Let’s check in with Connor Fearon as he gives us the Inside Info on World Cup number 1 for 2014! Over to Mr Worldwide himself:
Last time I raced here I finished in the 60’s with a good run and that was my worst World Cup result ever. I’ve trained hard this off season to change all that. I was excited for the season to start and get back into racing with my new team mate Andrew Crimmins. As far as the team goes not much has changed. I still have my trusty mechanic Dupelle working on the Kona. Matty had already set my bike up with an air shock and single ply tyres to help bring the weight down to move along the pedal a bit faster. The track walk showed a lot of changes the track builders have made since I was here in 2012. A lot of the top section had been diverted and remade with the inclusion of a few very technical rock gardens. Apart from that the track was the same with the lung burning pedal and 4x style bottom third. My first few runs made me realise how hard the top section was going to be now with the added rock gardens. Everybody on trail bikes looked like they were struggling a bit. I opted to put my coil shock and downhill casing tyres back on. My plan was to make as much time at the top half and figure out the pedal section when I get to it. Unfortunately my team mate Andrew Crimmins crashes badly on the first practice day and broke his kneecap in half… He’ll be back eventually and will get to the top step I’m sure.
Qualifying was good. I put a solid run down and pushed hard through the technical sections. I qualified 26th. I really want to stay in the top 20 this year, statistically this is my worst track but it made no difference to my expectations. With racing on Saturday there was no practice day after qualifying, just a short session before racing. I made a few changes to my lines in some sections that would help me go faster. My race run was really good only some minor issues at the top and set my lungs on fire throughout the whole pedal section. Overall it was pretty good. I finished in 25th, to be honest I’m a little disappointed and I expected better of myself this season. After looking at the split times I was happy with my effort on the pedal. I was 18th at the last split then went back from there… Now my focus is on the cairns World Cup in a week where I really want to be up there in the results. Thanks to my sponsors for making this season possible- Kona, Fox Head, Maxxis, Giro Shoes, SRAM, Rock Shox, Avid, Yakima racks and Breese High Performance.
Next stop for the world cup is no where other than Cairns Australia!
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Great little story and cover. Thanks downhill247.