Race Report: British National DH Series 2022 - Round 1 Rheola
After a three year break, the UK downhill series returns to Rheola in Wales, with the Welsh track being a firm favourite with riders thanks to its blend of technical features and flat-out speed. However, this track is not one for the faint-hearted. Saturday morning's practice session began with a slightly damp track, which was slick in places and became a bit of a handful for some of the riders. Primarily through the Star Wars rock garden with a practice day littered with red flags; however, the slick conditions didn't seem to bother Some with Stacey Fisher, the Elite Women's race winner saying "I felt really comfortable in the morning despite the challenging track conditions."
However, thankfully, a different track greeted the riders with sunshine all weekend on race day, and the track began to dry. Although the lower section stayed slightly damp still. Leaving the Elite riders and those fortunate enough to have spare sets of wheels a hard decision to make about whether to run a fast-rolling tire for the upper section or something with a bit more bite for the middle and lower areas that were still slightly damp. One thing is for sure the stage was set for an epic race.
Downhill bikes strapped to a trailer behind a Landrover are the surefire sign that the British downhill season is underway.
Riders were keen to hit the first uplift of the day and maximise their time on the track.
With the legendary Pearce uplift team in the house, there's one thing for sure the uplift was always going to be running smoothly.
I'm not sure if the riders were scared in the back of the Pearce uplift Landrover or just focused on their riding. That being said Jay Williamson seemed to be having a good time
Alison Tutt sat at the front of the queue waiting for the track to open.
Daniel Parfitt flat out through the open section of the track
Will Longden taking the win in the 40-49 field.
Riding his Enduro bike didn't stop James Milner from sending it over the roots
Jack Reading working on his modelling poses during a red flag break.
Allison Tutt was pushing hard through the open midsection of the track.
The Rock gardens of Rheola took their toll on plenty of tyres today.
Action Sports Timing returned again this year to provide live timings for all of the rounds of the UK national series. Alongside Gravity UK, the event organiser saw to it that the weekend's racing ran as smoothly as it can.
Dom Platt is fresh back from his first world cup at Lourdes and taking a closer look at the upper rock garden during a red flag hold in practice. A good finish for the Atherton racing rider who finished in second behind Jordan Williams.
Honestly, this is April in Wales it was a bank holiday too.
Pinkbike's own Aimi Kenyon carving her way to 2nd in the Junior Women's field behind fellow World Cup rider Phoebe Gale.
Anna Craig taking 3rd place in the Women's Elite field.
Stacey Fisher took the win in the Elite Women's field. The defending series champion from last year took the win ahead of Natasha Bradley by a massive 16 seconds.
Due to an error on my part, I managed to miss Pheobe Gale on track all day but the FMD rider took the top Step on the Junior Women's podium.
It's good to see Douglas Vieira back out and racing it doesn't look like he's holding back ether off of the classic Rheola drop onto the fire road.
The Star Wars section of the Rheola track is no joke - when you see the world cup riders come through right on the edge so much so they give out an 'Oh Sh*t?!' you know they're on the edge. Jack Reading was on that edge through Star Wars in seeding. Another tough weekend from Jack riding this track with a shoulder injury is no joke. That being said, Jack ended up finishing 8th, not to be sniffed at in this company.
Another man on the edge through this section, and letting out a few shouts through seeding, was the highest-ranked privateer at the World Cup Taylor Vernon. A good finish for Taylor coming home just off the podium in 6th.
Another rider returning from injury was Adam Brayton, with a solid top 10 finish for Ad in a stacked Men's Elite field
Luca Timpson popping his way through the roots at the end of the Rheola track.
The track at Rheola is brutal and throughout the weekend you saw plenty of riders crashing out. This is the nature of the beast on this classic UK track, what it does mean though is there are always plenty of red flags throughout the day. Despite this, somehow, we almost finished on time.
Just because you don't race in the Elite field doesn't mean you aren't still charging hard.
Midway down a downhill track with both wheels on the ground is a strange place to practice nak naks Marcus Goldsmith.
Joseph Prashner leaning it in.
Jake Cartlidge from the Green Snow collective sending it on his race run.
Last-minute preparation before heading up for his race run for Charlie Hatton.
Nathan De Vaux sending it on his way to second in the 13-14 year old field - these kids are crazy fast!
Nick Etherton took the tighter inside line in the same rock garden.
Chris Spinks taking the high line in the upper rock garden
The fastest Junior of the day for the men was Jordan Williams, with a fantastic time that would've seen him fifth overall, closely followed by Dom Platt also in the Junior Men's field who would've ended up ninth overall.
Ed Martin took the wide rider's right line through the same section on his way to 6th in the Senior Men's field.
Connor Barber taking the rider's left line through the midpoint of Star Wars.
Joe Smith picking his way through the top of Star Wars
Matt Walker was one of the many World Cup riders out racing in the UK national series. There was less than half a second separating Matt from Elite winner Charlie Hatton. It's incredible to see these guys put it all on the line.
James Elliott pushing through the midpoint in the Star Wars section.
Jim Monroe on his way to the win in the Expert Men's field. What a weekend for Atherton racing with 2 wins and a second-place, not a bad start to the domestic season for the team.
Luke Blake with that look on your face when you have finished your first expert race.
Roger Vieira looked at his hand as if it had failed him. After the near-perfect season last year, it wasn't to be today for Roger with a crash after leaning the bike over slightly too far in one of the gully corners on the upper section of the track.
Christopher Cockrill wheelying across the line.
The awkward moment when you both turn up wearing the same outfit.
Luke Williamson left it all out on the track with the 555 Gravity rider finishing 5th in a stacked Elite Men's field.
It was so good to see all the Elite riders gathering around the live timing screen and genuinely being happy to see Charlie Hatton take the win.
Small confession here somehow I managed to miss Charlie Hatton on track all weekend and typically, like Phoebe Gale, he went on to take the win.
Crossing the line just over a 10th of a second of each other, the first man Charlie Hatton went to see was the man he so narrowly took the win from Christopher Philogene put in one hell of a run to take second in the Elite field.
Round 2 will be Fort William Scotland on the 7-8th May. this should be another action-packed event with plenty of World Cup level riders making the trip to ride the legendary Fort William track just before the world cup.
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Is there like a direct correlation here... riders gonna start avoiding you in the hopes of taking the win Nick
That man loves his Landie’s and keeps the fleet better than anyone.
Am I likely to die entering a round or two of the series?
Really??!
The organisers and British Cycling should be ashamed of themselves. Surely if anyone deserves special treatment it’s Rachel - the UK’s most successful rider - period
We all, equally had the opportunity to enter Fort William SDA/BDS.
If people chose not to enter then they have to take responsibility for their actions.
If Rachel really wants to support racing and race tracks at Fort William, including some of the Dh WC track, then I am sure she can enter the SES there this weekend (crap timing as its pre SDA/BDS practice time for the locals).
I would happily not give up my entry for the SDA/BDS in a couple of weeks at Fort William so Rachel can have a play and probably not race anyway (I have not seen Rachel at many SDA's in the last 10 years so for me, many other riders have earned their spot by racing the series and entering many SDA's previously, I know its a BDS too, some of us are racing both series at significant cost to ourselves).