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Australian MTB Series Round 2 DHI - NE
Hobart, Tasmania, November 26, 2006
Results Photography Previous event
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Youngsters dominate down hill meet
Despite talk of overnight snow falling atop of Mount Wellington, which towers above the Glenorchy course, the sun came out to shine on the day's winners - Amiel Cavalier (Giant) who claimed the Elite Men's category while Tracey Hannah (Edge cycles) was the victor in the Elite Women. Meanwhile, an impressive ride from Joel Bane claimed the youngster the Junior Men's victory with a time that would have earned him eighth spot in the elite class.
Despite the absence of the big hitters of Australian down hill, Cavalier was still very happy with his three and a half second win over Rick Boyer (Orange-Royal-Smith-Sram-RockShox). The victory further confirmed Amiel's position at the top the category, despite this being his first full season as a senior.
Tracey Hannah (Edge Cycles) was similarly pleased with her crushing forty-second win over the Claire Whiteman (Kona-Mt Buller). Hannah dominated the course, showing all the class of the junior world champion title she recently claimed in Rotorua.
As it happened
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Elite Men
Amiel Cavalier is an extremely fast rider and if we didn't know it before today, it was rubbed in our noses. Cavalier tore out of the blocks in qualifying to post a super-quick time some four seconds ahead of next fastest qualifier Rick Boyer. The rest of qualifying went pretty much to script with none of the players missing out on the cut.
Finals were delayed after a rider's bike went off the track clipping a young spectator. The rider ended up the worst off requiring his gear to be cut from his body before being stretched away. The rider reportedly broke his collarbone while the spectator was unharmed.
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With the course getting pretty chewed up, Adam Smithson (GT) made the most of the conditions to take the early hot-seat. From there Smithson just watched as first danger-men Ben Cory and Dave West (Giant-Rudy Project-SCU-Maxxis) who were both close but couldn't top Smithson's time.
However, with Cavalier and Boyer's qualifying times being faster than Smithson's hot-seat time, all eyes were up the hill. The final two didn't disappoint with Boyer putting down a quick time while Amiel opted to ride slightly more conservatively than his qualifying run on the deteriorating course.
Smithson was happy with third, despite it being equal to his result in opening round in Lithgow. The Lithgow race was shrouded in controversy as the final run never took place and results were taken from qualifying, which doesn't necessarily mean that the fastest rider was given the win. "This third feels 'earned' and it is good to finally prove that I can go this fast in a final," explained Smithson.
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Having competed in the previous night's mountain cross, Boyer was pleased with the second place. "It was a big ask to beat Amiel. I had a good qualifier and just kept that going into the final. It worked out really well for me," he explained. "Racing the mountain cross last night took it out of me and Amiel a little bit but it didn't really detract from our down hill. It meant that we were a bit too tired to properly race mountain cross after training on the down hill the whole day...but I'm happy with today."
Cavalier, the '05 junior down hill champion, was pleased to take the victory having also competed in the previous night's mountain cross. "I went a little slower in my race run because the course was getting really chopped up," said Cavalier. "I knew the race would be won by just staying on the bike and riding pretty conservatively. My qualifying time was fast so I knew I could back off a bit in some places. I'm happy - I rode a smart race."
Of winning a National Series absent the 'big guns' Cavalier said; "I'd love to race the hardest race that I could, I'd love it if those guys were racing. But, I understand that they need an off-season. This is really just a transition year for me so I'm just teaching myself how to race smart - conservative but fast."
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Elite Women
The Elite Women's category saw some new and fast faces with mountain cross and BMX specialist Caroline Buchanan (KHS) stepping up for her second downhill event. However, with Tracey Hannah pinning on a number, second was the only thing up for grabs.
Hannah aced the course hitting all the A-lines except for the road gap, which saw her hit the ground in Saturday's practice. "I'd been clearing it but I stacked after I landed one time and it hurt really badly," said Hannah.
Despite taking a high-profile victory at the world championships in Rotorua Hannah was still pumped by her win on home soil. "It's still sick to win any race," said Hannah. "I like setting and achieving goals. It's a lot more relaxing here though. I think racing my first World Championships was the most nervous I will ever be so it makes it easier to deal with nerves at other races."
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U19 Men
The U19 category is a hotly contested one and with riders like current world champion Sam Hill and Amiel Cavalier dominating the junior ranks not so long ago, all eyes are watching when the U19 men hit the course.
With a few juniors slipping up into the Elite Men category, a changing of the guard is taking place and Joel Bain is doing his best to make the top spot his. Bain qualified second fastest behind Josh Button-Janco but broke loose in the final to chop five seconds off his qualifying time and win by four seconds from fourth place qualifier William Rischbieth. The ever-impressive James Maltman finished third while Button-Janco settled for fourth.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mikkeli Godfree/Cyclingnews.com
- Claire Whiteman straight up the middle.
