Video and Report: Vittoria ESC Atlantic DH 4 at Plattekill

The Eastern States Cup Atlantic downhill race series returned to venerable Plattekill Mountain in the Catskills of New York this past weekend for the fourth round of the series. After racing the same course for the past two events hosted by Plattekill, race officials mixed things up for this round, creating a new challenging track or racers.

More than 100 downhillers experienced about every condition possible over the weekend with fog, rain and sun all making appearances.

The track, like the last couple races, started atop the triple chair on DaBomb. A high-speed section through a series of jumps and berms, like this hit by Josh Tidman, got the blood flowing right out of the staring gate.

The upper portion was all about speed and flow and was a fun romp through the woods.

Of course, a fun romp at Plattekill still needs to include some spicy spots, like this small rock drop hit here by Jenn LeBlanc.

A freshly cut traverse connected the upper portion of DaBomb to Hardcore.

Hardcore is, in the words of one race organizer, "by far the hardest section of track in the Northeast." Canadian Jonathan Doherty tackles the beast.

Racers spent lots of practice time on Saturday analyzing Hardcore and its multiple line options. This section of track has only been raced twice in the past 13 years, the last time in 2009.

After Hardcore, being hit here by Quinton Johnson, the track took to the Junior Worlds course and the Boulder Drop.

The final big hurdle for racers was the infamous Broken Tooth drop towards the bottom of the course.

Rain, heavy at times, moved into the area on Saturday night. A dense fog greeted racers on Sunday morning and many opted to wait until the fog cleared mid-moring before taking their practice runs.

The track was chock full of wet rocks and slowly drying mud. Many Platty locals consider these conditions ideal for traction on the notoriously loose mountain.

The Pro Gold Lubricants wash station was a popular location on race day.

Times for the men's pro race came in just either side of the three-minute mark. Leading the pack was Dakotah Norton, taking the field by more than four seconds.

For Norton, a relative new-comer to downhill racing, this was his second ESC win at Plattekill in under a month.The Michigan native had high praise for the Plattekill event. "The track was a lot faster than I had originally expected. There were a lot of roots and a pretty demanding rock chute that claimed a lot of riders over the weekend. I stayed up through the rock section and worked on taking the race run one section at a time. I feel fitness played a role on this demanding course." Runner-up Leland O'Connor, who has been consistently excellent on the enduro tour this season, concurred with Norton assessment of the conditions: "I thought it would be slick in a few spots but it wasn't too bad. Plattekill is always good in the wet, you never need to throw on the spikes."

On the women's side, Canadian Kristen Courtney followed Dakotah Norton's lead, winning her second Plattekill race in a month. Courtney was a dominant force, topping the pro field by more than 41 seconds. "I love riding and racing at Plattekill. The race tracks always offer plenty to keep racers on their toes and challenge every facet of their fitness and technical skills. The weather threw in some surprises but the track held up great, I was stoked ro make it down a tricky track clean and take the win." Courtney rides on the AdrenalineRacer team which had a great weekend of results. In addition to Courtney's win, teammates Adam Robbins won the Junior X category and Brandon Cassell won the Cat 1 30-39 race. Other notable results included Kaylen Ballantine's second victory since moving up to the Cat 1 19-29 division this season and John Nicholson's third consecutive victory this season in the Cat 1 40+ division.

The women's pro podium from left: Jenn LeBlanc-4th, Monika Luebke-2nd, Kristen Courtney-1st, Jessica Gilbert-3rd, Amy Temarantz-5th

The men's pro podium from left: Ryan Burney-4th, Leland O'Connor-2nd, Dakotah Norton-1st, George Ryan-3rd, Joseph Crosby-5th

The next ESC Atlantic Series downhill will be on the Windham World Cup track on July 19th. If you can't wait that long, the ESC enduro series resumes this weekend at Attitash and the July 4th weekend at Killington will be full of fireworks with both the ESC Enduro and the New England downhill series tackling the mountain.


RESULTS HERE

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2015 VITTORIA ESC Schedule

Atlantic Downhill
May 3 Duryea Urban Downhill – Reading, PA
May 24 Plattekill Gravity Open – Roxbury, NY
May 31 Mountain Creek UCI ProGRT – Vernon, NJ - USAC State Championship
June 21 Plattekill Mountain – Roxbury, NY - USAC State Championship
July 19 Windham Mountain World Cup Track Test Race – Windham, NY
Aug 9 Windham Race the World– Windham, NY – World Cup Weekend
Sept 13 Blue Mountain – Palmerton, PA- USAC State Championship
Oct 11 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY - New England and Atlantic DH Finals

New England Downhill
June 14 Pats Peak MTB Bike Festival – Henniker, NH
July 5 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT- USAC State Championship
July 12 Jiminy Peak – Hancock, MA
Aug 1 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown #2 - Dover VT
Aug 23 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown #3 – Warren, VT
Aug 30 Attitash Mountain - Bartlett, NH- USAC State Championship
Sept 27 Thunder Mountain– Charlemont, MA- USAC State Championship
Oct 11 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY - New England and Atlantic DH Finals

East Coast Super DH Championships
Oct 18 Mountain Creek – Vernon NJ

Enduro
May 10 Plattekill Mountain – Roxbury, NY - USAC State Championship
June 7 Blue Mountain – Palmerton, PA - USAC State Championship
June 28 Attitash Mountain - Bartlett, NH - USAC State Championship
July 4 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT - USAC State Championship
Aug 2 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown #2 - Dover VT
Aug 22 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown #3 – Warren, VT
Sept 6 Killington Enduro Finals – Killington, VT

Super D
May 30 Mountain Creek Super D – Vernon, NJ - USAC State Championship

Triathlon
May 2 Killington Triathlon – Killington, VT

BOX Components East Coast Showdown Series
July 5 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT- USAC State Championship
Aug 1 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown #2 - Dover VT
Aug 23 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown #3 – Warren, VT