Eden is one of those REALLY FUN courses that flows nicely if you keep it smooth but you don’t over cook it as there is generally a high price to pay. Although very short with a winning time of 1:36 by Jonty Neethling it is full of obstacles one after another and little time in between to refocus…

There were some injuries most notably Vince Muir with a broken elbow and Gerard Walsh with torn ankle ligaments but otherwise a good weekend.

 Its interesting to see the new group of young riders coming through with alot of competition in younger age categories. This is being fuelled by the sponsorship programme being offered by Action Cycles for 2011and lots of pit talk about who this is going to get it at the end of the Series.

The results overall are as follows:

1   2  EM  JONTY NEETHLING   01.36.47

2   3  EM  GARY BARNARD   01.38.47

3   5  EM  LUKE DAVIS   01.39.18

4   9  EM  STEFAN GARLICKI   01.39.36

5   51  VM  CHRIS NIXON   01.40.23

6   4  SV  MYLES KELSEY   01.42.39

7   11  JM  DANIEL WALSH   01.43.30

8   16   EM   N HANSEN   01.43.21

9   7   EM  DANE OLSEN   01.43.33

10  14  SV  DOMINIC BRIGHT   01.44.11

11  31  JM  DURAN VAN EEDEN   01.44.50

12  25  SV  PIETER ROSSOUW   01.44.54

13  35  SV  THOMAS ROOD   01.46.02

14  8  EM  JAMES KENNEDY   01.46.32

15  48  SV  CLINT ELLIOTT   01.47.40

16  24  EM  JUSTIN NOVELLA   01.48.15

17  42  YM  ADI VAN DER MERWE   01.48.27

18  41  YM  THEO ERLANGDEN   01.49.11

19  57  SV  DAN FORSYTH   01.50.35

20  40  VM  JULIEN LOUW   01.50.57

21  62  FM  ANDRE VAN ROOYEN   01.51.32

22  10  JM  CHRISTO VENTER01.51.37

23  20  VM  VINCE MUIR   01.52.06

24  33  YM  NICO-BEN KELLERMAN   01.53.18

25  23  SV  DUANE SEARLE   01.54.17

26  67  YM  ROMAN KUMPERS   01.55.36

27  70  SV  BENNET NEL   01.56.11

28  19  EW  RIKA OLIVIER   01.57.07

29  30  YM  MARIUS BOTHA   01.57.51

30  55  FM  NICHOLAS GATES   01.59.05

31  50  FM  LOUBSER CLAASSEN   02.00.01

32  27  FM  ALEC RUST   02.00.30

33  69  FM  ANTOINE VAN HEERDEN   02.01.56

34  38  FM  CRAIG SMITH   02.02.33

35  22  SV  JP HUMAN   02.03.15

36  34  JB  IEUAN UYS   02.04.02

37  75  FM  WAYNE MATTHEWS   02.06.15

38  64  YM  DYLAN GODFREY   02.07.31

39  49  FM  JAMES EATWELL   02.07.34

40  43  VM  TERTIUS CARSTENS   02.08.20

41  39  VM  NICHOLAS CRITICOS   02.09.00

42  29  YM  DANIEL ENGELBRECHT   02.09.11

43  89  FM  GERHARD HUMAN   02.10.13

44  36  JB  NEILL WALKER   02.11.29

45  68  FM  ALEXANDER SEARLE   02.12.34

46  37  FM  JAMES NUTTAL   02.13.35

47  46  SV  DUANE BOSCH   02.14.36

48  74  FM  RICHARD ARGENT   02.16.10

49  78  HT  GLENN WILLEMSE   02.19.10

50  45  FM  CHRISTO VAN EEDEN   02.19.14

51  65  FM  FERDINAND KIDD   02.20.01

52  44  EW  ERNA NEL   02.22.43

53  63  FM  ALEX MANCINI   02.24.29

54  26  SB  FRANCOIS DU TOIT   02.30.16

55  61  HT  JULIEN DE MARIGNY   02.32.04

56  52  SB  JASPER BARRETT   02.32.53

57  28  SB  MATT MUIR   02.35.58

58  88  JM  RYAN WILLIAMS   03.11.08

59  47  FM  WESSEL FICK   03.22.32

60  71  FM  LUKAS STANDER   03.25.43

The last round of the Western Cape Mongoose DH Series is on the 11^th and 12^thSeptember at Taal Monument in Paarl  which is going to be loads of fun with a TAR road for shuttling Saturdays practice is going to be a blast. There is also a reduced entry fee for anybody who has taken part in the first three races, bring a friend along to race at the Taal Monument and you both only have pay half price.

