We will wrap up our image coverage from round 1 of the VicDH series at Shepparton with this post; it’s all about crashes and compression! There is not really too much we need to say, the pictures do that, enjoy.

And now for the compression session…

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October 20, 2013

Pick of the Pics – VicDH 1 – Shepparton

Motivation?! You find all sorts of craziness at downhill races.

Round 1 of the Victorian Downhill Series and we just have so much content to show you guys but as they say ‘a picture says a 1000 words’ so with that in mind lets check out some more of the action in picture formatA�from Jason Stevens Photography.

The weather was almost polar opposite Saturday versus Sunday, this was Sunday!

Saturday on the other hand was sunny and dusty!

Dean Lucas had a run on the small bike but then went back to the big rig but it makes you wonder doesn't it...?! — Dean Lucas had a run on the small bike but then went back to the big rig but it makes you wonder doesn’t it…?!

It wasn't just Dean on the small bike though! — It wasn’t just Dean on the small bike though!

Believe it or not we still have some more coverage from the race for you guys, it’s something a bit different but we reckon you will like it!

Images: Jason Stevens Photography

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October 16, 2013

VicDH – Round 4 – Mount Buller

downhill247com VicDH B3 — Welcome back to Mt. Buller! This week we are here for round four of the Victorian Downhill Series. With a view like this, therea��s no way you can tell us you wouldn’t like to be here! The weather came to the party the entire weekend! More amazing weather for some more amazing racing.

Round four of the VicDh was held over the weekend and as the track was used for last weeks national round, it was a little rough around the edges, but life wasn’t meant to be easy was it! This made for interesting racing where one small mistake could cost you a serious amount of time.

downhill247com VicDH B2 — Due to the track conditions after the National round, we saw riders looking at some lines that were rarely used at that race purely to avoid the roughness. Here is Trent Piribauer taking the high line, removing a proper amount of rocks in the process.

downhill247com VicDH B1 — Alternatively we see Claire Buchar navigating her way through the rocks, Claire proves that ita��s whatever works for you, as she took out Elite Women, even with this rougher line!

downhill247com VicDH B8 — Saturday practice fell on the one and only Australia Day, where better to spend Australia Day then at Mt. Buller riding your bike down a hill? It would appear plenty agree with that! There were lots of riders sported our national colours all through practice!

downhill247com VicDH B7 — Though Ben Hill wasn’t sporting a cape, he showed us he still has the skills to fly, choosing an entirely different line over the top open section of rocks and whoops!

As the track was ridden more and more it became increasingly difficult to navigate, this took its toll on riders and bikes. Unfortunately it took a real toll on Samuel Brownlie who has broken 3 vertebrae in his back and also his nose as far as we know. All of us here at Downhill247.com wish Sam all the best with his recovery and we really hope to see you back on a bike shedding as soon as possible!

downhill247com VicDH B4 — There really is no more heart sinking moment than seeing a medivac helicopter hover over head.

downhill247com VicDH B5 — This Lappiere also decided life was a little too hard and cracked under the pressure.

downhill247com VicDH B9 — By the time racing came around, the track was ripped up and super loose. There were dabs and feet coming off everywhere, as well as plenty of berm exit spins. Jack O’Hare gets super loose on this corner,

downhill247com VicDH B10 — Trent Piribauer follows to show us how ita��s supposed to be done!

downhill247com VicDH B11 — David McMillan gets super loose around the open berm, two wheel driftin’!

downhill247com VicDH B12 — Justin Schryver navigates through the rocks and trees on a now non forgiving track.

downhill247com VicDH B13 — Ben Hill comes through the waterfall section of track which is now extremely rough, unfortunately for Ben he came off during his race run and finished up in 6th.

downhill247com VicDH B14 — This being the Vic DH Series, there is always shenanigans as the riders come down! Nato gets fully heckled as he drops in for his race run!

downhill247com VicDH B15 — Along with the standard heckles that the usually large crowd hands out!

The racing in the end was extremely tight, as the course took plenty of riders by surprise, changing run after run. In the end Claire Buchar took out the Elite Womens and Jack Moir took the win in Elite Men.

Elite Men:

1^st Jack Moir

2^nd Dean Lucas

3^rd David McMillan

4^th Luke Ellison

5^th Rhys Atkinson

Elite Women:

1^stA� Claire Buchar

2^ndA� Madeline Taylor

3^rdA� Tegan Malloy

4^thA� Sarah Booth

5^thA� Jacqui Lovett

Under 19 Men:

1^stA� Andrew Crimmins

2^ndA� Zac Moss

3^rdA� Aiden Varley

4^thA� Max Warshawsky

5^thA� Remy Morton

We still have plenty more action to bring you from Buller soon!

Article (including images) credited to our man on the ground Jason Stevens.

January 29, 2013