Welcome to Napier, Hawkes Bay. Home of the Bulldog (Brook MacDonald) and the breeding ground of George Brannigan, Napier must have something in the water because it has a rich history of producing fast racers!
On the back of last weekend's success, we traveled to Napier for round two of the new format New Zealand National Downhill Series. Napier has always been a rider favourite due to the courses mix of terrain, steep sections, and abundance of large jumps. All of which have been hand-built by a small group of local riders/racers and club members. Last weekend saw young gun, Keegan Wright, challenging Wyn Masters for the top step as well as Brook Macdonald. With Wyn Masters absent for round two this weekend and this being Brook's home turf, it was to be an interesting day to see how it would play out on the hills of the PanPac Eskdale Forest. You would be silly to not expect Brook to trump all others.
In previous years, Napier has always been the hottest race on the circuit, with temperatures reaching upwards of 30 degrees celsius (90 F) for race runs. This weekend started off a little different, with temperatures as low as four degrees on the drive in and heavy cloud cover, with a small weather front looming. A month of dry weather beforehand, though, meant that trail conditions were as dry as it gets, and an extreme fire risk almost canceled the racing before it even got going.
Connor fell hard and quick onto a rock. Sadly, dislocating his shoulder and fracturing his hand.
| I was enjoying the track and I was having heaps of fun in practice, then I had a big digger where I hit my right hand on a tree on an off-camber section, then landing on a rock with my left shoulder, dislocating it, as well as a hand fracture. Guttered to say I can't race any more of the North Island Nationals, but I will still try make it down south. - Connor Hamilton |
| Was a sweet day out on the big bike, had heaps of fun playing around in the dust! Stoked to see how many riders turned up for the 2nd round. All 'round sick day out riding bikes - Keegan Wright |
| I had good practice runs all morning. The track was super dusty with more roots and holes developing throughout the day. I had a clean seeding run, just taking it easy and saving my energy. Sadly, my race run didn't go to plan, with a few mistakes in the middle section. But, I'm looking forward to another weekend of racing at Dome next weekend. - Shania Rawson |
| Track conditions were super dry, but the track was running fast and loose. With a new line added, it made for some good brown pow. Always good racing in your hometown, and had a good day out at a well organised event - Brook MacDonald |
Elite Men
1st - Keegan Wright
2nd - Brook MacDonald
3rd - Peter Bethell
4th - Louis Hamilton
5th - Cole Lucas
Elite Women
1st - Sarah Atkin
2nd - Shania Rawson
3rd - Sarah Fox
4th - Ashley Bond
Full results
here.
MENTIONS: @cameronmackenzie
One thing that I noticed is the amount of people who have their hands quite far in from the ends of the bars, personal preference obviously, but I'd of thought it would make sense to trim them down. Unless people hold the bar in different places depending on what they are doing?
(Nice pics; It is neat seeing non-UCI events covered. )
"Ok".
Full Results here: nzdownhill.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/roundtwodhconz269.pdf