Justin Leov is making some waves in the DH community and this flying kiwi looks set to become a serious contender on the world cup circuit. This is what Trek team management had to say during their last press release…

The final race at the Kokanee Crankworx in Whistler saw Trek World Racing take 2 top fives in the Pro Men’s Canadian Open Downhill yesterday, with Justin Leov (NZL) securing 3rd place on the podium and teammate, Andrew Neethling(RSA), just tenths behind in 5th.

Taking place on the hottest day of the week, conditions on the mountain were tough and saw the course become a serious dust bowl in the on-going dry weather. Already quite technical, the course remained largely unchanged from last year with lots of rocks and roots so the dust made things trickier still, loosening up the track and making it seriously slippery as well as hard for the riders to see.

A nail-bitingly close top 5 saw just 0.63 seconds between 2nd and 5th places, with Gee Atherton (GBR) taking the win posting 3mins 04.14secs, more than 5 seconds clear of 2ndplaced rider, Lewis Buchanan (SCO). Justin finished only 0.04 of a second behind Buchanan, while Andrew finished a slightly frustrating 0.59 seconds off Justin’s time and the podium spot he’d hoped for. Justin said: “It was good today. The course was pretty blown out and dusty and I was a bit nervous at the start gate that maybe I’d wash out on a couple of turns so I didn’t go for anything too flashy. I just focused on riding down the hill to get back on the podium so I’m pretty happy with that.”

Andrew said: “It felt like a really good quali run I reckon, but unfortunately it was a race. I just lacked a bit of pace and we don’t do a quali at this race, and I feel I needed that. I felt good and really calculated but I got 5th and I wanted way more than that. If we had another race run I reckon I’d do better but we didn’t and that’s the format and I got beaten. It’s a good kick for getting focused on another race in two weekends”. Next stop for Andrew and Justin is the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham, NY, (USA) where the boys join the full Trek World Racing team for the 6th andfinal rounds of both the Cross Country and Downhill World Cup series taking place on 28/29 August 2010.

Follow the team on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/trekworldracing

For more information on the team visit: www.trekbikes.com/twr

Results:

1. Gee Atherton (GBR) – 3m 04.14secs

2. Lewis Buchanan (SCO) – 3m 09.16secs

3. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) – 3m 09.20secs

4. Troy Brosnan (AUS) – 3m 09.27secs

5. Andrew Neethling (Trek World Racing) – 3m 09.79secs

The Braamfontuin Spruit is a well know and much enjoyed riding spot in Johannesburg. This video shows some of the awesome jumps some of the local riders built for their fellow riders to enjoy.

20 year old Dennis Dertell from Osmo, Sweden, took a solid 4th place at the European Championships last weekend ahead of many top level World Cup riders, and missing the medals by less than half a second. This up-and-coming rider is making waves and aiming for bigger and better things…

As per 23degrees sport press release: 

The up-and-coming Swede who’s had some quality results in World Cup racing this year including an 18th in qualifying at Leogang, has been in the top 50 at most rounds of the series, and in Hafjell Norway, was very close to upsetting the field. At the intermediate split he was only 0.8sec off eventual winner Robin Wallner’s time, but a mistake in the last rock garden cost him valuable time.

