Fort William behind the scenes

Thomas Braithwaite working in the pits on his Santa Cruz while dinner cooks on the grill. A World Cup in Europe is a lot like an old school Norba, wtih some budget racers opting to camp at the venue. "I quite like it actually. I'm right in the thick of it, and if I need anything, it's just a few steps away. A few of us do this regular like, so you get to spend a bit of time hanging out."

The course marshal is not asleep at the wheel; the wind during the morning's practice session was absolutely NUKING across the slopes of Ben Nevis, and this was the only place the marshal could take a bit of shelter.

Martin the masseur workiing over Luke Strobel after a day of pounding on the DH track. Martin is pretty much the masseur to the stars; he counts Brendog, the entire Evil team, and many others among his clients. Strobel: "having this level of support is amazing. I'd never have thought it'd make a difference before, but now... It makes a focus on racing much easier."

Emilie Seigenthaler likely won't be lining up tomorrow. The new track is a load of fun, but completely unforgiving in the event of a failure to keep the rubber side down. Fortunately, the Scott 11 rider was merely shook up and will be back in the mix at Leogang.

Troy Brosnan is going to have to step it up a notch for the Monster Specialized team with Sam Hill potentially a scratch start after his HARD crash near the sheep gate during a timed training run this afternoon at Fort William. Sam's bike was pretty much destroyed in the crash; the fork lowers were replaced as were both wheels. Mum's the word as to damage to the frame. Ditto for Sam's ability to start tomorrow for qualies. Hopefully Hill can make the start; as a top 20 "protected" rider, a simple cruise down the track will be enough to get him in the finals.