Stories From The Hill - Australian Downhill Championships 2015
Tegan Molloy
Tegan has been racing at a national level since 2009 and up until 2012 most of the races in Australia had only a handful of women competitors. So she packed her bike and travelled to one of the Mecca's of Downhill - Whistler. Tegan competed against the best in the world at Crankworx, at 17 she raced at elite level in the Garbanzo (17th), the Air DH (19th) and The Canadian Open (6th). From then on Tegan raced elite at every race (unless the rules said otherwise). Consistently gaining wins and podiums at every domestic race, starting to race at World Cup level in 2013. Since then she has been one of the fastest junior women on the planet. In 2014 she took both the World Cup overall and the World Championships title in Hafjell. 2015 marks the year Tegan steps up (officially) to the Elite category where she has already taken out the Oceanias Title.
Here's what she had to say about the weekend and the DH scene in Australia:
 | It's pretty cool to be racing alongside some of the best racers in the world. Having the top riders at these races lifts the level of competition and really makes you push. Bright provides one of the best dh tracks in Australia, it's steep, rooty and loose. It's a track quite unique compared to other tracks around. It was crazy dusty, probably the dustiest thing I've ever ridden. It made for a great weekend of racing. The track was lined with people from top to bottom which was pretty cool. The Aussie DH scene is so hot at the moment, there's a lot of talent coming through. It's pretty cool to see the standard of riders being so high. It makes for some very competitive racing. - Tegan Molloy |
Dean Lucas
Dean needs little introduction, he began racing at a national level in 2007, since then he's moved up the ranks to become one of Australia's fastest Downhill competitors. First competing on the World Stage at the 2012 World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne where he placed 59th in Elite (as a junior). In 2013 the UCI began running the Juniors as a separate race at World Cup level, this is where Dean really started to turn heads. His results in 2013 included a 3rd at Fort William, 1st at Val di Sole, 2nd at Mont-Sainte-Anne, 5th at World Champs in Pietermaritzburg and 4th overall for the World Cup series.
Stepping up to Elite in 2014 Dean had an up and down season finishing on a high at Windham where he had a memorable run for 18th place. In 2015 he is building up for the World Cup season well with an impressive 3rd place at last weekends National Championships, not far off Troy Brosnan and Connor Fearon. Here's what he had to say about the weekend:
| I came into Bright pretty confident due to the fact it's kinda my home track and get the chance to practice it in the weeks leading up. The track normally ends up changing a fair bit by the time you actually race and all your normal lines change, I could tell after the first day that the track was gonna get blown out pretty quick. Practice went well all week and I only had one little crash on Friday but besides that everything was going well, I ended up seeding 3rd with a pretty good run besides some small mistakes, bit bummed I was 7 seconds off Troy and Connor but knew I had some time left in the bag. Sunday practice went smoothly and was pretty excited to race, felt good going into the start gate and didn't feel any real pressure and just wanted to have a clean run, I ended up having a sick run and when I can down into the hot seat I was pretty pumped cause I knew there was a lot of fast guys who raced earlier like Mik Hannah and Jack Moir. I Didn't really think my time would hold up as it was slower than Connor and Troy's seeding time. I ended up getting beaten by both of them but closed up the time to 3 seconds off Troy which I felt pretty good about. - Dean Lucas |
What are your thoughts on the Australian DH scene at the moment?
| I'm finding these days that there are nowhere near enough people coming to the races, I think they need to get the word out to the people in the towns and make it more of a thing that people can have fun at and then watch the race and just get more money into the sport, just seems like they are not pushing the sport as much and it seems to be a little dead at the moment. - Dean Lucas |
Max Kreuzer
Dean had pretty much a perfect weekend, the same can't be said for young elite rider, Richard (Max) Kreuzer who ended up in a hospital bed. After spending Thursday and Friday practising the track with Chris Panozzo, Max came into the seeding run on Saturday feeling confident, but it all came to an end on the side of track about halfway down. Here's what he had to say:
| Saturday was here and I was still feeling confident with how I was riding. Few niggles here and there to fix in practice but I knew I could put in a solid qualifier. I was having a really good run nailing all my lines and feeling really good. Then I came into this off camber section where most riders were having trouble and nearly everyone had their own line. As I approached I got sucked into a bomb hole, I attempted to push into it and spring out to a higher line over some roots. As I pushed down my right foot unclipped and as the suspension sprung back it bucked me off. I tried to throw the bike away from me and landed on my stomach sliding down the hill only to be stopped by my head crashing into a tree. Immediately I felt my neck crunch and was fairly winded. As I got my breath back I realised my neck had a lot of pain so I stayed still and thought this might be more serious than a head knock. Luckily one of the marshals was a doctor from the local hospital. He told me not to move, he started testing if I'd damaged my spinal cord asking if I could still move different parts of my body. At this stage I knew this was a very serious injury and just tried to keep positive and keep myself level headed. As time went by the first aid people turned up and immediately put a neck brace on. Numerous spectators helped to carry me out of there on the secured spinal board (a massive thank you to all those who helped out). I waited for the ambulance for what seemed like hours (they had to chainsaw trees down to get the ambulance to the site), when they arrived they strapped me into another bed, gave me pain killers and I was off to the Wangaratta hospital for scans. After the scans I learned I had torn two major ligaments that support my neck (mm away from the spinal cord) and have a prolapsed disc in my neck. Six weeks in a neck brace isn't going to be fun! But, I'm happy I'm still walking. -Max Kreuzer |
Needless to say, we all wish the best for Maxxy and hope to see him back out on the trails soon, rest up mate.
