We have been following the Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge (APDHC) over the years now and each year it continues to get more and more popular. This year names like McDonald, Thirion, Masters and Davis were all on the island battling it out. Even though it is their off season the riders love racing the event, the track is tough yet fun but more importantly the fans go wild! The location is amazing (who wouldn’t want to be riding their bike on a tropical island) and the hosts always go all out to ensure a good time is had.
Brook MacDonald was one of the riders that made the journey over.There were a range of riders competing from locally and abroad.The locals definitely got the biggest cheer!
For the riders who came in from abroad the humidity was a big challenge, the heat sapping energy at a rate of knots! We have a selction of pictures from the event for you to enjoy:
In amongst the jungle!The loose dirt was a lot of fun, some years have seen torrential rain, not this time!There were some brutal crashes, healing vibes to those riders!
The win was taken by reigning champion Remi Thirion, Thibaut Ruffin was second making it a Commencal 1-2,A�Wyn Masters claimed third, fourth was Hajime ImotoA�and young Jackson Davis was 5th.A�Brook MacDonald crashed out of contention.
Remi Thirion did the double and backed up his win from last year.Third for Wyn Masters.Fourth was Hajime Imoto.Jackson Davis took 5th.
Next year promises to be even bigger and better!
Images: Hiroyuki NakagawaA�on Instagram: @ngawa
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It all started with Saturday practice – Sam Fraser was one of the first on track and looked pinned from the start.
The 2015 Queensland State Championships were run by the Toowoomba Mountain Bike Club
along with the support of key sponsor Zelvy Carbon. Racers from all over South-East Queensland
congregated at Toowoomba on the 27th of September to put it all on the line for one chance at
becoming the State Champion for 2015. The track was different to anything the racers had faced
all year however the biggest obstacle wasna��t found on the trail. The hardest thing for the racers to
wrap their head around was how they were going to get enough practice laps in to gain a good
feeling for the track with shuttles taking up to and over thirty minutes to reach the top of the
mountain. Most riders took advantage of slightly faster self-shuttles on the Saturday before race
day in order to gain a better grasp of what they were up against. The culmination of good weather,
a decent-sized crowd, and the willingness of riders to hang it all out for the last race of the year led
to a fantastic event to finish off the 2015 Downhill Season.
There were plenty of U/15s shuttling endless mega-trains all Saturday: Caleb Rees sends it off a rock kicker with an endless landing.Warrick McNab about to duck into an endless section of switchbacks.The mid-section of the track cuts a loose path of berms and jumps through the dry scrub.
Riders couldna��t let their concentration slip as they rode through a wide range of different surfaces: from loose shaley turns to hard-packed berms.SEQDH Overall Series Champion Ben Power squeezed in plenty of runs on Saturday and was looking comfortable all day.Harry Bush fresh off some World Cup and World Champs experience.Loose dust littered with rocks. Whata��s not to love?Ben Powera��s usual tactics of hitting lines that no other riders even know are there didna��t go unnoticed.Scoping the next turn through the dust.Kylie Jackson was looking quick throughout Saturday practice.Alex Schoonder gapping over a few transitions near the top of the track.Jake Mitchell ended Saturday practice with a trip to the hospital and came back on Sunday to make his way up the track in crutches to cheer on (heckle) those who made it through the day in one piece.Jack Wright keeping low near the bottom of the track as he caps off Saturday practice.Sam Fraser making a few bike setup changes prior to hitting the track for a few more practice runs on Sunday before the racing started.Luke Butcher styling it out on the final jump.Michael Dopson didna��t end the day as planned – a big crash on the final jump has set him off the bike for quite some time.Remy a�?Rem Dawga�� Morton nosing her in post-scrub.Ben Power seamlessly carried his pace from Saturday practice over to Sunday practice and ultimately into race runs as well.Harrison Reibelt aboard his Glory Advanced.Tracey Knight ended up with 3rd on the day.Graeme Reid had an extremely unusual race run. He caught the rider in front of him in the worst place possible and they both ended up on the ground at the bottom of possibly the most technical part of the track.Max Warshawsky scanned the a�?rock gardena�� for at least 15 minutes on Sunday after a full day of practice on Saturday and it payed off with an extremely pinned exit on this practice run.With practice nearly over it was quicker to walk up to some of the more technical spots to find some last minute lines than to catch the long shuttle to the top.Jacob Reeves – full concentration.Daniel Neumann drifting towards the trees.Max Warshawsky taking off in his seeding run.Lisa Mathison was crowned 2015 State Champion for Elite Women/.Callum Hession hanging it out.Tom Searle keeping it tight and low through a section of loose berms.The rock garden was where the majority of spectators chose to watch race runs.Off-camber and high speed – with tonnes of different lines available racers were able to tailor the track to meet their strengths.Daniel Hallam swinging it out and scoping a spot to land.Jacob Reeves on his a�?loosest run evera�?.Sam Fraser ended up with 4th in Elite Men when it all counted.Max Warshawsky sending it big in his final run of the day!Ben Power claimed his plate number with a 2nd in Elite Men.Almost as soon as the final rider crossed the line it started to rain and eventually hail prior to presentations.2015 Zelvy Carbon Elite Men State Champ – Max Warshawksy.