Dennis said: “I’m actually really happy with 4th when I see some of the guys behind me. I got to sit in the hotseat for quite a long time and get my head on Eurosport, which is always a bonus! The mistake in the rock garden is a bit annoying, but many people had trouble there. It’s just good to know I’ve got the speed”.

Former World No.2, Matti Lehikoinen, had a race winning time going until he crashed in the same rock garden.

This weekend sees the Swedish National Championships and Dennis is looking forward to turning the tables on the new European Champion, the more experienced compatriot, Robin Wallner. The following week Dennis heads to Windham (USA) for the World Cup finals and then onto the World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.

For more info on Dennis: http://www.23degrees-sports.com/athlete.php?athlete_id=23

Results:

1.WALLNER Robin SWE 3:53,10

2.BEER Nick SUI 3:55,75

3.PEKOLL Markus AUT 3:56,38

4.DERTELL Dennis SWE (23 Degrees) 3:56,84

5.SUDING Lorenzo ITA 3:57,78

6.CAMELLINI Julien FRA 3:58,27

7.SPAGNOLO Damien FRA 3:58,76

8.LEHIKOINEN Matti FIN 3:59,44

9.PAULHAN Romain FRA 4:00,72

10.PETERSSON Kim SWE 4:01,73

11.ÖLUND Herman SWE 4:03,53

12.GAMBIRASIO Carlo ITA 4:04,20

13.POLC Filip SVK 4:04,26

14.GSPAN Dominik SUI 4:04,32

15.MILIVINTI Marco ITA 4:05,07

16.BERG Toni FIN 4:05,80

17.BEER Marcel SUI 4:06,09 18.FERREIRO Toni ESP 4:07,50

19.VARGAS Gabriel Yeray ESP 4:07,63

20.TETZLAFF Boris AUT 4:07,67

Race organiser and bike master  Chris Nixon passed on the info and details:

The third round is this coming weekend 14 & 15 August in Eden Forest. We will be using the old and I mean very old downhill course which was originally built by Paul Morris.
 
Just because its old does not mean you must leave your respect for it at home as this course has broken many bones and bikes and this includes me.

It will be interesting to see how the times will compare to previous races although there are some changes due to trees falling across the course. I am expecting things to be very close and small mistakes will be difficult to make up on this unforgiving course.

So hope to see you all there on Saturday and Sunday.

Registration:
Saturday 9:30am to 4pm

Practice:

Saturday 10am to 4pm

Sunday 8am to 9:30am

Racing:

Sunday from 10am

Entry fee R250.

Here are the coordinates:

-33.96891, 18.865167

Call me on 084 7777 802 or send email to chris@chrisnixon.co.za for more onfo.

Justin Leov Scores First Podium for Trek World Racing At Crankworx. As per TREK World Racing press release…

Just a week after his gnarly crash at the UCI World Cup in Val di Sole (Italy), Trek World Racing’s Justin Leov (NZL) took second place in the Garbanzo Downhill at Crankworx – considered the longest traditional downhill race in the world at more than 13 minutes. Taking place in the spectacular Whistler Mountains in Canada – a mecca for mountain biking and one of the most awesome venues a downhill rider can hope to find – the Garbanzo Downhill race is the equivalent of 3 World Cup Downhill’s run back-to-back, and a huge test of fitness.

Last year Justin set a new course record for the Garbanzo, at 13m 44secs (which was more than 40 seconds quicker than the old record of Gee Atherton’s). This year, in defending his title, Justin broke his 2009 record by an amazing 15 seconds riding the 12km course in 13 minutes 29 seconds. However Chris Kovarik (AUS), who finished 2nd behind Justin last year, completed the course in an impressive 13 minutes 22 seconds and set the new mark. In third place was Justin’s good friend and fellow New Zealander, Sam Blenkinsop.

Considering that only 7 days earlier, Justin was cleared from hospital after suffering concussion, it makes his podium place an even more remarkable achievement and promises good things to come in the following 7 days left of racing.

Teammate Andrew Neethling (RSA) also had a good run finishing 8th, hot on the back of his first World Cup podium in Italy last week. Andrew also looks set to get some great results here this week.

