Fort William 2012, a review in Pictures

Having seeded fourth Steve Smith will have been looking for something special on Sunday but alas it wasn't to be. Dropping time between the two splits took him from 6th to 19th as he crossed the line.

It may be winter in Australia but there's a good chance it's still warmer than a Scottish summer. Aussie Connor Fearon gets loose and sideways in the Fort William shingle on track. Style.

Sam Dale is a machine. 20th in qualifying was good but 8th in the final was astounding and the 22 year old's best World Cup result to date.

Greg Williamson was superlative all weekend. Having not qualified in Val di Sole he approached Fort William fired up and ready to show what he was capable of, and show he did. 24th in qualifying meant the pressure was on for Sunday but he coped with it fantastically and made up places to finish 17th in the difficult conditions that presented themselves on Sunday.

Sabrina Jonnier may have won the World Champs here in 2007, carrying the rainbow stripes on her jersey for the rest of her career, but 2012 will prove to be one to forget for the French girl. Having missed South Africa after injuring herself in practice she is currently out of protection. A flat in qualifying and resultant 25th place meant that with no safety net to ensure her place on the start line come Sunday, she was out.

Top three all weekend, Myriam Nicole was looking quick, although not as quick as Rachel Atherton. Second in qualifying behind Rachel, she was pushed into third come Sunday after Emmeline Ragot stepped up and overcame her front flat in qualifying to take the win.

Mio Suemasa took the Junior World Championship in Vail, Colorado in 2001. Still racing, the 29 year old Japanese Girl makes the trip to Fort William every year. 11th in Qualifying became 16th come finals after encountering several problems on track.

Mickael Pascal, ever present, and ever on the pace. 34th In Fort William follows on from 20th at Val di Sole and 52nd in South Africa. Racing at World Cup level is so close that a tiny mistake will cost you an exponentially large number of places, but even then these results show that despite being one of the older riders on the circuit, he's still pulling in the results.

Jared Graves was on the cusp of great things in downhill when he switched to 4X, but now he's back and slowly making his way back up the order. Running board number 15 he'll be disappointed with his finish down in 42nd place, but mistakes at this level are costly. Being one of the later riders to come down the hill, his run was no doubt hampered by worsening conditions up in the woods.

Fraser McGlone follows hot on the heals of other fast locals such as Ben Cathro & Joe Barnes, all hailing from Oban and a mere stone's throw from the track. Fraser spent 2011 chasing qualifying and on many occasions was close, but not quite close enough. Moving into 2012 and a broken hand coming into the season didn't bode well, especially when followed up by non-qualification in Pietermaritzburg, but moving back to Europe and things improved. 54th in Val di Sole followed by 35th here, his stock's going to be on the up after this one.

The next generation are taking over. Tahnee Seagrave may have 'only' finished in 14th place having scraped through qualifying by the narrowest of margins, but that doesn't tell the whole story. This is the first year of racing World Cups for the Morzine based Brit, and the signs are good. Surely a safe bet for the World Champs, expect to see her wearing the junior rainbow jersey upon leaving Leogang later this year.

What can be said that hasn't already been said about Aaron Gwin? He dominated overall in 2012 but failed to stamp his mark on Fort William. He crashed in 2010, he crashed in 2011 and he crashed in 2012 qualifying - he was going to look more than a little stupid if he crashed again in the finals. That crash during Saturday's qualifying put him down the order for Sunday which left him sitting in the hot seat for some time as rider after rider came close but not quite close enough to usurp his position, the closest being Danny Hart just eight tenths down. It wasn't the winning margin of just a week previously in Val di Sole but it was enough to secure a 95 point lead over Minnaar in the overall.

Aurelien Giordanengo was out of action for nearly an entire season through injury, but the ex-Barel team mate proved he still has what it takes. 24th in seeding converted to 45th in the race, here he hits the top jump during Friday morning's murky practice session.

Brook had a pretty horrid weekend in Fort William and seems to be spending an increasing amount of time in the dirt recently. The 2011 3rd place man was off the pace with problems and will be unhappy to have left Scotland in 69th place, 17th at the first split doing little to lighten the situation.

Emmeline Ragot suffered a front flat in qualifying but protected status allowed her into the finals. Which was handy as with Rachel hampered by an injury sustained on Sunday morning, there was a weakness there to be exploited. And exploit it she did, pipping Rachel by just over a second to take the win and retain her #1 plate going into Mont Saint Anne.

So close. Danny Hart has perhaps had a slightly disappointing start to the season after the highs of his breakthrough year in 2011, but it shows just how far he's come in a short space of time that we can consider it such. Second place, just eight tenths behind Gwin. That's nothing to be disappointed about, even if the win was within reach, and gives Danny the #4 board for MSA.

Greg Minnaar is one of those riders who can never be discounted. Unfortunately, a dropped chain in finals cost him time and left him in 6th, having also qualified in 6th. Having entered the weekend in joint lead of the series with Aaron these two problematic performances cost him a potentially critical 95 points to the American.

Gee Atherton so nearly made it his weekend in Scotland, with second in seeding dropping to third in the race, but within a couple of seconds of the podium on each. Despite World Cup racing being stupidly tight, a few seconds doesn't take much to lose or gain on a near five minute track such as Fort William. A few good weekends for Gee (or bad weekends for Gwin & Minnaar) will include him in a three way title fight come the end of the season.

Josh Bryceland's had some pretty good results at Fort William over the years and fifth spot will no doubt be considered another. He may not be a dominating force but he's always stylish, always fast and a rider you'd always put money on for a top ten result, even as an outside chance. Who says you can't go fast at Fort William on flats these days?

Rachel Atherton had a dominant lead after qualifying, but an injury to her hand in practice on Sunday meant she was lucky to race. Quickest to the first split, she dropped to second by the time she crossed the line, her run an exercise in damage control. Still, when you can call second place that you know you're doing something well.

He spent most of the early summer sitting university exams, but it doesn't seem to have dampened his speed. On board a new Trek Session courtesy of Mojo in the UK, Jack Reading's 39th place shows steady improvement and bodes well heading to Canada with more time under the wheels of the carbon bike.

Jill Kintner always looks stylish on a bike. With times hovering consistently around eighth to tenth place she put in a storming first sector in qualifying to be the third fastest girl on the hill to that point.

Sam Hill. If you have a spare $10-15k you could do worse than buy this frame on eBay in aid of cancer research. Unique colours, carbon, it's pretty tricked out. Unfortunately it's unlikely to get you fourth place in a World Cup, that's more down to it's current owner. Sorry guys.

Sam Blenkinsop was nineteenth at the first split before hauling back time lower down on the more technical parts of the hill to finish twelfth. Was all that time from the drag of an additional goggle lens taped to his visor?

Nothing fancy, just proof that bright colours look better in pictures than black. Here is French girl Morgane Charre who, despite a steady first sector on Sunday finished seventh, just a few seconds down on Pietermaritzburg winner Tracey Hannah.

Marc Beaumont would have gladly taken Saturday's result into the final, but it wasn't to be as brake problems in finals necessitated a stop on track before he'd even reached the first split. Game over.