Images and report: Cooper Messery Photography (FacebookA�hereA�or Instagram @cooper_messery)
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Good friend of Downhill47.com, crazy fast rider and all round good guy Troy Brosnan has been nominated for the 2015 people’s choice as cyclist of the year. We think it would be great if a downhiller could get it (no offence roadies…!), plus he has had a great year, all you need to do is vote using the link below and by doing so you can win prizes yourself! Go on do it…!
The 2015 South Australian state series wrapped up over the weekend with the state championships at Willunga. Initially slated to be held at Fox on a new track it looks like we will have to wait until season 2016 for that!
Plenty of serious set ups were spotted around the pits.Some more thought provoking than others…It was the action on the track we were really interested in!
Initially conditions looked good, as usual though the wind was the real issue. In fact over the weekend it was probably a major player in many of the crashes of which, unfortunately, there were a few! Healing vibes to everyone that had a dirt nap.
Never what you want to see at a downhill race (or anywhere for that matter)!
Back to racing and whilst there were delays due to the need to ensure injured riders were cared for, everybody was understanding – if you were in the same situation you would appreciate it! The track had a few minor alterations, most noticeably the ‘whoops’ jumps section (after a few crashes it was obvious they were definitely causing a few ‘whoops’ moments).
The whoops caught out plenty of riders, including Shelly Flood, who flew past us only to go down in a heap as she got to the whoops section.The corners just prior to that section were fun for riders….. and photographers alike!There were plenty of riders roosting the corner, Matt Taylor providing one of the best examples!
As always the results from the weekend can be found on the Inside Line website, we have a huge pool of images to show you thanks to RFPhotographics and Kaneophoto (their details are at the end of the article) so enjoy!
Kit on point!There were a range of bikes being ridden, from enduro bikes to full blown downhill rigs.Riding was hot across all the categories.It was great to see all the women tackling the track!Connor Fearon was giving out free lessons to anyone that watched him ride through the whoops.Jackson Davis is in Adelaide at the moment and came out to race, party shirt and all!Henry Blake hasn’t been doing as much riding lately as he would like but a 5th in elite shows he still has it!In some sections it was faster to tuck and cruise than pedal into the wind.Wide open.Practice was all about riding with your mates and having a good time.Line choice was something that had many riders redoing sections to find seconds.There wasn’t much shade on the hill it must be said!
Railing!There was a crowd on hand to watch riders as they took on the course and they were rewarded with some great riding.
Dropping into the finish arena!Wooosshhh!
Low and fast!
The views from the course were fabulous darling!A massive thanks to these two! Kaneophoto and RFPhotographics for their wizardry behind the glass!The rocks caused more than a few punctures!Ouch! Jackson Davis sent the final step down (on his little bike) and didn’t quite hold it, he was okay though!Connor Fearon was always going to be the rider to beat and comfortably took the 2015 state championship!
That wraps up the 2015 season and what a great one it was! Thanks to the club and everyone that helped out, roll on 2016.
Images: RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics) and Kaneophoto www.kaneophoto.com.auA�or on Instagram @kaneophoto and stock Downhill247.com images.
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The final round of the South Australian Graviy Enduro series was held at the new location of Mount Torrens aka Dazzleland. The land owners Darren and Carol are no strangers to the scene having raced mountain bikes for years. The location would be one many downhillers would remember as it has held numerous Inside Line state races.
