2015 KZNMTB Regional Championships at Cascades Bike Mountain Bike Park

On the 6th and 7th June Enduro and DH riders descended upon Cascades Mountain Bike Park in Pietermaritzburg for the 2015 KZNMTB Regional Championships presented by NMI-DSM. The event brings to a close a highly successful 2015 race season, with a 3 round series and 1 championship event hosted at bike parks around the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The venue is well known to most riders having hosted 4 World Cups and 1 World Championship, and again did not disappoint, with steep and technical, as well as physically demanding trails awaiting the riders. Mid-winter in South Africa meant crisp cold mornings, but no rain for weeks before the event leaving the tracks dry and dusty ready to powder up during racing.

ENDURO - Saturday 6th June

The KZNMTB Enduro Championships were held over 4 stages utilising new trails built by World Championship XCO course designer Nick Floros. Stages 1 and 2 traversed a steep winding hillside littered with roots and rocks in the natural bush. Several sections remained slick due to the lack of sunlight leading to variable grip throughout the stages. Tiaan Odendaal set the early pace on SP1 putting 11 seconds into 2nd place Hilton Frost (Pyga). Odendaal continued the onslaught on SP2, relishing the steep technical trails and increasing his lead to half a minute. This continued on Stages 3 and 4 with Odendaal continuing to put time into the rest of field, eventually making it a clean sweep of stage wins to take the overall title in 15:59.

Tiaan Odendaal sends the rock garden at the end of SP3 (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Hylton Frost in the rocks on SP3 (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

With a low haze of dust hanging in the forests above Cascades bike park, Frost was secure in 2nd, piloting his prototype 160mm Pyga Enduro bike through the stages to 2nd overall and 2nd in each stage. The monotony continued in bronze as Craig Paul (Greg Minnaar Cycles) took 3rd position in each stage and 3rd overall, earning him a category win in the Sub Veteran Men's class. Behind the top three however a tussle was developing for the 4th and 5th spots on the podium. Jedson Tooms (ROAG) dropped his chain on SP1 relegating him to 11th, Shane Martin took 4th on SP1 3 seconds adrift of Paul in 3rd, with Youth rider Sharjah Jonsson (Greg Minnaar Cycles) in 5th. But the Jedi (Tooms) pulled back on SP2 and SP3 to take back 4th position which he managed to hold to the end. Shane Martin rounded out the top 5 at the end of the day.

In the ladies category, Kim Westbrook continued where she left off from the last round of the series at Giba Gorge last month, storming into a commanding 22 second lead on SP1. Kathryn Fourie took second with Elja van Urk sitting in 3rd another 12 seconds adrift. Westbrook continued the charge on SP2 putting more time into the field while Kathryn Fourie stayed in 2nd although losing a lot of time on the leader. Fourie fought back on SP3 to take her only stage win of the event, but it was Westbrook who walked away with a well deserved Championship title with a time of 21:16, a minute and a half clear of Fourie in 2nd. Whilst the top 2 rolled into the distance, the tussle for 3rd was growing as Charne Dreyer took third in SP2 bringing her within reach of the podium. But it was not to be for van Urk or Dreyer, as Sabine Thies stormed through SP3 and SP4 to pip the other ladies by 23 seconds to take bronze on the day.

Kim Westbrook on her way to the overall win (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Kathryn Fourie dropping in on SP4 (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Mens Podium (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Ladies Podium (Photo Paul Botma)

DOWNHILL - Sunday 7th June

As with the Enduro the previous day, a crisp winter morning and a dusty track greeted 78 riders. The race used a slightly altered version of the 2013 Elite World Championships track with a small detour through the main rock garden at Cloud9 high up on the track. Practice got underway and the loose dusty conditions began to take their toll from the start. A number of riders went down hard in morning practice, with Junior favorite Christopher Philogene (2 Bros Racing) breaking his collarbone in the rock gardens near the start. As racing got underway the long pedal section made for some heavy breathing as riders gasped for air in the dust.

In the Elite category David Hogan put up a respectable time of 4:14.79 to take bronze on the day. Tim Bentley (Fox Head) goon rode himself into silver with a time of 4:14.47, just 3/10s of a second faster than Hogan. This time was good enough to secure Bentley third overall for the day. Tiaan Odendaal, showed a fresh pair of legs from his win in the Enduro the day before and walked away with the Elite title and 1st overall with a time of 4:00.19.

Tiaan Odendaal airs into the finish (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Elite mens Podium (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

In the Juniors, the absence of Chris Philogene opened the door for some new faces on the podium, with Jaryd Austin and Struan McMaster taking bronze and silver. Jonathan Philogene (2 Bros Racing) gave it everything on the hill ending with a time of 4:06.70 to take the Junior Men's title and 2nd overall on the day.

Junior mens Podium (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

In the ladies category, a hard fight for the title was set to ensue with Kim Westbrook looking for the double after her win in the Enduro the previous day. It was however not to be, as Kathryn Fourie ripped down the track (jumping many of the gaps that scared off some of the guys) to take the win in a time of 5:22.17. Westbrook had to settle for 2nd, 20 seconds adrift, whilst Sub-Junior rider Sabine Thies rounded out the top 3 in the ladies with a time of 5:46.19.

Kim Westbrook sends the final stepdown into the finish arena (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Sabine Thies off the last stepdown (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

The ladies duck from the Champagne (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

With the season complete, the organisers have seen fantastic growth in the discipline, with a budding Youth category. KZNMTB would like to thank its series title sponsors NMI-DSM, as well as Shreddtech, EAP Sports Active and Pyga for their support over the season.

EAP Active physiotherapists on hand at the event (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Racer Kelvin Purchase with event sponsor Darren Diedericks of Shreddtech (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)

Nippers Podium (Under 10's) - the future of SA Downhill already riding on a track that hosted a World Championships. (Photo Nick Ferreira - NMI-DSM)