On the weekend of the 18^th and 19^th of May, Willunga Hill held the second round of the SRAM South Australian Downhill State Series. Arguably one of the favourite tracks and locations for the series line-up, Willunga Kite Track saw all riders, both young and old coming out for a ride; many of which decided to pick up a bike after a long time, simply to ride the tracks they grew up racing!

Weather conditions on practice and race day were absolutely perfect. Beautiful weather was a blessing for riders and spectators, despite that many riders were forecasting a nice, wet track for racing. Someone must have done something right in the lead up to the weekend, because track and weather conditions could not have been better. Sunny, bright, warm, dry and rocky were a few words commonly used to describe the track over the weekend. a�?Windya�� Willunga was anything but.

The actual track is positioned on a paddock, and the owner of the land, Paul Giles, was kind enough to allow everyone to race on a wicked track once more. Thanks Paul, you are a star. The paddock features reasonably large hills, with steep gradients either side. The grassed terrain had many riders re-considering riding positions and styles, because for many younger riders, this was their first experience riding something other than dirt. However, as riding went on, the grass quickly disappeared and dirt appeared, becoming dustier and looser with each rider.

As for the a�?Kitea�� track itself, it consists of a short off-camber section which made riding difficult for many, followed by a steep, bumpy section into a left-hand corner. After a short off-camber pedal, the riders were faced with several corners and jumps to make things interesting. It was important to keep speed through these sections as a flat, rock-garden rapidly approached and required significant line choice, or the consequences of a flat-tyre were realised by many. The rocks continued down the track, and riders were again faced with a challenging rocky left-hander. Lacking any form of berm or corner assist, riders had to make a quick, hard turn to the left to stay on track, as many ruts were forming down the bottom. Once this section was completed, a few more drops were in order, as well as several more corners.

Willunga hadna��t finished yet though, as riders had to push themselves to their limit in the slalom section. Wide, open and fast encapsulated the remainder of the track, and the difference between winning and losing lay in the techniques used. Riders had to endure a long section of flat ground, putting in constant pedals to maintain speed and beat each other. Nearing the end of the track, a medium-sized step-down is featured, of which claimed many riders, followed by a small open straight to left-hand corner and a relatively large step-down, and finally, a sprint to the finish line.

Usual suspects were looking quick all weekend, and it was interesting to see how the track would separate riders. All riders were seen to be picking and choosing lines, and quite diverse line choices were seen. Time could be lost or gained in these sections, and these debates filled the pits. As extra lines began to present themselves, and full-runs were being ridden by riders, practice came to a close, and race day started.

Conditions on race day were identical to the previous, which made riding much easier for many. In previous series, riders had been subject to the rapidly changing South Australian weather, and would have to change and adapt their runs to the conditions. Everyone appeared to be super stoked for the racing and numerous riders were punching out runs before racing started. After all the formalities were completed, the transport trailers were loaded, and so were the 4WDa��s, full of excited (and many nervous) riders.

In the Female field, the one and only rider, Laura Kelly, obviously won a�� Yew! In the Elite Womena��s category, Phillipa Rostan (1), blitzed the field with a time of 2:50, closely followed by Molly Payne (2) with a 3:05 and Moira Love (3). In the mena��s categories, the U19a��s field was anyonea��s guess who would take the top step. It was difficult, as usual, to set these few apart in practice and no name was definite for the win. Names such as Matthew Taylor, James Chambers, Curtis Dowdell, Conor Clancy and Bryce Wing littered the field, all of which could be seen putting in 110% to raise their chances of achieving first place. In 1^st place was Conor Clancy (1) with an amazing 2:27.29, just off second was James Chambers (2) with a 2:29.33 and Matthew Taylor (3) with 2:29.39.

Last but not least was the Elite mena��s field. Consisting of past, present and future World Cup racers, National racers and weekend warriors, seeing this field race was truly amazing. So much raw talent has been grown in this state, and ita��s great to see favourites such as Troy Brosnan, Angus Maddern, Craig Yates, Steve Gebert, Ngari Jenkins and Will Rischbieth throwing style for the crowd and putting the pedals down for the win. In fifth place was Cycleworxa��s Ngari Jenkins (5) with a time of 2:22.77, in fourth place was Specializeda��s Angus Maddern (4) with 2:22.47, in third place was AIR DHa��s Steve Gebert (3) with a 2:22.460, in second was Gianta��s Will Rischbieth (2) with 2:22.06 and in first place, with a time that blazed the category by more than 5 seconds was Monster Energy/Specializeda��s Troy Brosnan, with a time of 2:15.74!

The race held at Willunga, was safe to say, one of the most enjoyable that has been held in a while. Everybody was super excited about the weekend, spectators and rider numbers were massive and racing was amazing to watch. A huge thank you to all the organisers, without them there is no opportunity for the riders to race and everyone are very appreciative. The spectators/hecklers were all very lively; a few of them having a bit too much fun, but the races wouldna��t be the way they are without these people! The rest of the South Australian series is something to look out for!

Stay tuned as we will have a part 2 from the weekend with more photos!

Article: Kellen Ewens