Well 2015 might go down as the season where the new school takes over, a changing of the guard if you like. Now we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but if you look at the qualifying results names like Bruni, Bryceland, Mulally, Lucas, Fearon and Brosnan replace names like Atherton, Gwin, Minnaar and Hill…… Just saying!
A few points to clean up Sam Hill is not racing whereas Greg Minnaar actually is (he is literally strapped to his bike) he is just aiming to claim a few points towards the overall. Aaron Gwin was disqualified from qualifying due to a crash which saw him leave the track but as he entered at a different point to where he left it the UCI disqualified him. Thanks to his protected status he should line up come finals. Danny Hart was out the back in the first world cup for his new team due to a flat tyre, expect that to change come Sunday.
Onto the qualifying results and starting off with the grommets, aka the juniors! These guys were showing their speed, young Laurie Greenland took position number 1 (Laurie podiumed at world championships last year so we know he has speed) just ahead of Andrew Crimmins in 2nd. Finals is going to be great to see a bunch of new names on on the podium. Looking slightly further down the time sheet and Jackson Frew in his first World Cup qualified 5th, exciting times ahead for the future of Australian downhill. Not too much further down the lost are Max ‘Warhawk’ Warshawsky and Remy Morton in 10th and 15th respectively.
Next up onto the women and can we get a big shout out to Tracey Hannah for qualifying first, Tracey has been working hard late and we know she can win if everything comes together on race day. We will be excited to watch come finals that is for sure. Rachel Atherton was second, Mannon Carpenter, reigning world champion, crashed during practice and was a bit shaken up 5th in qualifying.
Men’s qualifying and no real surprise to see Loic Bruni on top with his form at the moment. Slightly more surprising to see Remi Thirion in second, we know he loves the steep, technical tracks and he has bagged a world cup victory before, is the second one on the cards?! It doesn’t look as Josh Bryceland has lost much speed after his big crash last year, coming home in 3rd. Neko Mullaly is going to be a real threat this year, fourth just shows this. Shut the front door! 5th place goes to our own Dean Lucas who is holding up the Devinci fort without Stevie Smith. A dig in practice didn’t stop him from his best qualifying result to date and hopefully his best finals result follows it up! 6th place and no doubt loving the fact he is on a 650b race bike is Connor Fearon (his mechanic Mathieu Dupelle may be the key to his qualifying result with a few choice valve caps being added to Connor’s bike!). Just behind Connor is Troy Brosan in 7th, Troy has told us he will be looking for more in his race run so stay tuned for a big result from the ‘Paddle Pop Lion’ if you’ve seen his hair! Brendan Fairclough is back at the pointy end with a 9th in qualifying, Mic Hannah was 21st, Greg Minnaar held on for 61st, Gee Atherton was fastest at split one but DNF (Did Not Finish) after a nasty encounter with the ground when his front wheel washed out. Gee is tough as nails so we expect him to line up for finals we will have to wait and see though. Final Aussie on the start list Matthew McCorkell was also a DNF.
Tune back after finals…. this is going to be good!
Images: Phunkt.com
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