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.
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.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!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!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!
There really is no more heart sinking moment than seeing a medivac helicopter hover over head.This Lappiere also decided life was a little too hard and cracked under the pressure.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,Trent Piribauer follows to show us how ita��s supposed to be done!David McMillan gets super loose around the open berm, two wheel driftin’!
Justin Schryver navigates through the rocks and trees on a now non forgiving track.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.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!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:
1st Jack Moir
2nd Dean Lucas
3rd David McMillan
4th Luke Ellison
5th Rhys Atkinson
Elite Women:
1stA� Claire Buchar
2ndA� Madeline Taylor
3rdA� Tegan Malloy
4thA� Sarah Booth
5thA� Jacqui Lovett
Under 19 Men:
1stA� Andrew Crimmins
2ndA� Zac Moss
3rdA� Aiden Varley
4thA� Max Warshawsky
5thA� 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.
Here at Downhill247.com we know (hope!) you enjoy our coverage of races, with all the front line info, along with photos of all the top riders hitting their lines throughout the weekend. However, we thought that you may be interested in seeing just what goes on over a race weekend in the pit tens, over the barriers and in places you generally just don’t see. So we have put together a small piece on the first National gravity cup round at Mt. Buller. We hope to show you a little bit of the going-ons behind the scenes with some of the top teams and riders you see performing over the weekend.
There is plenty of preparation for each race weekend from teams, riders and all the media crew that come along with the event, in the case of the national series, this is SBS and Cycling Australia, along with the magazines and photographer/videographers associated with each team.
So! Leta��s dive in and have a look at what you may skip over on any given race weekend.
Here’s Jake Lucas in the Kona Factory Racing tent, doing his best to interview Henry Blake from Clint White Racing, who is clearly being distracted along with Dean Lucas by something obviously more interesting than Jakes camera.And later on in the day, here is Connor Fearon relaxing before his seeding run on Saturday, sporting a pretty swell T-shirt also if we say so ourselves! Though sometimes things seem very frantic in team tents, as components are swapped for seeding or race runs, the general feel in every teams tent is always a friendly and relaxed one. Therea��s always smiles and laughs in each tent.As we walk around the pits we spot a familiar face in the NSD tent; Chris Kovarik, proving that even if youa��re a big name in the race scene you still want to work on your own bike. Chris was swapping over new tires and checking pressure when we walked through, so we decided it was best to leave him to it and kept on cruising on our walk through.Turning the corner we found the one and only Sam Hill, doing exactly what CK was up to (the secret might be out here, change your own tires!) Also looking pretty busy we decided to leave Sam to it. Ita��s great to see Sam looking comfortable on his new ride, we are all wishing him the best of luck in the upcoming season with his new team.As we keep walking we find a familiar face again! Jake is now interviewing David McMillan, riding for Swell Specialized this season David was looking really fast throughout practice. That smile isn’t just for the camera, Dave just made his third mistake talking about practice and seeding, practice makes perfect! HahaAs racing draws nearer the tents go into a strange lull as riders run off to get changed, but once they return the entire pit area picks up and becomes vigorous with activity. Here we see Connor Fearon having a chat with the rest of the team in the tent with the NSD tent and YVC in the background. We also spy another Downhill247.com shirt… Theya��re everywhere!As race runs get closer we see the start tent start to fill up with riders as their start times draw near. Ben Hill has a look around to see whata��s going on and why exactly there is a photographer at the start tent as the usher tries to organise the start list with its corresponding riders!Once Bena��s race run is over, his weekend isn’t completely over! Come the end of his race run Jake pulls him aside for an interview for the CWR team video. A ridera��s work is never done!After taking the win Thomas Crimmins is directed off the hot seat and towards the lifts in preparation for the Elite Womena��s runs.Come the end of the Womena��s racing Caroline Buchanan takes the win, after her first race on the new bike with the first win under the belt she is interviewed by Cycling Australia. We can see Caroline giving her thoughts about her run and the track.After the women, all eyes go to the Elite Mena��s runs, the one everyone watches, especially with names like Hill and Kovarik racing. As Sam takes the win he assumes his spot in the hot seat, again we see Cycling Australia having a chat with Sam as Connor Fearon takes it all in, still catching his breath.Sam Hill attracts some serious attention from all things media related, as we see Jake Lucas having a chat with him post-race.After all those media commitments pass we see another familiar face, Troy Brosnan came over to have a look see, still unable to ride due to injury.Come the end of the day everyone makes their way back to the top of the hill. Here Connor Fearon and Robert Conroy have a chat about photos and race runs. Though everyone wants shots for their own outlets therea��s no squabbles, everyone is matea��s trackside, and thata��s what makes this sport one of the best sports in the world!
