South Australia – State Championships – Fox Creek

downhill247com 18 SA State Champs12 L — The South Australian State were the perfect event to finish off a fantastic year of racing in South Australia. Luke Reynolds on his way to 12th place.

The last event on the South Australian racing calendar was the 2012 State Championships. The last few ChampionshipsA�have been held at Eagle Mountain Bike Park but this year the race was held at Fox Creek, another local favourite. The track received a few touch ups and was riding well. A new double or wall ride, depending on which option you chose, was waiting for riders just after the triple near the top of the course. Whilst Insideline has been holding races here for years we noticed more and more riders jumping and doubling sections of the track that previously riders were riding over. Evidence of progression in the field no doubt.

downhill247com Sun SA State Champs12 — Conditions were fine on both days, a sharp contrast to the Fox State Series round earlier in the year!

The weather had varied in the weeks leading up to the race but that didn’t deter riders from practicing the track weekends prior, some riders clocking up 20 runs in a day! The weather turned on its best both days with the sun out but not too hot. Favourite for the Elite win was always going to be Connor Fearon, after recently returning from his World Cup campaign peoples eyes were firmly fixed on him. However, to write it off as a foregone conclusion would be crazy, names like Maddern, Marsh, Jenkins, Yates, Blake, Ryan, etc were all capable of pulling out a run to take the crown.

downhill247com Fearon SA State Champs12 3 — Riding on his “Fox” bike, a single crown, trail style dual suspension bike, Connor Fearon was the man to beat, you don’t end up number 34 in the World Cup overall for no reason! The new number 34 looking good next to the new downhill247.com stickers if we don’t say so ourselves!

downhill247com ACR SA State Champs12 — Team ACR are always a force at South Australian races and were looking for a good finish to the local season.

downhill247com Blake SA State Champs12 — Henry Blake is another rider capable of big results, this may have been the last South Australian race but Henry and his Clint White Racing team mates have a busy schedule of VicDH and National races ahead of them.

downhill247com State Champs 12 Jonesy — In fact, with many of the locals returning from the Northern Hemisphere in time for summer it was hard to know just how the race was going to pan out. Photo: Ian Jones

Practice saw plenty of flat tyres as rocks and roots became more exposed, as usual some riders also required attention after coming into contact with said rocks and roots.

downhill247com Gameover SA State Champs12 — Game over! For this front wheel at least, luckily this happened in practice.

downhill247com State Champs 12 Gibson — From the practice session in the morning, until the end of racing, spectators lined the track, just like the riders they were making the most of the conditions. Photo: Matt Gibson

In between the morning practice session and the start of racing was a fancy dress competition and a thank you to all the volunteers that have helped out over the course of the year. After having travelled to countless World Championships, World Cups, Nationals, etc we can safely say, that here in Australia, the vibe and atmosphere at local races is as good as any of these other events!

downhill247com State Champs Rat — Ah what a sight! The fancy dress competition took it to the next level, this rider even had custom pedals to help keep his big paws (?!) on the pedals!

Moving on and it was race time. With 175 entrants racing there was close racing across all the categories butA�as expected seeding for both Under 19’s and EliteA�was tight meaning it was going to be tight come finals.

downhill247com raceprep SA State Champs12 — Chill out or get revved up! Everyone has a different pre race routine.

The Under 19’s kicked off the finals and it was a two horse race between Matt taylor and James Chambers for the win. In the end Matt prevailed by just over 1.5 seconds.

downhill247com Taylor SA State Champs12 — Matt Taylor. 2012 South Australian State Champion after looking fast all weekend. Photo: Matt Gibson

Under 19

1. Matthew Taylor 2.11.77

2. James Chambers 2.13.37 + 1.60

3. Bryce Wing 2.20.44 + 8.67

4. Conor Clancy 2.21.00 + 9.23

5. Sam Keogh 2.25.13 + 13.36

Elite Women saw Jolene Knight continue her blistering form by comprehensively taking the win ahead of Molly Payne. Moving onto the Elite Men and the commentators predicted the winning time would be in the region of 2.10, we would soon find out if they were right!

downhill247com Rim SA State Champs12 — Flat! Flat tyres and crashes took out their fair share of competitors during racing.

Young Cam Ryan rounded out the top 5 with a solid result, series winner Steve Marsh was in 4th, Steve Gebert 3rd and the final two riders on the track took the top 2 positions. After being on the same second in seeding as Angus Madern,A�it was Connor Fearon who was down next, the time to beat and get onto the hot seat held by Steve Gebert was 2.10.78, sure enough Connor came down with a blistering 2.07.97, the commentators couldn’t believe it and the rest of the crowd was pretty impressed. One rider left, Angus Maddern, he came bursting out of the trees and charged to the line, his time; 2.09.07 meant Connor was crowned 2012 State Champ.

downhill247com Maddern SA State Champs12 — A successful return from injury for Angus Maddern who pushed Connor all the way for a deserving second place.

downhill247com Fearon SA State Champs12 2 — 2012 South Australian Elite Mens Champion Connor Fearon.

downhill247com Fearon SA State Champs12 4 — Connor and everyone was happy, it was good to see!

