Mondraker Australia at Australian National Downhill Round One - Video by MattStaggs

Mondraker Australia - National DH Rd 1 Mt Taylor

After an eight month off season - the opening round of the 2015/16 Australian National Downhill Series has arrived. This year we travel to Mt Taylor in the East Gippsland area of Victoria. Coming into the event, there was a late amount of speculation regarding which bike to ride as the track was said to be relatively 'small bike' favourable. The trail has been sculpted from the mountainside over the years by a dedicated bunch of trail builders. A few years ago, DirtArt was pulled in to give the trail a revamp to be sustainable for the use that occurred after the first Victorian State Round. Where Bright closed out the 2014/15 National Series with a rough and technically demanding track, Mt Taylor is the opposite.

Mondraker Australia team leading the shuttle line. Of all the teams on the circuit, MA are more of a family than anything else; a tight-knit bunch of riders looking out for each other, and often getting great results.

Track walk revealed a track filled with pedalling, along with a few unusual features - set to cause trouble come race day. Riders wouldn't know how it ride until Friday afternoon. Once practice started at 12, riders got a maximum of two runs in the given practice session - the bus company failed to show up with seven of the nine expected buses. With an hour long turn around and only two buses, it was a long wait at the bottom for the pick up. First runs showed the track to be downhill bike dominant.

Mondraker Australia at Australian National Downhill Round one

The boys hanging around, waiting for the shuttle.

After two sun baked days of practice, finals had arrived. The track was beaten. Rocks were loose and missing. Holes were everywhere and roost was aplenty. Getting two runs in the morning, riders were set for the exhaustion. In finals, some riders had a good day, and others didn't.

Kellie Weinert has such a confident riding style, and is seemingly always faster than her last race. Her involvement with the Mondraker team has been a growth spurt for her. The 2015/16 season will be an interesting one for the Elite Women's field!

Results:

U17 Women

1st - Ellie Smith (flat rear tire from the top third)

U17 Men

1st - Matthew Dinham

U19 Men

21st - Lleytons Lothian
10th - Duke Millington
3rd - Josh Clark

Elite Women

4th - Kellie Weinert
1st - Sarah Booth

Elite Men

37th - Charlie Coquillard
9th - Jake Newell

Well that wraps up our weekend and now we are onto Thredbo for the third annual Cannonball Festival. Following that is National Round two in Stromlo, Canberra the weekend after. Thanks to Jaime Black for the photos - check out his website for more.

MENTIONS: @MattStaggs / @foxracingshox

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