We hope you enjoyed our little look into things, so next time youa��re at a race take a second to think of just what goes into getting a rider down the hill.
Article (including photos) credited to Jason Stevens.
Mount Buller provided the backdrop for the weekend…
Heat, dust and MarchA�flies that numbered in their 1000’s wereA�not enough toA�deter the 170 riders who attended the first National round of the season at Mount Buller. Looking at the weather report leading up to the race indicated we could potentially be in for another wet race, fortunately it didn’t end up that way. However, unfortunately there were devastating bush firesA�burning across the Eastern States, the smoke from these made their way to Buller by Saturday giving a very eerie feeling.
The smoke, cloud and altitude combined for some impressive views!Add a bike and rider, such as Henry Blake from the CWR Team, into the equation and it only gets better!
The first practice sessions of the raceA�revealed that after a long summer the track had really turned dusty and big holes started appearingA�on the track. Furthermore, with so many riders trying to practice at once the dust was kicked up into the airA�it would take some time to dissipate, this meant riders had to deal with low visibility as they made their way down the track.
Ben Hill negotiates his way down the track but you can see just how much dust was kicking up and making line selection hard.However, with such a technical track like ‘International’, the dust can be the least of your problems!In fact there were lots of other problems that weren’t dust!100% concentration was required for the whole track.
Seeding on SaturdayA�was a reasonably standard affair, for the full report check it out here. Sunday morning brought group B practice and racing, along with it came more track deterioration.
In between group B racing and the practice/racing session for group A there were lots of last minute adjustments to be made and bikes to prepare.With a large number of new bikes being debuted at this event there were people performing adjustments everywhere you looked!This track takes no prisoners, even without crashing bikes were getting a working over, check out that front tyre compression! Can you guess the rider?!
A short practice session for group A on SundayA�before racing gave riders a chance to see how blown out the track had gotten since yesterday. Smart riders anticipated holes and berms that would becomeA�non-existent by racing and had back up lines,A�others just get doing what they had been doing all weekend and hoped it would work. With practice over it was time for riders to have a quick break before getting their race face on and wait for their time to throw down a run. Spectators made their way down the track, some sweet talked the lifties to get a ride on the chair but they were accommodating and by the end of the day the chairlift was a free for all!
The fans were out in force lining the track! A lot of these were armed with some sort of camera to record the action.
Under 19 females kicked off the proceedings and it was always going to come down to a shoot out between Tegan Molloy and Danielle Beecroft with both riding well. In the end it was Tegan who took the victory by 4.54 seconds, we think this battle is going to continue all season…
Round one to Tegan, lets see what happens in Thredbo.
Next on course were the Under 19 Males, always a super competitive category because it wasA�the first round we saw some new contenders stepping up from Under 17’sA�and others move up to Elite. In the end though experience paid off, the top three were all Australian representatives at the World Champs last year in Leogang. After getting a screw through his tyre in seeding, which put him right down towards the bottom of the results, Dean Lucas set off very early in the piece for his race run. He came down with a flying time of 3.29.66, in the end Dean sat in the hot seat right up until the last rider, Thomas Crimmins, came down the track and relegated him to second by justA�under two seconds. Luke Ellison put his overseas experience to good use to take home third, again just like the females, we expect the competition to be tight all year in this category.
Under 19’s winner Thomas Crimmins! The next round in Thredbo is the ‘home track’ for Tom this series, no doubt he will want to keep the momentum rolling there.Dean Lucas does his thing while some fans look on in admiration!Luke Ellison finished third 2.48 seconds behind first place, his kit was definitely interesting among the white gums and green plants on the side of the track.After some strong results in the VicDH series Aiden Varley produced an impressive fourth at Buller.Ben Hill is an absolute style merchant, it helps he can race too! 5th place is not too shabby at all, it looks like he can fill the void left by former Under 19’s style winner (and speedster in his own right) David McMillan who has stepped up to Elite.
This wrap upped the junior classes for the weekend, as the temperature continued to rise the focus now turned to the Elite riders.
