2009 SDA Finals | Innerleithen

Another race, another series, another year done and dusted on the Scottish scene.

The dust has settled (yes, there really was dust) so read on to hear what happened this past weekend:Words: Alasdair MacLennan, Pics: Ian MacLennan

With disappointment still in the air after the unfortunate cancellation of round four at Killin, the SDA series rolled on to a slightly drier Innerleithen with it all to play for after the series moved from ‘drop a round’ to ‘every round to count’. This had the unfortunate effect of pushing some riders out of the running for the overall who had arranged their season around being able to drop a round.


Kicking things off back in April we had the push-up venue of Pitfichie which was, rather miraculously, a dry event. Tight racing and very quick times soon were in evidence and soon came to characterise the year. Fort William was round two and it was there that we saw a number of Elites missing as they were away racing a round of the World Cup. As a result, Ben Hall put in an astounding performance and pulled a 5:02 out of the hat, a good few seconds clear of his nearest rivals on the brutal track.


Dunkeld was damp and greasy as it so frequently is but that merely added to the challenge of another track concocted from new and old by Peter Pollock, amongst others. And then there was Killin. Despite efforts to produce successful racing at a new venue, this was unfortunately scuppered by bad weather which soon turned the area into a massive bog. Riders still rode but for fun rather than results as racing was cancelled mid Saturday morning. Having put on a good show at the end of 2008 for the series finals, Innerleithen once again took a date in September for an exciting finale to the Scottish season.


Firstly of course, before getting to the series overall results, there was still one more race to be run. Starting at the top of the Minch Moor like so many races have here in the past, the track bore a right turn out of the start hut and down a modified straight thanks to some careful taping to keep riders high over the roots. Round the edge of the quarry and running the tight and twisty traverse of the Gold Run before finishing on the steep National Champs switchbacks, the track was all about keeping speed and not hitting any trees; far easier said than done.


With corners getting looser as the weekend wore on, riders got closer and closer to the trees and it seemed that many overstepped the mark with some forty riders missing in action come race runs on Sunday. The award for biggest stack of the weekend has to go to Joe Young. First race back after destroying his hip at Dunkeld earlier in the year, he hit the ground hard late on Saturday, snapping his tibia & fibula within sight of the finish in trying to avoid another rider down with a later suspected burst spleen. Thankfully the latter rider wasn't as seriously hurt as was first thought but Joe will be out for some time.


The SDA over the years has built up a reputation for throwing on more transport than riders know what to do with. Unfortunately the drivers didn't seem quite so on the ball this weekend and left some riders with significantly fewer than expected runs on Saturday. Sometimes things go wrong, even for the best. With five runs or so being average on Saturday and most only managing one run on Sunday, riders were still pretty happy, especially given that every run not done was several miles fewer which had to be ridden along the road to the uplift!


In Juveniles it was an iCycles trio on the podium with Stuart Wilcox in third with a 3:17 despite snapping his chain out of the start gate on the second run. George Gannicott was second on a 3:15 which left Ross Wilcox in the lead on an impressive 3:11. That meant that George Gannicott took the overall series win, 22 points clear of Sam Herd in second and Joe Paterson in third.


Youth this year looked to be a tight battle between Sam Flockhart and Lewis Buchanan. In the end, Sam’s broken wrist at the Fort William put paid to the series chances and left the way open for Lewis to take the win. On the day, Mark Scott put in a 3:00 for third with his All Terrain Cycles team mate, Fraser McGlone, in second with a 2:56. Lewis capped off a hard fought season with another win and a very quick 2:55 on his home track for Empire Cycles. That left Lewis sitting pretty at the top of the tables with Fraser McGlone in second and Mark Scott in third.


Juniors has been another hotly contested category in 2009. Ronan Taylor, having pulled third on the day with a 3:04 secured both the series win and the Orange 224 Evo frame as his prize. In second, with a time of 3:03, was Willem Herd, and with it taking second in the series. However, out in front on a time of 2:56 was MTBCut.tv’s James Scott with three wins from the three races he entered, another one hurt by the ‘every round to count’ rule.


