Green to gold race development - Germany to FT. Bill

It’s been nearly a month now since Cairns, nearly a month that the team has been in fortress Europa. The team spent a two week period training in the French Institute of Sport training with fellow Australian rider, Sarah Roy of the UCI pro your team, ‘Futuroscope’ before heading off for two heated weeks of back to back races in Winterburg and Fort William.

There have been a lot of ups and downs for such a short duration but the experience and knowledge we have attained from these races was invaluable. Now all we can do from these races is move forward and grow.

Winterburg – IXS round

Winterburg is the largest downhill race in Europe and our first of the European season. With over 500 competitors in attendance and not to mention countless fans, it makes for one of the best place’s to showcase your skills and enjoy some close racing.

We arrived in Winterburg, Germany greeted with cold weather, rain and a very slick track. Thankfully after only half a day of practice the track started to dry up and the sun came out. Unfortunately with over 500 riders competing the track had already become very rutted, Making the base track much more technical in almost next to no time.

The conditions in Germany are very different to what some members of the team are used to at home, so we spent our first day of practice tuning the bikes in as much as possible..

Saturday was seeding for the team. With a five hour break between morning practice and seeding runs, the team was sure track conditions would change as more and more riders passed through it. The real question was where on track and how, it was just something each rider would have to face blind. A true test.

Danielle unfortunately had a crash but qualified in 19th position. Brent came down on 51st and Chris down in 72nd. It was now time for everyone to pull something out for race runs and really show their full potential.

Danielle was first down the hill, dropping bucket loads of time off of her run from the previous day. This secured her the P1 for the next ten riders and plenty of time in the sunny hot seat before finishing up in a solid 8th. An amazing result for her first German race in Elite women.

An impressive result for Danni in not only her result but also how she adapted to the course and coped with the hard conditions of the race. Her season is really beginning to kick off.

Chris was our next rider down, after having a not too impressive seeding run he was all set to show what he can do on the track. He was a little too conservative in some sections. Electing to stay on course rather than risk the biscuit on the treacherous terrain and came over the line in 3rd. By the end of racing Chris finished 45th, his best result at an IXS race.

Brent had a lot more to prove to the German crowd. All Brent has dreamed about for the last three years is to race his bike in Europe and now he finally had his opportunity. Brent dropped nearly thirty seconds off his previous seeding run and secured himself 29th position. With his goal to be a top 30, we were over the moon that he had reached his target in his first race. In a stacked field with many world cup level riders. He was stoked too.

Fort William UCI World Cup

As a team we came into Fort William with high expectations for racing after Winterburg however the weekend turned out to hit the team badly. Practice was great at Fort William, our Pivot Phoenix’s were running on par which is saying a lot when your on one of the World’s most noted brutal tracks for equipment.

All members were hitting their lines and seemed to be happy with their practicing. Danielle especially was in high spirits with her riding. Having ridden the track before she seemed much more at ease on course and witnessing her riding from the chairlift it was apparent that she was in her element.

Qualifying day came all to fast. Literally. Qualifying was three hours earlier then usual due to the threat of high winds and it was no minor threat. The winds came and they ended up being quite gusty, another challenge for riders to face.

We went up the hill with our JetBlack trainer and Pivot Mach 6 for warm up as per usual. Daneille was off first and warmed up in her usual fashion. She left the start gate looking incredibly focused and was all set to reach he goals of a top 10. Unfortunately when her first split time did not appear on the screen we knew something had gone terrible wrong.

Going over the first large jump of the track Danielle had a gust of wind hit her and toppled her over onto her right arm. She was ambulanced off and hospitalised. The end result was a dislocated elbow with a fractured tibea. Danielle will be flying home in the coming days to receive surgery to her arm.

We wish Danielle all the best in her recovery, she is determined to come back fitter and stronger then ever before and we hope to see her riding as soon as she is ready and able.

Qualifying for Fort William is one of the hardest qualifications on the world circuit. The course has been in rotation for the previous 12 years, giving a sort of home track feel to a lot of riders even if they are not native Scots or Brits. Though this is no an excuse for riders who don’t qualify, it’s a factor especially when you consider the difference between first place and eightieth being only 22 seconds, that’s right eightieth, it means it’s an all in or nothing game. Both the boys unfortunately did not qualify for the race, Brent finished in 112th and Chris in 133rd. It’s very disappointing to see all the work the boys put in for the race and to not get the results they were looking for.

On the whole Fort William was very hard on the team and to be a little cliche ‘what doesn’t kill us will only make us stronger’. The boys are now off to Leogang to for the fourth round of the UCI World Cup where they are both more than hungry for the results they have worked so hard for. Danielle will be going home and we wish her the best with her recovery. It’s still quite possible for her to return for the end of the season and we hope to see her back in fighting shape soon. Thanks to all the sponsors without you our work could not be done.

Words : Lachlan McKillop Photos : Jason Stevens