NZ MTB National Series #1

Cardrona Skifield, January 8, 2003

Wednesday January 8 saw the first day of racing for the 2003 NZ Mountain Bike National Series at Cardrona Skifield, 30km from Queenstown.

With a beautiful sunny day and spectacular views this unique course saw a great start to the series. Riders caught the chairlift to the top of the track before descending the demanding two kilometre course with a vertical drop of 320m. The maximum altitude was 1810m - the highest of all the race tracks for the series. A highly technical course rated at 100% meant the riders had to concentrate their best at all times.

Tim Nelson of Nelson but now based in Christchurch, rode extremely well to finish first in a time of 3:19.11 beating the favourite Nathan Rankin (Levin) by just under three seconds. A special mention of Craig Pattle (Rotorua) who rode extremely well to finish in 9th position overall and is under 19. The up and coming 15 year old Scarlett Hagen of Queenstown outshone all the female competitors with a time of 3:59.52 (47th overall in a field of 128 riders). Not only was this a good time, Hagen completed the race with no chain as it broke near the top of the track, so she should have an even better time at the next downhill race at Cardrona on Sunday January 12.

The first cross country race of the series starts on Saturday 12 January at Wanaka, Outlet Track. The course is virtually identical to the track used for the 2002 Nationals. A mixture of open 4WD tracks and tight forested single track. It is 9.2km long with a height gain of 310m per lap reaching a maximum altitude of 420m.

Results, Round 1: Cardrona Ridgeline Track

Hardtail Women
 
1 Narelle Oshea                   6:30.73
 
Hardtail Men
 
1 Leighton Neal                   3:53.17
2 Chris Beverland                 4:01.80
3 Paul Muter                      4:13.26
4 Michael Rowan                   4:18.56
5 James Duncan                    4:21.20
6 Sam Maitland                    4:27.82
7 Iain Burgou                     4:29.21
8 Josh Everest                    4:42.76
9 Jason Naran                     4:43.33
10 Andrew Bruce                   4:50.95
11 Antony Jackson                 5:08.36
12 Scotty Lane                    5:17.27
13 Zeke Morris                    5:18.65
14 Philip Vernon                  5:25.37
15 Hayden Croft                   5:26.02
16 Zac Hogg                       5:37.77
17 Mark Herbert                   5:38.58
18 Mitchell Anderson              5:40.58
 
Master 30+ Women
 
1 Nancy Rehrer                    6:20.12
 
Senior Women
 
1 Kate Mcdougall                  4:41.71
2 Keli Finch                      4:46.55
3 Anneliese Carlson               4:49.20
4 Amy Laird                       5:34.46
 
Junior Women
 
1 Scarlett Hagen                  3:59.52
2 Lauren Campbell                 4:24.30
 
Master 40+ Men
 
1 Hugh Blackburn                  4:04.30
2 Mark Simmons                    4:17.59
3 Alastair Heine                  4:22.68
4 Mark Angus                      4:26.06
5 Eddie Spearing                  4:35.27
6 Clive Vernon                    6:06.95
 
Master 30+ Men
 
1 Hugh Lintott                    3:43.86
2 Aaron Fernandez                 3:47.53
3 Justin Nelson                   3:48.40
4 3:54.02 T Man
5 Andrew Dudley                   3:54.15
6 Bruce Anderson                  3:57.65
7 Tony Howarth                    3:58.60
8 Graeme Morgan                   3:59.65
9 Michael Carden                  4:02.48
10 Stuart Fisher                  4:02.66
11 Les Chapman                    4:04.47
12 Christian Meali                4:07.70
13 Darren Russell                 4:13.86
14 Andrew Murray                  4:21.96
15 Jimmy Mitchell                 4:25.74
16 Greg Larsen                    4:25.94
17 Craig Dixon                    4:26.74
18 Michael Galbraith              4:26.94
19 Mark Latham                    4:28.09
20 Mark Hellier                   4:33.72
21 Jimmy Davey                    4:37.99
22 Joseph Osullivan               4:54.64
23 Luke Simmons                   5:05.97
24 Andrew Dudley                  6:28.03
25 Finn Oconner                   6:46.19
 
Senior Men
 
1 Mathew Hyland                   3:37.85
2 Thomas Winwood                  3:41.41
3 Blair Christmas                 3:45.93
4 Daryl Webb                      3:47.90
5 Ryan Mitchell                   3:48.81
6 James Baron                     3:49.04
7 Ben Rafferty                    3:49.81
8 Corey Russ                      3:51.75
9 Jay Timmer                      3:52.36
10 Nathan Timko                   3:52.36
11 Nicholas Sutcliffe             3:52.82
12 3:53.94 Berthonier Manuel
13 Timothy Ceci                   3:54.15
14 Jarrad Winter                  3:55.75
15 Lance Harris                   3:57.57
16 Steven O'conner                4:00.57
17 Fife Macgibbon                 4:00.98
18 Nick Sheppard                  4:02.90
19 Jeremy Forlong                 4:03.21
20 4:03.33 Millington Luke
21 Mathew Bailey                  4:03.69
22 Christian Wingate              4:06.22
23 Leon Roff                      4:08.55
24 Tim Mackenzie                  4:09.83
25 Michael Rodokal                4:09.86
26 Hadley Mackay                  4:10.12
27 Jarna Mackenzie                4:12.26
28 Jonathon Whyte                 4:12.72
29 4:17.64 Chadderton Mark
30 Andy Chapman                   4:19.14
31 Christopher Davis              4:19.52
32 Richard Rollinson              4:20.91
33 Louce Hussa                    4:27.27
34 Kevin Vernon                   4:38.79
35 Jayde Giles                    5:05.89
 
Junior U17 Men
 
1 Wyn Masters                     3:39.10
2 Paul Langlands                  3:49.04
3 3:55.64 Blenkinsop Samuel
4 Kieran Bennett                  4:03.93
5 Caleb Warrender                 4:09.20
6 Zac Williams                    4:13.85
7 James Paterson                  4:59.98
 
Junior Men
 
1 Craig Pattle                    3:34.05
2 Scott Geater                    3:44.05
3 Des Curry                       3:46.12
4 Reon Boe                        3:51.16
5 Ben Sanders                     3:54.14
6 Gary Porter                     3:56.75
7 James Fagan                     3:57.68
8 Sean Macmillan                  4:04.13
9 Matt Fryer                      4:07.61
10 Muzza Mcinnes                  4:20.57
11 James Rogers                   4:29.64
12 Shaun Kirton                   4:34.46
13 Ryan Oconnell                  4:37.63
14 Mike King                      4:45.42
15 Bryan Newcombe                 4:56.33
 
Pro-Elite Men
 
1 Tim Nelson                      3:19.11
2 Nathan Rankin                   3:22.00
3 Justin Leov                     3:27.86
4 Daniel Lynch                    3:28.61
5 Byron Scott                     3:29.31
6 James Dodds                     3:31.41
7 Tom Holland                     3:32.31
8 Julian Lowndes                  3:33.89
9 Scott Sheldon                   3:35.60
10 James Fisher                   3:45.22
11 Ian Kay                        3:46.84
12 Chris Jordon                   3:47.02
13 Lester Perry                   3:50.96
14 Giles Redston                  4:08.59
15 Tim Mackersy                   4:11.53
16 Glenn Haden                    4:54.16
DQ Hadley Boyce