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MTBA National Observed Trials series #3
Western
Sydney MBC
The weather threatened to be thunderstorms and rain but on the day was dry but very gusty.
The course was set by MTBA Bike Trials coordinator, Steve Huxter who gave participants five very challenging sections that included the Transact Reel section with a 3m drop off the edge of a huge wire reel, a section with a freely revolving wire reel and a two car section. The gusty conditions certainly made things more difficult for those riders that balanced 3m above the ground with only the contact patch of tires to reel sides to support them!
The open 20in contestants certainly lived up to their international skill level by providing a very close contest, which in the end was convincingly won by Daniel Pierce followed by brother Nick (both of NSW and riding for Etnies, Smith and Fox) with Talon Weaving (Vic, riding for Gripsport and Monty) only a single 'dab' further behind.
The Open 26in class, riding over the same lines as the Open 20in also produced a close contest for first and second place, with Andrew Dickey (Vic, Crash.Test.Research) prevailing over Ben Benny (NSW, Manly Cycles, Monty) and with Hamish O'Niell in third place (Vic, City Cycles).
The Sport class was convincingly won by Chris Benny (NSW, Manly Cycles, Raceline) with Steve Huxter (Monty) and Darren Patterson picking up 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
Open 20in 1 Daniel Pierce 40 pts 2 Nick Pierce 48 3 Talon Weaving 49 Open 26in 1 Andrew Dickey 64 2 Ben Benny 65 3 Hamish O'Neill 70 4 Kleat Wilson 75 5 Jesse Kovac 75 Sport 1 Chris Benny 27 2 Steve Huxter 28 3 Darren Paterson 42 4 Nicolas Herald 42 5 Hugh McLeay 47 6 Tom Liston 58 7 Brendan Birks 60 8 Ben Randall 66 9 Chris Baker 75 10 Paul Grey retired Novice 1 Ashley Moffat 56
By Sean "I can see you're in charge here" Warren
Thankfully the rain and storms that lashed Sydney on Sunday held off for the duration of the race making for perfect conditions on the track. The overnight rain had helped firm up the track and gave a little stickiness on some sections that are usually dusty and loose. All up, 37 riders took to the Yarramundi track under threatening skies.
It was great to see more new riders turn up and our junior ranks continue to swell with 11 riders in the U/13 and U/15 categories this round. One U/15 rider, Justin Morris, is definitely a rider to watch out for in the future. Justin's lap times on Sunday would have placed him in the top 5 of "B" grade. The enhanced track condition paid off with fast lap times being set by many riders. Rod Harding who won the "A" grade category took an early lead and maintained it to the finish with lap times as low as 17 minutes. As usual thanks must go to Steve Gibbs for organising the great XC racing at WSMTB club.
A Grade 1 Rod Harding 1.32.51 2 Shaun Lewis 0.34 3 Richard Vollebregt 2.22 4 James Williamson 5.11 5 Mick Casey 11.24 6 Andrew Joviasa 12.18 7 Peter McLean 19.30 DNF Jeff Rooney B Grade 1 Colin McLaughlin 1.24.29 2 Colin Balk 0.02 3 Justin McDonald 3.12 4 Mark Freeney 15.17 DNF Chad Balding DNF Andrew Lumley C Grade 1 Andrew Fairhurst 1.06.11 2 Robert Hall 0.35 3 Jeff Dyball 2.22 4 Neil Lumley 2.40 5 Alisha Houghton 7.57 6 Michael Denham 11.36 7 Scott Behnken 14.30 8 James Gray 17.50 9 Sean Warren 21.54 DNF Bass Troucer DNF Dave Hughes DNF Paul McLaughlin U/15 1 Justin Morris 46.15 2 Michael Fairhurst 6.10 3 Daniel Harding 6.46 4 Michael Hughes 17.06 5 Jemma Hughes 28.00 DNF Adam Troucer U/13 1 Ben Dyball 18.59 2 Seaton Humphreys 0.50 3 Luc Jennison 3.39 4 Aaron Brewer 3.57 5 Kelly Hughes 8.12