- Julia Martin follows suit.
- Edwina Hughes around the outside.
- Fastest qualifier in U19 Joshua Button-Janco
- One of the few fast-guys to not take the rock garden, eventual U19 winner Joel Bain.
- James Maltman just before flipping himself over the bars.
- …as Robert Mann demonstrates.
- Adam Smithson looking smooth.
- Amiel Cavalier on his way to fastest qualifier in Elite Men.
- Shane Wode on the hunt, eyes wide.
- Alex Swann about to find out he has no rear brake.
- Rick Boyer fast and low.
- Steve Marsh is always fast.
- Dennis Beare smooth as usual.
- Michael Kearton looking good.
- Ben Cory was super fast today.
- Jarl Jensen is a solid competitor.
- Tracey Hannah on her way to winning the final.
- William Rischbieth letting loose on his way to second in U19.
- Joel Bain yet again taking the unorthodox line on his way to smashing the U19 category.
- Brad Kelly found the number 1 plate heavy ending up ninth.
- Ayden Eaves getting loose.
- Smithson on the hunt.
- Kearton hovering above the ground.
- A super quick Dave West.
- Rick Boyer closing in on second spot.
- The irrepressible Amiel Cavalier takes the win.
- Smithson after the finish.
- Rick Boyer happy with second.
- Cavalier takes the number one plate as series leader.
Images by Evan Jeffery/www.evanjeffery.com.au
- Ayden Eves
- Rider hitting the berm
- Amiel Cavalier making the step from the junior ranks with style with an impressive win.
- A rider getting major air time over one of the many jumps at the Hobart DH
- Tracy Hannah’s first National race since winning the World Junior Championships.
Results
Elite Men 1 Amiel Cavalier 3.07.38 2 Rick Boyer 3.57 3 Adam Smithson 5.27 4 Dave West 5.33 5 Ben Cory 6.06 6 Michael Kearton 6.10 7 Dennis Beare 6.80 8 Shane Wode 10.56 9 Brad Kelly 11.72 10 Timothy Eaton 08.17 11 Steve Marsh 10.06 12 Craig Yates 12.29 13 Ryan Lennox 08.08 14 Deon Baker 12.71 15 Jarl Jensen 12.77 16 Gareth Paton 12.87 17 Ben Shingler 13.33 18 James Bashford 14.78 19 Simon French 14.06 20 Ayden Eves 15.26 21 Stuart French 15.36 22 Evan Winton 19.03 23 Chris Whitelock 19.67 24 Dean Robson 21.26 25 Adam Dossetor 05.91 26 Ricky Lee 12.71 27 Harry Armstrong 22.76 28 Robert Potter 19.16 29 Miles Mead 18.98 30 Christopher Panozzo 23.19 31 James French 25.27 32 Ben Watkins 27.42 33 Lindsay Klein 27.48 34 Josh McDonald 28.02 35 Oliver Kristevic 28.09 36 Mitch Afflick 28.46 37 John Farrow 28.77 38 Shane Gayton 29.93 39 Kaine Cannan 30.42 40 Geoff Grennan 30.99 41 Derek Ragless 31.09 42 Trevwah Burke 31.34 43 Scott Graham 32.16 44 Brendan Wood 32.25 45 Jason Mennitz 32.93 46 Julian Struthers 33.14 47 Joshua Lansdown 33.33 48 James McMillan 34.32 49 Christopher Perger 35.19 50 Tim McCullough 37.42 51 Ben Osborne 38.05 52 Josh Boyd 38.89 53 Thomas Cranston 40.54 54 Ben Morrison 40.90 55 Joe Mullan 41.89 56 Ben Goff 57 Mark Lennerth 43.17 58 Tom Kerney 48.37 59 Matthew Patten 49.97 60 Dean Davies 50.57 61 Steven Scoots 55.15 62 Alex Swann 1.16.78 63 Rhys Atkinson 1.20.23 64 Lincoln Verass 1.36.22 65 Aaron Bashford 5.40.88 DNF Kye Hore DNF Wyn Masters DNS Ben Tregoweth DNS Miikael Kinnunen