Aiden Varley
Another rider who crashed out of contention on the weekend was Aiden Varley. Aiden is another up and coming rider who was one of the smoothest to watch all weekend. It's his first year out of the junior ranks but he has the results to be confident going into this years Elite World Cup season. Last season he rode to 4th in South Africa and 2nd in Cairns before a crash in Leogang ruled out most of the of the season, he still finished strong with a 7th at World Champs in his last race as a Junior. Some solid results in this years National series and a home track advantage saw Aiden qualify 7th on Saturday. Here's what he had to say about the weekend:
| This season has definitely been the hardest after moving up into elite and racing against world cup winners. It's crazy to think that I am now competing with them all. Going to race the world cups is going to be a big challenge trying to get the results I'm after. It was awesome to have National Championships in my home town. My Dad (Peter) built the course and it meant a lot to him that the riders where loving the track all weekend! It was amazing having the home crowd support there, the Bright community is all about biking and It was great to have everyone there to cheer me on throughout the week. Being in the start gate knowing that I was in a good position after seeding in 7th behind amazing riders. I knew I just had to get down clean and smooth and I would be up there. Coming down there were bigger holes than in practice and the odd rock sitting loosely in the apex of corners, the whole way down you had to be reacting to the course. Going down the steep, dusty, rooty and off camber section was wild. I made it to the lower section of the course and was on a good run, but then my front wheel slid out from underneath me. I got back up with dust all over me and pushed to the finish. Crossing the line was frustrating because I knew that I would have done well. And felt like I let people down. now I'm looking at the bigger picture going into the World Cups fitter and stronger than ever. - Aiden Varley |
What are your thoughts on the Australian DH scene at the moment?
| I think the Aussie downhill is still going strong. This year's Nationals we had the most competitors in a long time. Enduro races are taking a few riders away from downhill but Aussies are still loving Downhill. - Aiden Varley |
Aiden came through in 22nd. Best of luck this year Aiden!!!
Chris Panozzo
Funnily enough, former World Cup Downhill racer, Chris Panozzo has now turned his focus to Enduro racing and has had some fantastic results rekindling his career on the smaller bike. Chris raced downhill at the highest level back in 2004-2007, his best results being 20th at the World Cup in USA in 2005, beating the likes of Kyle Strait, David Vazquez and Dan Atherton. A 31st at the Fort William World Cup in 2005 saw him place between Matt Simmonds and Marc Beaumont. The last time Chris raced a Downhill bike was in March 2007. Almost 8 years ago. Chris began racing again in 2012, but this time on the smaller bike. Racing Enduro over the last three years has taken him to Megavalanche (54th) in 2014 and Round 3 of the EWS in Valloire where he was nestled in the top 60 on the first day before mechanicals sent him back through the field to finish 148th. A 2014 summer trip to Whistler saw Chris snag 22nd at the Crankworx Air DH (on his enduro bike). He is now amongst the top Enduro racers in the country with a 5th place podium at the last Australian Enduro round in Tawoomba just a few weeks ago. The Enduro season is all but wrapped up for Chris so he decided to jump on the big bike and have some fun on the weekend, little did he know he'd become a dark horse for a potential podium result.
