Austalian downhill championships - CN

Thredbo, NSW, Australia, January 20-22, 2006

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Race 1 - January 20: Men Four-cross

Bootes and Buchanan tops in Mountain Cross

By Andrew Threlfall, Freewheel.com.au

Wade paying
Photo ©: Andrew Threlfall

Wade Bootes (WBR/Percentage) and Caroline Buchanan (Free Agent) have been crowned the 2006 Australian MTNX champions after a solid day's racing in near-perfect conditions at Thredbo. Unlike the national round held at Thredbo only a month ago, there wasn't a hint of rain let alone snow to hamper some of the best MTNX racing seen in Australia to date.

After three years of hot and dusty conditions on a basically flat course in the Victorian town of Eildon, the MTNX championship has finally been run over a World Cup quality course to decide who is the best in Australia. With Glen Jacobs of MVA Course Designs on board designing and building the course, Australia's best made sure they were in attendance to contest the title.

Unlike last year there was no concern of riders not ‘racing' for the win as MTBA have done away with the champion's jersey (which restricted sponsors' logo sizes and placement). The jersey is replaced this year by the winner having the right to wear an Aussie arm band. As a result, the professional riders didn't have to hold back to keep their sponsors happy.

Elite Men

Jared Graves
Photo ©: Andrew Threlfall

The heats were desperately fast with many of the riders putting themselves on the line to get through to the semi's. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didn't - just ask Chris Kovarik (Intense) who tried to move from third to first in one corner, but ended up hitting the deck and taking himself out of the race. It wasn't just the pros doing the crashing either. The sport and under 15's did a great job of entertaining the crowd with some very tight and exciting racing in the lower categories.

Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz/Syndicate) lived up to his nickname of 'Stampy' as he stamped his authority all over the qualifiers. Unfortunately his dominating run came to an end in the semis and was knocked out of the comp.

Crowd favourite, 2005 MTNX World Championship silver medallist and defending national champion, Jared Graves, looked smooth all day, but ran into some trouble in the semi's. Fighting for second and a spot in the finals Graves came together with another rider only to be stopped dead in his tracks on the last jump. Luckily for Graves the other rider went wide of the course markings, automatically relegating him to fourth, leaving Graves with the second and a berth in the finals...scraping through to say the least.

The final gate for the men was very impressive with ex-world champion Wade Bootes and '05 Australian champion Jared Graves lining up along side BMX superstars Luke Madill and Michael Robinson.

Nathan Rennie
Photo ©: Andrew Threlfall

Graves got the jump and looked to be running away with his second consecutive title, but it all came unstuck for him in the last corner. "I know I'm riding well and I felt good for most of the day, but I was coming up the inside of Bootes, throwing some elbows in to make some room for myself when we both went down. Just as we were getting up we got clobbered again and we all went down."

In the scramble for the line, 2003 World Champion MTNX Champion Wade Bootes was the victor - obviously very happy with his achievement. "Today [Glen] Jacobs did a great job of making sure the inside wasn't too short and made it fair. I was popping guys left, right and centre. That's what makes a great race."

However it wasn't plain sailing for Bootes. After looking solid all through qualifying and into the semi finals it seemed his luck had run out in the first five metres of the final. "I had lane one, which had a big hole in it and I missed my second pedal." Not one to give up easily Bootes fought his way down and slipped past Luke Madill (GT) and Michael Robinson (Intense) to come into the second last corner only inches off the back tyre of 2005 MTNX champion, Jared Graves (Yeti).

