Bright DH National Championships - Day 1
MTBA brings Bright, Victoria back to the schedule for the National Downhill series after a 2-year hiatus. Nick Waygood is our media man on scene providing the goods.
Riders were stoked to be back in the Victorian Alpine after the several-year break due to nearby deforestation. A morning trackwalk brought to light what the riders were in for over the weekend. With no rain in the forecast, and the track already dried out, covered in rocks, and scattered with roots, it was set to be loose and wild.
I caught up with Tom and Andrew Crimmins on trackwalk, and here’s what they had to say about their first impressions of the changed track:
“It’s good to see a couple of changes, but so far about half way down the track it’s looking much the same as two years ago, but a bit more raw and rowdy.” – Tom
“Yeah it’s definitely gonna be loose, there’s lots more exposed rocks and roots compared to the last few years, but should be good fun once it wears in.” – Andrew
The track had changes found with a sketchy straight-line past a previous right-to-left corner, which set riders up to either straight-line the next rock garden, or zig-zag left and right, making the middle root/rock garden all-the-more rougher.
There was also a completely new section, which diverted riders from the main forest into a separate section of pine trees. The section is ironically named “Fast and Loose”, because, you guessed it, it’s fast and loose! The dirt was loam-like, catching riders out quickly.
Afternoon practice saw riders get comfortable with the course, with most choosing to be preserved ahead of Saturday seeding and Sunday racing.
Stay tuned for more race reports throughout the weekend!