Under 19 Female
1. Tegan Molloy 4.09.65
2. Danielle Beecroft 4.14.19 + 4.54
3. Elle Wale 5.33.05 + 1.18.86
Under 19 Male
1. Thommas Crimmins 3.27.91
2. Dean Lucas 3.29.66 + 1.75
3.A�Luke Ellison 3.30.39 + 2.48
4. Aiden Varley 3.32.52 + 4.61
5. Ben HillA�3.34.01 + 6.10
As per Juniors, it was the females who started off the proceedings in Elite, there was a large amount of interest in this race as it marked Caroline Buchanan’s return to mountain biking after recently focusing exclusively on BMX. However, it wasn’t just Caroline who was capable of taking the win though. It was Caroline in the hot seat though as the two fastest riders in seeding hit the course, World Cup regular Claire Buchar came down first and you could see it was going to be close, she wentA�into second by just 0.72 seconds! Fastest seeder, Lisa Mathison, had issues during her run and ended upA�in third place with a time considerably slower thanA�her seeding time.
Over such a long, physically demanding track, to come second by 0.72 shows how precise you have to be with your race run!A successful return for Caroline to the mountain bike world, expect her to battle with Claire Buchar for the whole series.
Then it was time for ‘the big show’ a solid field of 40 riders were entered in Elite Men and featured a mix of seasoned veterans and up and coming riders, many who were racing Elite for the first time. Third placed seeder Jack Moir, aboard his brand new Yeti, crashed and finished in 15th, one place ahead of him was fourth placed seeder, Rhys Atkinson, who had an off the track excursion during his race run. Henry Blake who has stepped up from Under 19’s, finished an impressive 12th and was definitely hitting some of the roughest corners on the track smoother than any other rider. Moving up a few positions and the top ten was rounded out by the veteran and all round nice guy Jared Rando, 9th was Joey Vejvoda, another rider who has stepped up from Under 19’s and has gained some new sponsors along the way. One place ahead of Joey was the always stylish David McMillan, David won practice in our books hands down.
Henry Blake opened up his account for the season with a twelfth placed finish.9th place for Joey Vejvoda is bound to keep the sponsors happy.David McMillan stepped up to Elite, 8th place aboard his new bike and style for miles!
Seventh position went to a veteran of the game, Ricky Boyer, sandwiching Ricky and his team mate Graeme Mudd was relatively unknown rider Brendan Moon in sixth. Another veteran and former JuniorA�World Champion Ben Cory finished fourth four seconds off the winner. Moving on to the top three and the real international heavy hitters featured from here onwards. Connor Fearon finished in third just 0.40 behind second placed Chris Kovarik, an awesome effort for his first Elite race. It was good to see Chris do well and he will be a threat to the overall series. In first place, aboard his new whip, was Sam Hill 1.66 seconds ahead of Chris. A classic Sam moment when handed the Subaru leaders jersey, he askedA�”do I get a Subaru?”.
5th place for Graeme Mudd, his bright kit meant he was easy to distinguish from other riders but it could be hard to separate him and teammate Ricky Boyer who was looking similar!3rd Place, just 0.40 behind second place was a happy Connor Fearon.It was a pair of second place finishes for Kovarik Racing with Chris delivering the second one after Claire’s earlier second place.Sam Hill lunges for the line to deliver his first victory to his new sponsors aboard his new bike.We think it is going to be hard for anyone to break up this trio at the National races this season.
Elite Female
1. Caroline Buchanan 4.06.42
2. Claire Buchar 4.07.14 + 0.72
3. Lisa Mathison 4.16.32 + 9.90
Elite Male
1. Sam Hill 3.22.02
2. Chris Kovarik 3.23.68 + 1.66
3. Connor Fearon 3.24.08 + 2.06
4. Ben Cory 3.26.31 + 4.29
5. Graeme Mudd 3.27.66 + 5.64
It was interesting to note Sam’s winning time was slower than his seeding time indicating the track had deteriorated quite a lot. That isA�the first National round completed but we have more coverage to bring you and we head back toA�Mount BullerA�for the VicDH race this weekend, stay tuned!
He was the man to beat all weekend, the world was watching but Sam Hill got the job done by just over 1.6 seconds on Chris Kovarik.
