Photo Epic: Air DH - Crankworx Rotorua 2023

As we reach the midpoint in a week of competition some of the World's fastest riders take on the Mr Black trail to mark the return of the Crankworx Rotorua Air Downhill.

In the Women's racing reigning Queen of Crankworx, Caroline Buchanan, bested World Cup racers Louise Ferguson and Jenna Hastings to come out on top. Caroline said: "Everything just came together, and I took my first win - pretty hyped.

"Normally I am like mid 10s to 12th positions on Air DH, but since pre-Cairns last year, I started going to sprint classes with friends and started getting fitter. I think that’s really paid off that I had the ability to sprint, in addition to a really good bike setup."

Mick Hannah backed up his fourth placeat the RockShox Taniwha Downhill with an Air DH win. Mick took the win by over three seconds with 2022 King of Crankworx, Bas van Steenbergen in 2nd and Sam Blenkinsop close behind in third.

After his run Mick said: "My run and Air DH finals was awesome.

"The conditions were quite wet earlier in the week, so the course felt a little bit more sticky than it usually does. I had to maintain my forward momentum and keep grinding away."

Following the Air DH Mick Hannah and Jenna Hastings are in the lead of the King and Queen of Crankworx.