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Subaru North Island Downhill Cup |
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Top riders & Hot weather in Hawkes Bay
Hot and dry conditions welcomed riders and spectators to the first round of the new Subaru North Island Downhill Cup and the 7th annual Eastern Express MTB Challenge at Eskdale MTB Park in the Hawkes Bay over the weekend.
The Hawkes Bay Mountain Bike Club hosted weekend of mountain biking action held at the purpose built mountain bike park was a great success for both events.
A high quality field of 156 downhill competitors including plenty of local young talent enjoyed the conditions, the new course and the relaxed atmosphere just north of Napier.
Only 8/1000ths of a second separated 1st and 2nd in the elite mens feature event where Sam Blenkinsop of Wanganui narrowly edged out Justin Leov (Christchurch) for the win on the 1.5km track in 2 minutes 33.837 seconds. Wyn Masters 2.38.38, Glenn Hayden 2.38.81 and Mike Davis 2.39.39 made up the top 5 elite men.
Amy Laird of Christchurch won the elite womens race in 3.21.06.
Local Hawkes Bay riders featured in a few age group categories with Brook Macdonald (Napier) 2.38.66 winning the U19 grade ahead of 2nd place Aari Barrett (Havelock North) by over 3 seconds. Vaughan Woolhouse (Napier) cleaned up the U17 grade with a time of 2.41.90 over 5 seconds ahead of George Brannigan (Hastings) back in 2nd place. The hardtail category was won by Sam Parsons (Napier) 3.08.68 & Jay Barrett (Havelock North) finished 2nd in the U15 grade with 3.06.10
The next round of the 3 round North Island Downhill Cup series will be held at Rotorua on 2-3 February, with the final at Auckland on 16-17 February.
On Sunday, 155 cross-country riders rode to exhaustion around either the 40km Enduro, 20km Classic, or 10km Challenge courses amongst the many purpose built mountain bike trails found at the privately owned mountain bike park just north of Napier.
This feild was also of very high quality, including many top elite and age group competitors along with recreational riders from as far south as Wellington to as far north as Auckland mixed in with plenty of Hawkes Bay locals.
The main event was a repeat result to the 2006 event with former national champion Stuart Houltham (Palmerston North) crossing the line over 4 minutes ahead of another former national champion Mike Northcott (Taupo) in 2 hours 6 minutes 34 seconds after completing the 40km Enduro, which was 2 laps of the 20km Classic course. Wellington rider Gavin McCarthy finished 3rd in 2.13:20, Palmerston North elite rider Mark 'cabin' Leishman in 4th (2.14:24) and with Hawkes Bay riders Andrew Bott (2.15:15) and Vaughn Phillipson (2.23:07) finishing in 5th & 6th places.
Rotorua elite rider Nina Pederson lead the Open women's grade of the 40km Enduro from start to finish crossing the line in 2.42:15 nearly 9 minutes ahead of Taupo elite rider Michelle Ballamy in 2nd.
Thanks to the many sponsors & supporters plenty of spot prizes, medals and trophies were awarded to the Eastern Express competitors and the winners of the Mid-North Island MTB Champs (M-NIC) series, as this event was also the final of the 4 round series held at Taupo, Tokoroa, Rotorua and Napier.
Full Downhill Results - www.hawkesbaymtb.co.nz/DOWNLOADS/5830.pdf
Full Cross-country Results - www.hawkesbaymtb.co.nz/DOWNLOADS/5831.pdf
Full M-NIC series Results - http://admin.eventdirector.net/resources/HBMTB/SITES/168/DOWNLOADS/5433.pdf
More info at www.hawkesbaymtb.co.nz and www.bikenz.org.nz/mtbcups
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