The finals for the first National season have been run at Mount Buller and racing was close! We will have a full report up on downhill247.com soon but for now results are below;
Under 19Female:
1. Tegan Molloy 4.09.65
2. Danielle Beecroft 4.14.19 + 4.54
3. Elle Wale 5.33.05 + 1.18.86
Under 19 Male:
1. Thomas Crimmins 3.27.91
2. Dean Lucas 3.29.66 + 1.75
3. Luke Ellison 3.30.39 + 2.48
4. Aiden Varley 3.32.52 + 4.61
5. Ben Hill 3.34.01 + 6.10
Elite Female
1. Caronline Buchanan 4.06.42
2. Claire Buchar 4.07.14 + 0.72
3. Lisa Mathison 4.16.32 + 9.90
4. Madeline Taylor 4.23.80 + 17.38
5. Shelly Flood 4.42.75 + 36.33
Elite Male
1. Sam Hill 3.22.02
2. Chris Kovarik 3.23.68 + 1.66
3. Connor Fearon 3.24.08 + 2.06
4. Ben Cory 3.26.31 + 4.29
5. Graeme Mudd 3.27.66 +5.64
Dare we say three of the loosest looking riding styles but they made the podium so it must work!
It was an eerie feeling at the top of the mountain with the bushfire smoke blanketing the surronding valleys.
The 2013 National Series has kicked off at Mount Buller for round 1 and it is good to be back racing, 170 people signed up for a weekend on the famous ‘International’ track. The weather forecast was initially for rain on Friday afternoon but that didn’t occur leaving a very dry and dusty track for practice and seeding on Saturday.
A rocky track was compounded by big holes and ruts as the dry conditions saw the track blow out.However, there was no time to hang around and smell the flowers…
Being the first round of the series there were lots of new bikes and kits to see, with many riders having to get used to new set ups. There were also lots of new riders and riders stepping up age categories.
Kovarik Racing have recently switched to Fox suspension and Chris was making adjustments down the track but said the new parts were good.There were some faaasssttt juniors on the track who left us amazed.
By the time practice was over aA�few injuries during practiceA�had reduced the size of the field and left a few others a bit sore. Injury claimed Timmy Eaton who suffered a broken elbow, all the best on your recovery! But after all the dust had settled from seeding (which took some time believe us!) the results looked like this;
Under 19 Female
1. Danielle Beecroft 4.33.68
2. Elle Wale 5.19.00 + 45.32
3. Gemma Greentree 12.40.05 + 8.06.37
Under 19 Male
1. Thomas Crimmins 3.29.34
2. Luke Ellison 3.31.42 + 2.08
3. Aiden Varley 3.32.90 + 3.56
4. Brent Smith 3.33.01 + 3.67
5. Peter Knott 3.34.67 + 5.33
Elite Female
1. Lisa Mathison 4.08.42
2. Claire Buchar 4.11.01 + 2.59
3. Caroline BuchananA�4.16.75 + 8.33
4. Shelly Flood 4.22.82 +14.48
5. Kelly BaylissA�4.36.31 + 27.89
Elite Male
1. Sam Hill 3.21.19
2. ChrisA�Kovarik 3.24.28 + 3.09
3. Jack Moir 3.25.62 + 4.43
4. Connor Fearon 3.26.57 + 5.38
5. Rhys Atkinson 3.27.88 + 6.69
With the length of theA�track a lotA�of the results were relatively close, expect racing to beA�close too. We wouldn’t be surprised if the winner of Elite Men just ducks under 3.20 but this all really comes down to how much the track blows out.
Thomas Crimmins was the fastest of the Under 19’s in seeding, all the top Under 19’s looked fast though!Sam Hill was looking comfortable aboard his new bike and 1st in seeding proved this.Chris Kovarik crashed in practice but that didn’t faze him, 2nd in seeding.Connor Fearon, 4th in seeding as Phil Piazza watches on…
Mitch Delfs at the last World Cup of 2012 in Norway and as we now know, his last World Cup onboard a Kona, for 2013 expect to see Mitch and team mate Luke Strobel on Evil Bikes as their factory team.
After our initial Team Talk article (here), weA�heard a range of other newsA�for 2013 fromA�the industryA�butA�something thatA�we thought was worthy of a seperate post is where Mitch Delfs is heading for 2013.A�For 2013 Evil Bikes will have a factory team, with Mitch Delfs (and Luke Strobel)A�as theirA�World Cups riders. It makes sense to us as Luke has been linked to that move for months (The ‘Team Rumours’ twitter account was correct) and Mitch has always got on well with Luke so their would be good team dynamics. The new Evil bikes look awesome and should ride well, a World Cup factory team should signal a strong return to the scene for the company, after being a little quiet over the past few years for various reasons. Once more information is available we will let you know.A�It is awesome to see Mitch with a strong team for 2013, he is capable of good results, as his 11th place at the Windham World Cup showed and weA�are allA�keen to see him do well this year!