DNS Will Tatchell DNS Scott Zecchin DNS Timothy Nielsen DNS Antony Kostiuk DNS Christopher Herron Under 19 Men 1 Joel Bain 3.14.75 2 William Rischbieth 4.23 3 James Maltman 4.92 4 Joshua Button-Janco 3.66 5 Tom Patton 12.26 6 Toby Breheny 13.27 7 Oscar Buckle 16.06 8 Matthew Vincent 14.12 9 Chris Coombe 10.70 10 Darcy Murrell 17.89 11 Elliot Smith 24.97 12 Jack Bellotti 44.25 13 Jamie Dunlop 45.93 14 Patrick Young 48.60 15 Cameron Allonby 57.12 16 Josh Clark 1.07.27 17 Mitchell McKinlay 1.25.47 18 Jonathon Rigby 1.30.46 19 Robert Mann 2.02.07 20 Joshua Cook 2.02.87 21 William Bailey 3.17.81 22 Rowan Saunders 4.32.53 23 George French 32.05.16 DNF Fergus Milne DNS Tom Powell DNS Dale Grixti DNS David Gnany DNS Nicholas McElwee Elite Women 1 Tracey Hannah 3.50.66 2 Claire Whiteman 29.53 3 Julia Martin 45.91 4 Caroline Buchanan 1.01.78 5 Edwina Huges 1.07.48 DNF Kristina Shiel DNS Sarsha Huntington DNS Jayne Randall Sport Women 1 Leigh Douglas 4.50.66 2 Rosemary Barnes 2.18.23 3 Anya Lagutina 2.51.12 4 Emma Ringer 7.32.40 DNS Emma Lewis Super Masters Men 1 Stephen Coles 5.15.94 2 Martin Griffith 1.27.67 Masters Men 1 David Badman 4.20.94 2 Geoff Lovie 7.92 3 Daniel Pradal 14.03 4 Mark Cranston 27.77 5 Pat Pavlich 28.27 6 Glynn Hicks 42.57 7 Darryl Ashlin 1.15.26 Veteran Men 1 Karl Peel 3.29.69 2 Shane Pearse 21.25 3 Jason Archer 21.62 4 Juan Roncallo 25.49 5 Daniel Segeri 35.64 6 Gavin Finlay 38.42 7 Michael Stratton 43.89 8 Marc Ellis 55.17 9 Peter Symons 1.08.90 10 Andrew Smith 1.09.67 11 Leighton Burr 1.24.65 12 Scott Watkins 1.29.11 13 Jason Stalker 1.34.46 14 Justin Armstrong 2.16.16 15 Joshua Lester 2.30.82 16 Ben Strugnell 2.40.51 17 Tony Rutter 2.45.14 DNS Drew Hamilton DNS Tyron McLean DNS Paul Kennerdy Expert Men 1 Dylan Wolsky 3.38.57 2 Callen Noble 3.29 3 Chris Barlin 6.21 4 Ben Randall 14.53 5 Nathan Chilcott 18.78 6 Harley Struthers 21.15 7 Jason Miller 23.56 8 Mikhail Chai 24.20 9 Leighton Smith 30.96 10 David Leach 35.62 11 Randal Huntington 39.18 12 Kenneth Cheung 44.50 13 Benjamin Rohloff 47.01 14 Nicholas Bailly 50.61 15 Benjamin Ayling 58.07 16 Steven Mathews 1.00.26 17 Damien Milhuisen 1.01.67 18 Rick Franzolini 1.05.62 19 Darren Sherman 2.00.96 DNF Tom Lewis DNF David Andrews DNS Dave Mullins DNS Andrew Fellows DNS Leon Wood DNS Armando Florez Cabarcas Under 17 Men 1 William Gower 3.26.69 2 Rhys Willemse 0.04 3 Tamryn Murrell 4.67 4 Laurie Dinham 11.37 5 Blake Neilsen 29.04 6 Tom Rowe 29.51 7 Alex Winten 32.64 8 Aaron Oates 37.72 9 Anthony Jones 39.85 10 Shaun O'Connor 45.14 11 Ryan Hunt 54.21 12 Oscar Lapstun 1.06.28 13 Lochlan Saunders 1.13.67 14 Kieran Duerinckx 3.16.98 15 Daniel Lavis 4.16.74 DNS Lewis Winton DNS Liam Melville DNS Patrick Tully Under 15 Men 1 Troy Brosnan 3.57.69 2 Bradley Bellotti 12.97 3 Riley Wilson 5.22.07 Hardtail 1 Jeremy Webb 4.28.43 2 Joshua Lycett 16.92 3 Matthew Dooley 25.48 4 Tom Helleman 1.13.07 5 Gabor Winkler 6 Ben Maynard-Sprague 7 Ben Sansom Sport Men 1 Chris Lombardo 4.14.24 2 Peter Karas 11.45 3 Matthew Le Cornu 1.33.68 4 Anthony McLean 3.01.04 5 Michael Mills 3.54.79 6 Alex Lane 7 Dean Edsall
