Chris Kovarik is always a threat and seeded in seventh, expect him to better this come finals. Photo: Ronnie Grammatica
Riders are experiencing warm conditions for the second round of the Australian National Series, currently beingA�held at Thredbo. After a few wet races there recently this is nothing to complain about though. Seeding results are as follows;
Under 19 Male
1. Thomas Crimmins 5.34.20
2. Dean Lucas 5.37.40 + 3.20
3. Luke Ellison 5.38.26 + 4.06
4. Brent Smith 5.39.26 + 5.06
5. Aiden Varley 5.41.83 + 7.63
Under 19 Female
1. Tegan Molloy 6.18.58
2. Danielle Beecroft 6.28.68 + 8.10
3. Kellie Weinert 6.40.79 + 22.21
Elite Female
1. Caroline Buchannan 6.15.54
2. Claire Buchar 6.17.16 + 1.62
3. Lisa Mathison 6.21.02 + 5.48
4. Genevieve McKew 6.43.68 + 28.14
5. Madelline Taylor 6.51.42 + 35.88
Elite Male
1. Sam Hill 5.22.44
2. Connor Fearon 5.28.09 + 5.65
3. Jack Moir 5.29.60 + 7.16
4. Joey Vejvoda 5.31.43 + 8.99
5. David McMillan 5.33.85 + 11.41
Looking at the results in Elite Men it is interesting to note that four out of five are riders who have just stepped up from the junior ranks!
Tegan Molloy was the fastest Junior Female but we expect a close race in finals. Photo: Ronnie Grammatica
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…
This image pretty much sums up practice, it was wet, really wet!
If you didn’t know, New South Wales has been experiencing some unseasonal weather and of course there is aA�downhill race on! In total contrast to the sweltering heat of last weekend’s National Championships’ at Eagle Mountain Bike Park, this weekend looks like it will be wet, wet and wet!
Three from three! Troy Brosnan has kept his momentum from last year's World Cup and Champioships' with the Australian National Series. Photo: Sean Anderson.
Mount Stromlo is one of Australia’s most well known tracks, both here and internationally. It played host toA�a World Cup inA�2008, won by Greg Minnaar and the World Championships’ in 2009 won by Steve Peat. Not to mention numerous other National Series races and the National Championships’. Widely regarded as a physically intensive track, Minnaar and Peats’ win seemed to prove this theory. If there was going to be a race this year that would test Troy Brosnan’s dominance in Elite Men, Mount Stromlo would be it. Favourite in Under 19 Men must have been a rider such as Joey Vejvoda or Dean Lucas, riders who both suit the pedally track.
