Team Chain Reaction PayPal - BDS Round One 2015

The first round of the British Downhill Series took place over the weekend at Ae Forest, Scotland, where Joe Smith, Mike Jones and Elliott Heap all won a spot on the podium.

Team Manager Nigel Page was there to bring us this report:

The track at Ae is pretty tricky and the weather leading up to the race made for very slick conditions. A pinned top section of the track had a few awkward sections including the big stump gap jump which the top riders had to take and a big rock garden. The track then wound its way down fast into the steep final wooded section with a few off cambers and switchback turns, before a hard pedal towards the huge final drop into the finish field and a hard sprint to the finish line.

Elliott Takes Fourth


This was the first race for new team member Elliott Heap, starting his first full year racing downhill and moving up into the very competitive junior category. I think Elliott was feeling a bit of pressure riding for a factory team and not really knowing what to expect in the junior category which included some of the fastest juniors in the world. Seeding went pretty amazing for the young lad from Wigan, posting the fastest time in his category meaning he would start last in juniors. Some of the top juniors posted some really fast times in the finals and it was all eyes on Elliott to see what he could do. As he came into the final steep wooded section he looked super fast and smooth but was a little down at the first split time and as he sprinted past us to the final big field drop I noticed his left knee pad was on his ankle. Elliott crossed the line in fourth for a podium position which was an amazing result for his first junior national race and even more impressive when we learned he had overcooked the first steep rocky left hander at the top of the track and had a crash!

Well done Elliott, it’s great to have you on board the team.

The junior podium.

The Elite Field


The elite field was stacked with many of the top riders in the world present to kick off the British season before the first World Cup in France this weekend. Mike Jones was just back from a winter in Australia and Joe Smith looking to start the 2015 season as good as he finished 2014, where he took his first career British elite victory. Sam Hill wasn't racing as he prepares to travel to France for the first World Cup.

Both Mike and Joe were super fast and smooth in practice and seeded well in the top ten to show they were on pace.

Finals came and the track was still slick up top but pretty dry down at the bottom but hard going on the pedalling sections. Joe Smith came down with a storming run and into the hot seat with a time that was good enough for a fourth place podium spot in the end. Then it was Mike Jones who was able to knock a couple of seconds off with a blisteringly fast run. Even the current World Cup Champion, Josh Bryceland, couldn’t beat Mike’s time and then current World Champion, Gee Atherton was 1.2 seconds down on Mike’s time at the split time. Gee managed to power through the pedalling section at the bottom visibly stronger than Mike and clawed the time back just pipping Mike for the first position. What an amazing start to the season for the team. It shows all the riders have worked hard over the winter and it looks like we are set for another amazing season.

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