DMR Dirtwars Round 4: NASS at Holdshott Trails - Video and Report

As you may have heard, when we were at NASS festival, the Great British summer didn't exactly play ball, supplying us with near Gail force winds rather than calm summer evenings. With the riders safety being the main priority, the decision was made to cancel the competition and hold it at a later date and different venue.

That later date came this weekend (Sunday 4th September) with a tour favourite, Holdshott Trails chosen as the venue. The weather tried to interrupt the proceedings once again, with a few showers leading up to the event, but luckily Holdshott Trails can take on a fair amount of water before they become unrideable. At the last round held here, the open class competed on the 'comp line' dirt jumps and the pro class on the newly built 'slope line', this time, the organisers handed the decision to the riders with both categories unanimously voting to compete on the 'slope line'. With all the riders signed up and the course decided, it was time to pad up and get the competition underway:

Matt Scott and Tom Reynolds getting warmed up

Ben Nolan bar-spinning up the whale tale

Jack Cardy Trucking over the final jump

Once the open riders had got used to the course it was time for them to enter into qualifications and give the crowd an idea of who's managed to get their tricks dialled on these new features.

Callum Sherwood sending a decade over the final jump

Darren Eastall with what's starting to become a trademark inward 360

After the riders had had their 3 runs, it was down to the judges to tally up the scores and see who had made it into the main event. While that was happening, it was the pros turn to take to the course. Due to international duties and performance shows, the rider count was once again below 10, which meant that qualifications would turn into seeding runs and all riders making it into the main event.

Some riders took this as a chance to relax and stretch out a little more - Matt Scott - Superman

While others took it as a chance to piece together their runs and add in a few of their more difficult tricks - Ryan Nangle - 3-down whip up the whale tale

Unfortunately during the open category's qualifications we had a couple of riders pull out due to injuries to bikes and riders (all the best to Zac Rainbow who went down hard on a front flip attempt with a suspect broken wrist) which meant that all of the remaining riders were allowed to battle it out in the finals.

Cameron Crozier was looking strong throughout the day, throwing double whips and double trucks with ease

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be Tim Peckham's day, bailing out of a backflip down the whale tail left his bars slightly unrideable.

Harry Cambell was once again the man to beat, being the only rider in open to 3 off of both the flat drop and the whale tale, here he is chucking a huge f-bomb over the last.

Open Podium

Winning runs:
1st: Harry Cambell : 360 Drop, 1-foot x-up, 1-foot can long and low, No-foot can boner log, Backflip up, 360 down whale tail, Tuck no-hand front-flip
2nd: Cameron Crozier : Tuck no-hand the hip, double truck boner log, Bar-spin up, Tuck down whale tail, double whip
3rd: Ben Nolan : X-up Drop, Table, oppo X-up long and low, Tuck no-hand boner-log, Bar-spin up, Toboggan down whale tail, 360 X-up to X-down.

#Shottcrew on hand to do a quick bit of course maintenance due to a heavy case in practice,

With all that had gone on through the practice runs, the pro category was shaping up to be an exciting final.

Freddy Pulman laid down an insane run during the seeding runs that would have easily put him in contention of the top spot of the podium, unfortunately, he was unable to repeat it in finals, missing out on a podium position.

Tom Reynolds flipping off the whale tail

Privateer rider Jack Ambler was able to hold his own in the pro category, throwing a big 360 X-up off the boner log.

Holdshott Trails local Ryan Nangle had shown some promise of great things in practice and seedings, unfortunately, he wasn't able to land his first two runs, so kept it a bit safer to ensure that he put down a score.

Alex Cahill had just returned from a trip out to Woodward, and it showed in his riding today, consistently linking up banger tricks throughout his run and deservedly taking the top spot.

Pro Podium

Winning Runs:
1st: Alex Cahill : 360 Drop, Down-whip, Bar-spin, Truck boner log, Tail-whip up, 360 down whale tail, Decade.
2nd: Ryan Nangle : 360 Drop, Tail-whip, 1-foot table, 360 boner log, Tuck no-hand up, 360 down whale tail, Back-flip Tail-whip.
3rd: Jack Ambler : 360 Drop, Tuck no-hand, Bar-spin, Truck boner log, Oppo bar-spin up, 360 down whale tail, Back-flip Tail-whip.

Dirtwars would like to say a massive thank you to the Mandry family for once again allowing us to hold another round on their farm and to the #shottcrew for all the hours they spend building and maintaining the trails.

Also thanks to the organisers and the Dirtwars crew for all their hard work setting up and packing down over the weekend. @DirtWarsUK

Video: @rnangle and Will Dobbin
Pictures and words: @cagreenwood