MTBA National Round 3, Thredbo DH

Graeme Mudd and Tegan Molloy were the fastest riders down the iconic cannonball track on their way to gold medals in the third downhill round of the Subaru National Mountain Bike series today in Thredbo, presented by Mountain Bike Australia.

In Sunday morning’s Elite Men’s seeding, the second-placed rider in the series, 2014/15 Subaru National Series winner Graeme Mudd set the fastest time of 4:38.02, with second place going to Jared Graves and Thomas Crimmins taking third.

Troy Brosnan , the reigning Australian downhill champion and the third-ranked downhiller in the world was absent on race day due to a crash in Saturday’s practice, Brosnan having returned home to Adelaide to recover with a dislocated shoulder.

With riders taking on the Thredbo track again on Sunday afternoon for the finals, remarkably the top 3 riders would ultimately finish in the same positions as they did in seeding.

Crimmins was the third-last rider to start, and the popular local set the fastest time (4m 42.75s) of the finals run with only Graves and Mudd left to ride. Graves, a BMX Olympian, has a cycling resume that is almost unparalleled, and the 2014 Enduro World Champion elected to ride a modified Enduro mountain bike this weekend. His race time of 4m40.28s would see him take the Subaru hot-seat from Crimmins.The last rider down the hill was Mudd, who had been the only rider below 4m40s all weekend, and he repeated that stellar feat on his race run recording a time of 4m38.72s.

A clearly overjoyed Mudd celebrated his maiden national race winin front of a large and excited crowd.

“It’s awesome, it’s my first national series race win. I’ve come close a couple of times, and I’ve also beat my hero Jared Graves which is an accomplishment in itself.”

Mudd immediately turned to his plans for the year. “I’m racing all of the World Cups from Cairns, I’ve finally finished my apprenticeship so it’s time to focus on the racing.”

In a great weekend for Mudd he now assumes the series leader title heading into the final round in Toowoomba.

In the Elite Women’s seeding, fast runs on the challenging track saw Tegan Molloy the fastest rider of the morning by 5.46s from Danielle Beecroft and Kellie Weinert.

As in the Men’s racing, seeding would prove a solid form-guide for the final results.

Beecroft and Molloy have for a number of years been the two younger riders setting the Australian Elite Women’s downhill scene alight.

Today it would be Molloy, who resides in the nearby town of Jindabyne, who would finish with the gold, recording a time of 5m17.32s, finishing 8.46s in front of Beecroft, with Weinert rounding out the podium in third.

Molloy spoke of the benefits of racing at home. “It’s always good to win but it’s even better to win on your home track, with all the family up here and my friends supporting me”.

With good early-season form, Molloy has some clear 2016 goals. “I’d like to consistently finish in the top ten this world cup season. I had a few top tens last year but this year I’d like to be more consistent, and hopefully make the podium one race.”

Beecroft’s efforts this weekend helped her retain the series lead, she takes a 15 point buffer over Molloy to the final round.

In Under 19s action, both Jackson Frew and Sian A’hern backed up their seeding wins to take the Junior Women & Men’s titles respectively.

Ellie Smith won gold in the Under 17s women’s race and series leader Patrick Butler on top of the podium in the men’s.

Full results from today’s racing: http://onlineresults.com.au/Home

All information for the Subaru National Mountain Bike Series can be found at: http://www.mtba.asn.au/event/national-series/