| Aprill 2007 was the last time I'd ridden a downhill bike. Coming into National Champs with the level of World Cup riders present, I was just looking forward to having a bit of fun on one of Australia's best DH courses with no expectations. Having built the bike up and pretty much going straight into practice it took a couple of days to start feeling comfortable, but by Saturday I was starting to ride a bit more confidently. With seeding held on Saturday for the DH, the top seeded guys were at the front of the queue, while I was sitting 66th from 80 Elite riders. A big crash (Max Kreuzer) halfway through the field forced a track closure for a long period, further delaying my start time till very late in the day. After a long delay I was happy to get going down the hill but it wasn't long before I was catching the next rider, with the low angled sun lighting up the mega amount of dust hanging in the air it was pretty difficult to see where my front wheel was, let alone the track. I played it easy given the late in the day run, just wanting to get down cleanly, and after passing the rider in front, then another, I was down the bottom. I was in tenth place, 2.5 seconds off a podium result, I was pretty satisfied with how the weekend was playing out. Sunday morning practice went well, hitting all my lines and feeling confident, with a couple of timed runs completed I was heading into my race run with a bit of optimism for what might be possible. I rolled the dice in my race run, with nothing to lose I was going to give it a red hot crack. Everything was going to plan in my run, but coming into a short high line I just got a little unbalanced and ran wide below the bunting, getting stuck and ending my chances. Trying to reverse myself back up the hill, still on the bike with bunting stuck around my bars, all in a rush would have looked pretty funny. I got going again and finished off the run trying to send as much dirt up in the air as possible through each turn. A pretty great weekend all round, no regrets from me, I rolled the dice and went for it, and having not ridden a DH bike in eight years and jumping on and still being competitive I can't complain. - Chris Panozzo |
With your experience in both Downhill and Enduro racing at the highest level, how do you think the gravity scene is going?
| Gravity racing in Australia is suffering from a little identity crisis, with the popularity of gravity enduro really taking off, maybe some riders who would normally just race DH are crossing over, and with a packed calender of mixed events on offer people don't have the time or money to do everything. I think the numbers will return to Downhill in the short term, at least at State Level. The VDHS (Victorian Downhill Series) are great at bringing well run DH events to the masses, whereas at the moment Gravity Enduro operators are stumbling all over each other to offer an event or series that could emerge as a leader in the next few years. Poorly run commercial events haven't helped the cause, but I think the industry is only set to grow, and once a clearer calender emerges for enduro, both at State and National level, it will benefit both disciplines and hopefully drive numbers up across the board. - Chris Panozzo |
Tegan, Dean, Max, Aiden and Chris would like to thank their sponsors and everyone who came out to the race, I'd like to thank them for writing up some great material and riding rad...
The race itself attracted the most racers we've seen in many years. Many people stepping up a class to race against World Cup legends Troy Brosnan, Chris Kovarik, Mik and Tracey Hannah, Connor Fearon, Claire Buchar, the list goes on... A few highlights for me being trackside all weekend are below, hope you've enjoyed this unique write up of the National Downhill Championships 2015. See you all out on the trails..
Liam Panozzo had a pretty mixed weekend, a massive OTB in qualifying on Saturday saw him limping around the pits. He crossed the line in 6th, 1.5 seconds off the podium. After the race he said he gave it everything but just couldn't push that extra 10% to get up there.
Ah yes, Chris Kovarik is so rad to watch from the side of track that I only got this shot of him for the whole weekend. Even after this shot I watched with a big grin on my face as he manualled out of the next corner, was off the brakes for a little traverse only to end up hugging a tree at the end of it. Classic Kovarik. 10th on the day.
You can find some more pics here
MENTIONS: @LittleTrace13 @mrousu @Tegs
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Member since Aug 2, 2013
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5 Comments
- 3 0
dr-fishy-noooo
(Mar 22, 2015 at 1:38)
one hell of a read but its worth it! great photos. I get a little jaded by the DH scene in Australia when compared to other spots in the world, but after reading articles like this - I just want to ride! great stuff!
- 1 0
mrousu
(Mar 23, 2015 at 12:36)
Awesome, cheers mate. Took a little longer to put this one together.
- 2 0
Yippee-Ki-YayMF
(Mar 24, 2015 at 18:05)
Great stuff Matty. That's a hard hitting subject matter, but one that needed to be tackled. I liked Chris's comments, I think they are pretty accurate. Keep up the good work mate.
- 2 0
scottlikesbeer
(Mar 22, 2015 at 18:50)
Another cool article Matt! Great pics and good insight into the Oz scene... Yeeeooowww!!!
- 2 0
oriion
(Mar 24, 2015 at 20:09)
Claire is such an awesome ambassador for womens downhill and the sport in general. respect.
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