Australian National Championships - Downhill Finals
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 Bright, Victoria Australia |
At the end of a massive weekend of racing and four seasons worth of weather, Troy Brosnan and Tracey Hannah walked away as Australia’s National Champions. The small mountain town of Bright in the Victorian alps, once again delivered a fast, loose track and some of the best racing seen in Australia this season.
Wet weather on Friday soaked the track for the first sessions of practice, but as the temps warmed up leading into race day, any mud that could be seen had turned to dust. The crowds poured into the dry track on Sunday to watch Australia’s best downhiller's go head-to-head in the final spectacle of the weekend.
The racing for the day lived up to the hype with riders giving it their all for a chance at the title. Tracey Hannah comfortably took the win in the Elite Women’s field, adding a 9th championship jersey to the collection and showing why she is so competitive on the world stage. Ex cross county Olympian, Lisa Mathison, put in a fantastic effort to take second ahead of Dani Beecroft who’s summer on the downhill bike has looked very promising.
It again came down to the wire in the Elite Men’s final. Connor set the benchmark in seeding - he was fast and confident leading into the race run, however a back on form Brosnan managed to find an extra second of speed to steal the win by 1.68 seconds. Josh Button pulled out all the stops riding himself into third, 0.46 seconds ahead of Dean Lucas. Victorian racer Oliver Zwar continued his solid form from the National series to snatch the fifth spot on the podium from Mick Hannah. Josh Clark grabbed an exciting win over Jackson Frew and Remy morton in the Junior Men's Final.
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| It was always busy in the SRAM tent, as the mechanics worked tirelessly to meet everyone's repair needs. |
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| Muddy and Mick catch up while waiting for shuttles. |
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| Connor chose to have his team tent set up outside of the standard race village. A nice spot to make sure the bike is in check and enjoy a rest between practice and racing. |
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| Connor's Operator with full SRAM X0 and flat pedals ready for racing. |
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| Sporting a freshly broken collarbone, Tegan Molloy was still all smiles throughout the weekend, even trying her hand at commentating. |
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| Sam's bike getting the once over before he hits the trails. |
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| Not much time to take in the view. |
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| Competitors share the top of the hill with Bright's paragliding community. |
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| Fridays thunderstorms dropped close to 40mm of rain on the the track, making practice sessions wet and wild. |
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| Storm clouds roll into the event village... |
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| Troy and Sam always enjoy riding together when they get the chance. |
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| Keen to get in practice runs despite the weather. |
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| Remy Morton put in an amazing effort on race day after struggling through the weekend with an ongoing back issue. He worked through the pain pushing himself to take 3rd place in the Junior Men's final - 3 seconds behind winner Josh Clark. |
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| Jackson Frew suffered a wrist injury after a crash during practice on saturday. It wasn't enough to keep him off the podium, finishing up 2nd in Junior Men's. |
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| Josh Clark had an awesome weekend, walking away with the Junior Men's National Championship jersey. |
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| Brights Mystic Mountain pine plantation is home to some of Australia's best trail networks. |
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| The shuttle service ran like a well oiled machine all weekend, squeezing as many riders in each time so everyone could get in enough practice laps as they needed. |
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| Come race day the track had dried up and had begun to loosen up with every rider down the hill. Jordan Prochyra tearing into the first corner of the trail. |
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| The quickest line off the step down looked to be around it. |
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| Mick Hannah drifting home to take 6th place. |
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| Bright's pine forest is well known for its beautiful golden light. However with all the rain from Friday's downpour it wasn't until later in the weekend that the track saw any golden rays. |
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| Michelle Crisp tipping it in once the track had dried up. |
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| Traction was hard to maintain in the forest. |
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| Tracey sticking a line she crashed on during her seeding run. |
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| Shelly Flood has been looking fast at Bright all weekend, but her race run didn't go to plan. She did manage to keep it together - just enough to scrape into 5th place and 0.55 seconds in front of Sarah Booth. |
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| Hill missed some of his first line choices in his race run, setting him back to 10th overall. |
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| Live music pumping during race runs. |
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| Dean Lucas focused on the finish line. |
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| Friday's wet track helped shape the corners before race day. |
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| Dani Beecroft gritting her teeth though the off camber woods section. |
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| Afternoon sun breaking though the clouds... |
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| Lisa Mathison exhausted after a tough race run. |
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| Tracy Hannah cruises over the finish line to take the win for the 9th year. |
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| Troy taking the low line through the berms. |
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| Brosnan gives it his all down the finishing straight |
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| Railing through the final berm may have lost Connor some vital hundredths of a second due to the huge holes that had formed throughout the days racing. |
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| Spent after his race run. Troy gathered his breath while he waited nervously for Connor to cross the line. |
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| All cameras turn to Troy as Fearon crosses the line to take second place |
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| No words... |
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| Troy and his fresh blue Demo. |
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| Elite Men's Podium - Troy Brosnan, Connor Fearon, Josh Button, Dean Lucas, Oliver Zwar. Dean came prepared for the Champaign celebrations. |
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| Tracey and her winning Collosus DH9. |
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| The boxing kangaroo looking good on the pink Polygon. |
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| Elite Women's Podium - Tracey Hannah, Lisa Mathison, Dani Beecroft, Kelly Weinert, Shelly Flood |
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| The sun sets on another great year of Australian Downhill Racing. |
Full results Here.
MENTIONS: @benstevens
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gotta get that bank account fat, retirement is right around the corner.
daddy needs to buy the kids some new shoes.
brutal helmet.
never said he shouldn't be getting PAID.
the dude, and a handfull of others during their career, changed the way the game is played.
much respect.
but a fashion crime is a fashion crime, and that helmet is something outta the lost and found bin at c.o.p.
i'd think a king like sam would want a proper crown no?
Spectators? You mean people besides friends and family who come to enjoy our sport? I've heard this exists but I've never seen it in real life...
I wonder if maybe this article is polishing it up and just like in the US every event started late and awards took forever and only half the winners got jerseys and their website and everyone's personal information got hacked...
anyone else though, its whatever/cool/alright/trendsetting.
ugh
i, for one, appreciate the crazy lookin stuff.
and yes, maybe i exaggerated a bit when i said "the world goes crazy".
maybe just the pinkbike world...
I really hope Sam will be able to get to the top. once again.
I always wonder what could have been if he hadn´t crashed in Hafjell.
Then again that´s the way Sam rides... the fine line.
I know it`s stupid, but on the fotos he looks like a fallen hero.