Justin said: “I’m just really happy with how today went considering last week and not being able to race in Italy. I had a pretty solid run, maybe saved a little energy in the top where I could’ve pushed a bit harder but to be honest I’m just happy with how the run went and to get down and be on the podium”.

Andrew and Justin will remain in Whistler for the duration of Crankworx, which runs until Sunday 15th August.

Follow the team on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/trekworldracing

For more information on the team visit: www.trekbikes.com/twr

Results:

1: Chris Kovarik (AUS) 13m 22.99secs

2: Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) 13m 29.85secs

3: Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) 13m 39.35secs

5: Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA) 13m 47.58secs

6: Gee Atherton (GBR) 13m 53.06secs

8: Andrew Neethling (Trek World Racing) 14m 06.94secs

This video was shot during the practice runs at the last National of the 2010 season at Mankele. The clips were compiled in sequence from the start to the finish in order to give viewers an idea of how the course runs from top to bottom. All footage was shot by myself on an entry level camcorder, so please excuse the quality. Enjoy.

A few GAS boys put in some work on the track the week before, getting some much needed maintenance done after the Nationals left it’s mark on the brand new track. By now the track is semi ridden in and combined with a little more experience on the track the times were significantly faster than those set at the Nationals. 

The much anticipated electronic timing system made it’s very first debut as well. Earlier prototypes have been spotted at previous events, but not to the extent to which it’s full potential was utilised. As soon as the operators got their heads around the first fully functional version during the somewhat cautious qualifying runs, the entire field’s race runs were smoothly finished in 25 minutes. The accuracy of a beam system at the start and finish ensures 100% accuracy to a thousandth of a second and zero human reaction time delay. 

There were a lot of surprises in terms of podium possitions and it is a clear indication that regular and consistant riding pays off and many riders have made significant improvements since the start of the 2010 season. 

The results are as follows: 

Start    Numb  Name                              Class    Qualifiers        Final 

1          7          Brad  Illingworth             Elites   1:45.161          1:39.669 

2          10        David Hogan                  Juniors 1:50.729          1:45.847 

3          34        Laurentius Potgieter        SubVet1:47.890          1:46.143 

4          4          Cornel Claassen             Elites   1:49.934          1:46.642 

5          47        Dustin Rudman               Elites   1:47.797          1:46.814 

6          21        Marius Snyman               Elites   2:20.308          1:47.563 

7          12        Patrick Alexander          Elites   3:06.140          1:48.420 

8          24        Martin Dodson              Sports  3:01.133          1:48.484 

9          1          Vivian Viljoen                Juniors 1:52.383          1:50.145 

10        5          Anthony Brookes          Sports  1:46.564          1:50.433 

11        3          JP du Plessis                 Juniors 2:12.866          1:51.026 

12        20        Marnus Swanepoel        Elites   1:53.710          1:52.133 

13        17        Nolan Couzyn               SubVet1:58.483          1:54.630 

14        8          Des Ellis                        SubVet1:59.981          1:54.816 

15        27        Louis Van Sandwyk      Elites   2:04.661          1:55.238 

16        44        Warren Garbutt            Sports  3:25.844          1:56.221 

17        2          Damion van Tromp       SubVet1:59.247          1:58.873 

18        23        Tyronne Minnaar          Juniors 2:43.084          2:02.258 

19        48        Shuan Portman             Sports  2:01.119          2:02.602 

20        37        Geraldine van Tromp    Sports  2:30.088          2:23.661 

21        13        Tynan Usswald             Juniors 2:35.393          4:01.568 

22        33        Marc Price                   Sports  2:11.945          DNS 

Further updates on the event and the track will be posted as soon as the photos and footage is ready.

]]> http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/gas-downhill-club-race-1/feed/ 0 http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/uci-bmx-worlds-championship-finals/ http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/uci-bmx-worlds-championship-finals/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:41:49 +0000 Lloyd http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/?p=4400