Senior saw less than a second separating the podium positions. Martin Young was leading after the first runs with a 3:10 but was relegated to third spot when he failed to improve on his second run. Fort William winner Paul Webster took second spot with a 3:09.925 whilst less than 4/10ths up was Tony Tsoumalis of Perth City Cycles taking the win. However, with a plane to catch, he didn’t even get to stand on the top step. In the overalls, that put Dan Millard in third, Nick Turner in second and Ben Rodgers in the lead with just three points separating them.


Masters this weekend saw a few changes to the faces on the podium. Tim Wilcox proved that there’s still plenty of pace there with a 3:17 whilst Chris Coates was just a few seconds in front with a 3:14. However, making a welcome return to racing was Crawford Carrick-Anderson. Having been a top 10 World Cup rider many years ago he hasn’t been seen much recently on the downhill scene, having opted for Enduro MX, instead but after racing the Megavalanche this summer he turned up here and won with almost a clear ten second margin! In the overall, this left Erland Mowat in third place with Chris Coates taking the win. However, it is worth noting that in second place was John Young who, having won two rounds already this year, literally cruised down the hill to claim his points with a broken arm and only fell short of the outright overall win by two points.


Stevie Boyd has certainly made his mark on the Veteran this year with some impressive performances. Third was his this weekend but a little uncharacteristically off the pace of the top two. Alastair MacLennan, having bagged the four major titles in one year, was second for Off Beat Bikes with a time of 3:10 whilst Neil Wilson, who always goes well here, bagged the win with a 3:07 for Glentress Riders. This meant that along with the days win, Neil also took home the series trophy, followed by Stevie in second place and Pete Hoggan in third.


In the women’s race, Bex Reilly rode hard to third place for Uplift Scotland whilst Angela Coates took second for Fox Racing/CHR. Taking a commanding win with a time of 3:41 was Emma Guy, one half of the famous Hub just along the road at Glentress. In the series overall, the injured Emma Atkinson took third spot, with Angela in second and Bex taking the win, having dropped just six points over a possible clean sweep of the four rounds.


Going into this final round, there really wasn’t much competition for the series title with most riders having realised that as long as Ben Hall turned up, he would win, even if he came dead last. However, that just isn’t Ben Hall and if you had seen him practising, you’d be forgiven for not realising that he was just back from a broken scaphoid. In the race, Dave Duggan took third with a 3:00, whilst Ross Anderson continued his run of form for MSC Bikes to a 2:57 and second place, looking pretty gobsmacked at the 2:54 of Ben Hall as he crossed the line for the win and with it, the series title for Perth City Cycles. In the series that meant Dave took second with Ross in third, just a point apart.


In Elites Chris Hutchens, the MTBCut’tv team mate to Ben Cathro, took third spot with a 2:57 in his first run whilst Pete Williams took second for MSC Bikes & iCycles with a 2:54. With a time of 2:51 it series sponsor Alpine Bikes’ own rider, Fergus Lamb, who took the win. This meant that in the series, Fergus rounded up on third place, having missed the Fort William race for World Cup commitments, whilst Phil Ashbridge took second and Hutchens the win.


So another season down and another year of racing over. With just the NPS left at Rheola, the season has gone past in a flash for most riders. The weather could have been kinder but we’ve been pretty lucky on the whole and it is a shame that so much effort to bring Killin on to the Scottish calendar went unrewarded. The races that did go ahead were a pretty resounding success, regardless of the small issues that are raised, and there weren’t any major dramas – an achievement in anyone’s book! The biggest disappointment perhaps, especially to those in the running for the series titles, was the lack of clarity in the rules and how points would be handed out. As some riders elected to miss races for other commitments, this meant that those who had based their season around being able to drop a round from the overalls lost out heavily.


What does next year hold? Hopefully more opportunities for fresh tracks are there and maybe Killin will be raced in 2010. For those riders who want to have their voices heard by the organisers and gain a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes, the SDA AGM will be in November. More details will be available on the site nearer the time but it would be good to see more riders attend this given the amount of effort the SDA put in to help develop the sport in Scotland.


Rheola is now less than a week away, where the NPS series will be concluded, with Borderline Events’ Moelfre race just two weeks later. Pinkbike will be seeing you all at both.

www.sda-races.com for full results

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