In the final corner Bootes muscled past Jared only to have his front wheel wash out, causing him to crash into the face of the final jump. Fate, it seemed, was smiling on our new MTNX champion as all the other riders piled into each other allowing Bootes to be the first to his feet. Being so close to the end, everyone sprinted on foot for the finish with their bikes in what could be a world first - a bicycle race where the entire field ran over the finish.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Andrew Threlfall/www.webaddress.com

Course designer and MC for the day, Glen Jacobs.
Long time Australian MTB identity Tony Carson.
Sport rider Ash Swan going down in the qualifiers.
2005 Series winner Dennis Beare on the new Specialized hook up.
Close racing was the order of the day
Nathan Rennie taking the inside line while Michael Hannah goes around the outside
Wade Bootes checking how the competition was hitting the first straight.
Timmy Harrington leading out the hotly contested sport men.
Michael Hannah on his new Cannondale hookup.
(Far right) Luke Madill assuring his place in the finals.
An elite rider hitting the deck on the first straight.
The action was close both on the ground and in the air.
Jared Rando trying to catch up to Madill for a spot in the finals.
Jared Graves leading Wade Bootes into the second last corner, just before everything went pear shaped for Jared.
Wade paying the price for being on the top of the podium.

Results

Elite  
   
1 Wade Bootes (WBR/Percentage)
2 Michael Robinson 
3 Luke Madill 
4 Jared Graves (Yeti)
5 Alex Lloyd 
5 Jared Rando 
7 Adam Smithson 
7 Luke Strom 
9 Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz/Syndicate)
9 Cole Banggert 
9 Bryn 
9 Darren Pokoj 
13 Jill Kintner (USA/GT)
13 Julian Lim 
13 Christopher Panozzo
DNF Ryan Jedrzejczyk
17 Shane Wode
18 Dennis Beare
19 Mick Hannah
20 Shannon Rademaker
21 Brock Newling
22 Amiel
23 Michael Kearton
24 Adam Nicholson
25 Adam Dossiter
26 Steve Marsh
27 Regan Arthur
28 Scott Graham
29 Liam Panozzo
30 Ricky Boyer
31 Oliver Kristevic
32 Ayden Eves
33 Timothy Hoover
34 Zeita Newling
35 Terrence Scarr
36 Mitchell Ramm
37 Ryan Lennox
38 Jarah Breese
 
U19 men 
 
1 Tom Hubert
2 Ashley Grundy
3 Kris Twentyman
4 Cameron Allonby
5 Oscar Buckle
5 Deon Baker
7 Cody Eichhorn
DNF Tim Harrington
9 Ben Carlos
10 Ryan Andrews
11 Evan Winton
12 Mitch Delfs
13 Dale Grixti
14 James Maltman
15 Fergus Milne
16 Rhys Atkinson
17 Toby Breheny
18 Nick Muggeridge
19 Johnathan Cook
20 James Moustafa
21 Fraser Engelen
22 Jake Winther
23 David Moore
  
U17 men 
 
1 Tom Patton
2 Hugh Walker
3 Aidan Nemet
4 Graeme Mudd
5 Jasper Ludwig
5 Samuel Ward
7 Ryan Henderson
7 Llewellyn Griffith
9 Alexander Beccari
10 Ben Wilson
11 Daniel Lavis
12 Troy Brosnan
13 Brenton Gowen
14 Clark Hawke
15 Thomas Marshall
16 Brendan Jones
17 Dan Whyte
 
Sport men 
 
1 Dean Robson
2 Ashleigh Swann
3 Eden Humphries
4 Randal Huntington
5 Darren Graham
5 Mikhail Chai
7 Scott Bradley
7 Gareth Blower
9 Isaac Fryar
10 Lee Watts
11 Jack Timms
12 David Waid
13 Dave Musgrove
14 Jarrod Byrne
15 Chris Southwood
16 Drew Bisset
17 Andrew Byrnes
18 Ross Wilkinson
19 Peter Harris
20 Trevwah Burke
21 Ben Orrell
22 Nick Shields
23 Nicholas Bailly
24 Leonard Allen
25 Eli Fryar
26 Christopher Hetherington
27 David Casey

Masters men 
 
1 James Harris
2 Tony Carson
3 Brett Minion
4 Drew Hamilton
5 Bruce Morris
6 Brett Barnes
7 Stephen Robinson
8 Sergio Lavermicocca
9 Jarrod Walters