Race Report: The Cannonball MTB Festival 2022 Day 5 Downhill & Whip Wars

The final day of the Cannonball MTB Festival was an action-packed dirt battle as the best of the best took on the Oakley Australian Open Downhill and the Deity Whip Wars.

Kicking off the day was the Oakley Australian Open Downhill. The sun was shining, the dirt was drying and the crowd was brimming with anticipation as over 600 riders gave it their all down the famous Cannonball Downhill track. Featuring rocky chutes, booters that launch, slippery roots and high-speed straights, this time trial race is not for the faint-hearted.

Check out the action here.


It was an all-star lineup in the pros with the waiting crowd keen to see how the world’s best handled the dusty downhill track. Earlier in the week, we heard from pro-female rider Sian A’Hern who shared her thoughts on the upcoming race.

“All the girls are riding pretty quick, lots of fast juniors and elite women. It’s a pretty stacked field so it’s going to be a pretty cool race come Saturday, I’m excited,” Ms A’Hern said.


Dean Lucas also spoke to us at the seeding event on Thursday sharing his thoughts on the upcoming race.

“I think Jackon Frew does really well here, he’s a local guy and he’s pretty quick. The Crimmins boys are here, they always go pretty fast. Tim Eaton, Connor Fearon…there’s a fair few of them so you have to be on your A-game to do well,” Mr Lucas said.

Both Dean Lucas and Sian A’Hern were right…the competition was tight and the day finished with a banging lineup of pros on the podium for the iconic Oakley Australian Open Downhill.


Coming in with the fastest time of the day was Jackson Frew with an incredible time of 5.15.567. He came in only just over a second faster than Connor Fearon who bagged second place and Kye A’Hern who got third.

“I felt really good about the run. Only a few little mistakes, more mechanical which I thought was going to cost me but I kept it together, kept the bike in one piece, and pumped to the finish. It has definitely been a long time coming from my end so I was really pushing hard to get it done,” Jackson Frew said.


In the pro women’s, superstar Sian A’Hern took the win by over nine seconds crossing the finish line with a time of 6:05.461. In second was Tegan Molloy with 6:14.614 and Ellie Smith who got 6:16.738.

“I am super happy. After a really challenging few months of injury, covid and everything else I’m really happy to be back and winning races again and keeping the momentum going into next weekends National Champs.

“The track was so rough but I was really happy with my run… it’s the hardest of the year so I am pretty stoked to get through it,” Mrs A’Hern said.


Just when you thought you couldn’t fit enough action in one day, the Deity Whip Wars kicked off as the sun set over Thredbo Valley. The invite-only event consisted of a stellar lineup of competitors all going large to bring their biggest whips. From the outset, it was all action. There were backflips, front flips, whips, supermans and more with each rider setting the bar higher and higher. Not only were there podium places up for grabs, but there was also a stack of prizes and cash up for grabs for crowd-pleasers.

Check out all the action here.


Tim Eaton took out the win for the men’s category pulling off the cleanest whips of the day. The girls also took to the air with legend Caroline Buchanan coming hot into first for the women’s category. And while he didn’t win overall, the stand-out performance of the day came from U19’s rider Will Ireland who performed tricks that were off the charts.

After the events wrapped up for the day it was time for the crown jewel of the Cannonball MTB Festival to be announced… the King and Queen of the 2022 Cannonball MTB Festival.


Putting on an incredible performance all week, Luke Meier-Smith was crowned King of Cannonball taking home a huge cash prize and the prestigious title. In the women’s, Ellie Smith was crowned the Queen of Cannonball also taking home a huge prize award and bragging rights for the rest of the year.

The 2022 Cannonball MTB Festival ended with a huge celebration in the Alpine Bar with Parachute Youth wrapping up a week that saw some of the fastest speeds, biggest names and largest hits… we already cannot wait until next year!

Find a full list of results here.

Posted In:
Racing and Events Race Reports