Plenty of cool transport was on show.Style!Style plus 2!
The weather for the day was superb and that definitely helps the good vibes flow. As for the trails they were different from other races in the series, they were more single track and a little tighter in some spots. Overall the response was positive from the riders.
There were some tight corners on the hill.
There were lots of eyes focusing on the Elite Men’s race as a shootout between Cam Ryan and Simon Buzacott, there was plenty of good racing across the categories. Head to the Gravity Enduro SA (GESA) Facebook page to see the results in full.
Cam Ryan was on fire, taking the win.Simon Buzacott took second.Alex Waddicor always has a smile on his face, he smiled into 3rd place.
A great year of racing, we are keen to do it all again next time!
Images: RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
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The 26th World Championships were everything the ‘race of the year’ was billed up to be. Held in the Principality of Andorra, which is located in the Pyrenees, home of 85,000 people it was fair to say this was one event which had a lot of people talking about the place. The lead up to the race is always different from you regular world cups, there is no qualifying and the schedule looks different from what we are use to.
For the juniors especially World Championships’ was the race they were preparing for all year.
Legendary racer, turned commentator, Rob Warner was gauging the riders feedback all week and the overall consensus was that the track was definitely up to the task of holding a world championships. The weather was pretty average for the majority of the event, the sun was out on Sunday for the finals though.
Remy Morton shows us just how poor the weather was for a lot of the week as he bursts through the fog.
The majority of riders survived practice in the lead up to the event, only a few registered a DNS. Now as a spectator worlds is a stomach churning affair so you can only imagine what it is like for the racers, Rachel Atherton even had to vomit, that’s how much it means to these racers! Moving onto race day and it was the juniors off first, the junior women to be exact! For Australia it was Ellie Wale representing with a 6th place. Turning to junior men, in his first worlds foray Jackson Frew was Australia’s highest placed finisher taking the bronze medal. Australia’s most likely winner, Andrew Crimmins, who has had a stellar world cup season crashed and finished well down the order. It was his game plan of all or nothing, in this case he rolled the dice and the house won but have no doubt he will be back a stronger rider next year.
Next came the women and the track was drying out more but the wooded sections were still quite slippery and caught more than a few riders off guard. Moving up from last year saw Tegan Molloy racing the senior class, unfortunately a tumble saw her hopes of a win evaporate. After an up and down season Tracey Hannah finished on a high note with another bronze medal for Australia, Manon Carpenter got close but couldn’t hold onto the rainbow stripes from last year with a silver medal. In the end it was the dominant rider of 2015, Rachel Atherton, who took the jersey back to the UK with her.
Tegan Molloy crosses the line in the finals.Tracey Hannah has a bronze medal for the pool room after the weekend.
The tension had been steadily rising all day and when the men kicked off everyone was excited! Spectators lined the course, riders headed to the top with trainers, photographers checked their memory cards and like that we were racing! Coming down were some riders who wouldn’t normally qualify for world cups so it was great to see this mix. There were also plenty of crashes as wooden bridges, roots and the general steep nature of the track caught riders off guard.
David McMillan was one of the early riders on course.Jordan Prochyra was a little known name but put in a good result.
Sam Hill crashed in his race run, the same spot caught out many a rider.
Mic Hannah came down on a blinder and ended up with a 10th placed finish.Mic in the hot seat.Dean Lucas has had a great season…This race wasn’t quite the finish he was hoping for though.
Connor Fearon was next.We collectively held our breaths hoping he would stay upright after some offs recently!Held it he did!A solid time saw Connor walk away with 8th place.After another great season Troy Brosnan had high hopes for worlds. Unfortunately a crash saw his chance of winning dashed, three crashes in three races saw Troy’s mum joke they would super glue him to his bike!
After four second place finishes this year it was Loic Bruni who made his first win the most important one! He took the world championship jersey and with that a huge weight off his shoulders. Greg Minnaar and his Santa Cruz team mate Josh Bryceland were second and third respectively. For the other contenders it was a case of what could have been with names such as Atherton and Gwin crashing out.
That wraps up the 2015 international season, what a ride and what a great way to finish it off!