Elite Women:

1. Jolene Knight 2.41.40

2. Molly Payne 2.57.21 + 15.81

3. Julie Harris 3.27.68 + 46.28

4. Moira Love 3.30.85 + 49.45

5. Elsbeth Falster 5.05.71 + 2.24.31

Elite Men

1. Connor Fearon 2.07.97

2. Angus Maddern 2.09.07 + 1.10

3. Steve Gebert 2.10.78 + 2.81

4. Steve Marsh 2.10.98 + 3.01

5. Cam Ryan 2.13.11 + 5.14

That wraps up another successful season, bring on 2013!

October 16, 2012

New South Wales – State Championships – Ourimbah

Over 150 riders hit Ourimbah State forest over the weekend for the N.S.W State Champs, Central Coast Ourimbah MTB Club had the 2.5km track in good condition and with Mother Nature playing along, the conditions came together for a good weekend of racing! The track had a large pedal in the middle but plenty of cool corners and jumps made up for it. There were a lot of riders out on new bikes and with new teams, a kind of preview for the upcoming National/Vic Series! Continue reading “New South Wales – State Championships – Ourimbah” →

October 9, 2012

Downhill247.com goes racing!

We love downhill 24 hours a day 7 days a week here at downhill247.com!A�We are happy to say we have been involved with the Trak Cycles race team this year, furthermore, one of the team riders, Steve Marsh, has taken out the South Australian state series in Elite Men! Congratulations Steve, this was Steve’s first full year back racing after not being able to race the past few series. The State Championships are still to come but look out for the team there and at other events across the country!

September 24, 2012

Inside Info: Connor Fearon – Hafjell

downhill247com Hafjell D2 Fearon1 — Connor Fearon was having fun on some of the big jumps in Norway, the added style was a bonus for everyone watching!

We finish our wrap up of the 2012 World Cup series with Connor Fearon’s Inside Info from Hafjell, Norway. This is what he had to say;

Norway was the final round for the season and I was hoping to finish it off on a high note. The team got to Hafjell a few days prior to the race. Turns out there nothing to do there when ita��s freezing cold and raining. Despite being labelled a�?Europea��s #1 bike parka�? it turned out to be below average and we couldna��t ride the race track until official practice. The exchange rate there is through the roof as well it felt like I spent more coin in the last week in Norway than the other 4 months of the tripa��

So the start of the week wasna��t all that exciting I was hoping I would cheer up after walking the race track on day 1. The track has a few different sections. Some jumps and corners in the open sections I really liked. Once the track weaved into the wooded sections it became my nemesis, it got pretty slow, technical and awkward. Definitely far from my preferred type of course.

downhill247com WC7 D4 Fearon1 — Connor hitting the main rock garden (or jungle as it was being referred to!) on the course, not sure if that is optimum foot/pedal position this time round!

During practice I tried my hardest to pick lines that would open up the track a little bit even if it meant going over rocks and taking wider corners. The coolest obstacle on the track was the massive natural gap halfway down the track. I dona��t think the course builders meant for this to be jumped but it happened anyway. I hit the gap in practice and race run for the fans even though I cased it every time and might have been slower it was still the most fun I had on the track!

My race run was pretty solid until the last sections of the track where the wind picked up a lot and it felt like I was going backwards. I got blown badly by the wind on the last jump and almost crashed, doing this I stomped the ground pretty hard with my leg and hurt my knee which stopped me from pedalling to the finish. I got 38^th position in the end which was disappointing because I moved back in the overall (Although beating Peaty still who had a problem in his run).

So my first full world cup series is done and dusted and Ia��m just about ready to head home now! Ia��ve learnt a lot in this season that will help me improve myself for the next world cup season. For now ita��s time to go back to Australia just in time for summer, have a good off season and come out swinging next year!

So Connor’s last race of the season might not have quite gone to plan but he still finished up 34th in the overall, combined with his 3rd place at World Championships, that’s a very impressive season! What will happen next year, downhill247.com will keep you in the loop!

September 20, 2012

ACT/NSW State Series – Race 4 – Stromlo

Race 4 of the NSW/ACT State Series went off over the weekend at Mount Stromlo, this was of course home to the 2009 World Championships. A stacked field including juniors who have recently returned from the World Championships made up the field.A�Check out this exclusive edit from Ty Bowmaker (www.facebook.com/captyvatemedia) of the weekend.

Elite Men:

1. Graeme Mudd

2. Joe Vejvoda

3. Ben Cory

4. Tim Eaton

5. Ricky Boyer

Under 19 Male:

1. Andrew Crimmins

2. Brent Smith

3. Aiden Varley

4. Angus McCarthy

5.A�Joel Willis

September 18, 2012

World Cup 7 – Round Up – Hajfell

downhill247comthibautru — Wild times here in Norway, as Thibaut Ruffian proves, drifting his way around one of the grassy turns on the track!

The race here inA�Norway ran to a different scheduleA�compared to the six previous World Cups.A�With it being it the last race of the season apparently the decision was made to hold the finals on Saturday allowing spectators to party on Saturday. The flip side of this is that crowd numbers were possibly a little less as the locals had to work on Friday!

Elite Men:

1. Steve Smith 3.31.76

2. George Brannigan 3.32.16 + 0.40

3. Greg Minnaar 3.33.90A�+ 2.13

4. Gee Atherton 3.34.05 + 2.29

5. Nick Beer 3.34.90 + 3.13

…

7. Sam Hill 3.36.51 + 4.75

11. Mic Hannah 3.37.41 + 5.64

20. Bryn Atkinson 3.39.06 + 7.30

38. Connor Fearon 3.43.12 + 11.36

47. Mitch Delfs 3.46.50 + 14.73