Here we go! After 5 years the highest level of downhill racing returns to Australia. Cairns in far north Queensland plays host to round 2 of the UCI World Cup series. Today was the track walk and gave riders their first chance to look at what they will be racing on come Saturday.
Check back soon to see the riders actually riding!
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The racing calender is well underway, and in 2014 the Rocky Trail Entertainment NSW / ACT State Series opened with State Championships; held at Thredbo Resort. Approaching the end of the summer season, the weather was kind enough to only shower during saturday, before clearing up to perfect conditions on Sunday. With the Flow Rollercoaster event held on Saturday, all had their wet weather gear in action. Read on for the action, including Sunday’s DH event.
In the Rollercoaster Event, Thomas Crimmins took first place, with two runs of 7:26 (now that’s consistency!). Claire Whiteman of the ACT took the State Champion crown from 2013’s elite female category winner and race favourite Genevieve McKew.
(results courtesy of Rocky Trail Entertainment)
Elite Male
1. Thomas Crimmins / Giant Bicycles Australia, Thredbo MTB / Bredbo (NSW) / 14:52
2. Ben Cory / Giant Bicycles Australia, Onya Bike Canberra / Kambah (ACT) / 15:01
3. Ryan Walsch / Trek Bikes / Scullin (ACT) / 15:14
4. Michael Vanos / Springwood (NSW) / 15:17
5. Tim Eaton / Giant Bicycles Australia, Thredbo MTB / Canberra (ACT) / 15:19
Elite Female
1. Claire Whiteman / LIV/giant Australia, Onya Bike Canberra / Kambah (ACT) / 18:05
2. Genevieve McKew / Endless Flow, Knolly Bikes / Chatswood (NSW) / 18:20
3. Sarah Booth / ADCC, Kona / Newcastle (NSW) / 18:37
4. Jo Fox / Cell Bikes / Emu Heights (NSW) / 19:32
5. Kellie Weinert / Tight’n’Toned Fitness / Kearns (NSW) / 20:25
U19 Male
1. Jackson Frew / Gowrie (ACT) / 16:16
2. Bryan Dunkin / Wallsend (NSW) / 16:29
3. Connor Mackne / Alltrack Bicycles / Helensburgh (NSW) / 16:34
3. Callum Carson / Phantom Racing / Figtree (NSW) / 16:34
5. Connor O’Dwyer / Avanti Plus Wollongong / Wollongong (NSW) / 16:35
RollerCoaster State Champions for 2014 in other categories:
Expert Male: Rob Wardlaw (Thirroul NSW)
Veteran Male 30+: James Collins (Weston ACT)
Master Male 40+: Daniel Segeri (Kaleen ACT)
Master Female: Coleen Boyes (Thornton NSW)
SuperMaster Male 50+: John Myssonski (Farrer ACT)
Junior U19 Female: Rachel Weinert (Kearns NSW)
Junior U15 Male: Matthew Dinham (Turramurra NSW)
Junior U15 Female: Mackenzie Diver (Thredbo NSW)
Hardtail Male: Jim Le (Lurnea NSW)
NSW/ACT State Championships Downhill Podiums:
Elite Male
1. David McMillan / Thredbo MTB, Swell Design, Spezialised / Canberra (ACT) / 5:19.58
2. Thomas Crimmins / Giant Bicycles Australia, Thredbo MTB / Bredbo (NSW) / 5:20:50 +0.92
3. Tim Eaton / Giant Bicycles Australia, Thredbo MTB / Canberra (ACT) / 5:28.74 +9.16
4. Jake Newell / Mondraker Australia, Flowbikes / Kincumber (NSW) / 5:34.88 +15.30
5. Luke Garnham / Thredbo MTB / Thredbo (NSW) / 5:35.76 +16.18
Elite Female
1. Genevieve McKew / Endless Flow, Knolly Bikes / Chatswood (NSW) / 6:29.08
2. Michelle Crisp / High Country Firewood, Asn Miranda, Norco, Deity, Gamut, Evoc / Caringbah (NSW) / 6:46.78 +17.70
3. Jo Fox / Cell Bikes / Emu Heights (NSW) / 6:54.13 +25.05
4. Kellie Weinert / Tight’n’Toned Fitness / Kearns (NSW) / 7:02.20 +33.12
5. Sarah Booth / ADCC, Kona / Newcastle (NSW) / 7:02.39 +33.31
U19 Male
1. Joel Willis / Shimano, Fox, Lusty, Bikeminded / Lithgow (NSW) / 5:31.26
2. Alec Reid / Gwynneville (NSW) / 5:44.64 +13.38
3. Jackson Frew / Gowrie (ACT) / 5:46.07 +14.81
4. Josh Lea / KTR / Helensburgh (NSW) / 5:53.72 +22.46
5. Connor O’Dwyer / Avanti Plus Wollongong / Wollongong (NSW) / 6:01.28 +30.02
DH State Champions for 2014 in other categories:
U17 Male: Harry Parsons (Mittagong NSW)
Expert Male: Tom Wilson (Eastwood NSW)
Sport Male: Jonathon Foley (Glenmore Park NSW)
Veteran Male 30+: Daniel Seidel (Kiama NSW)
Master Male 40+: Daniel Taliana (Thredbo NSW)
Master Women: Coleen Boyes (Thornton NSW)
SuperMaster Male 50+: Steven Bullard (Hacket ACT)
GrandMaster Male 60+: Steve Coles (Orange NSW)
Junior U15 Male: James Findlay (Jindabyne NSW)
Junior Women: Mackenzie Diver (Thredbo NSW)
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We always love going out to Inside Line races in South Australia, they always put on a good show so we were keen for round 1 at the infamous Willunga. This race was using the ‘Kite’ track which got its name after after a club member came into a spot of bother when attempting to fly his kite A�few years ago…
The weekend played out well with beautiful weather conditions and even the iconic kite flying wind wasn’t at its full strength. The track itself was much the same as raced previously with a few changes here and there, the bunting made the biggest difference.
There was a good turn out of racers with plenty of new faces, unfortunately there were also a few gnarly crashes, get well soon everyone! We also noticed that a lot of riders were out on trail type bikes, a growing trend no doubt.
Racing as always was good, full results can be found on the Inside Line club website. We will just leave you with a few more images from the race.
See you at the next round!
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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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With the national series closed and done for another year we thought we would relive some of the events, in our first installment we go to arguably one of Australia’s most iconic tracks; Thredbo. For many years this track has been testing riders skills, endurance and brakes! We jump on board with Blake Nielsen to see how the fast boys do it, enjoy….
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!).
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
Images and report:A�Jason Stevens Photography
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