2002 Australian National MTB Championships - CNThredbo, NSW, February 23-24, 2002 |
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Men's Downhill - February 23: Kosciuszko Express
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Kovarik makes it three for three
By John Stevenson & Paul Goldsmith
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Chris Kovarik has never been beaten at Thredbo and he maintained that record today, taking his third consecutive national championships with a stunning display of skill and sheer speed.
Mick Hannah was fastest in qualifying, and expected to shine in the final run, qualifying a couple of seconds faster than Kovarik. But Hannah had reckoned without Kovarik's bizarre luck and consummate skill. In qualifying, Kovarik had developed a mechanical problem and coasted the final quarter of the course. Even with the advantage of pedaling, Hannah had only been 2 seconds faster.
With a fully working bike, in the finals, Kovarik was unleashed and demolished all opposition, screaming down the side of Mt Crackenback in just over 5 minutes 33 seconds. Hannah had no answer, trailing in almost 16 seconds slower, and conceding the other two podium spots to the fast-finishing Nathan Rennie and 2001 junior world champion Ben Cory.
"I was going pretty well in the qualifying run," said Kovarik. "But in the last quarter I broke the bottom bracket, and it tightened up on the cranks, so that was the end of my pedaling," he said. Kovarik had a simple explanation for his cracking final run. "In the final, I was pedaling everywhere."
With his third national title tucked under his belt, Kovarik is off to the US to compete in the Sea Otter Classic before returning to Australia.
It was easily the highest-quality field ever assembled in Australia. "This could easily be a NORBA race," quipped one trackside wit, "except we don't have the Kiwis to make up the top ten!"
Under 19 Men
Sam Hill backed up last weekend's win at Mt Beauty, with a dominant win in todays National championship. Hill's time (5.52.78) would have placed Hill 8th in the elite event, and certainly augours well for the 2001 junior worlds bronze medallist when he moves up to the seniors.
Justin Havukainen took the silver, 7 seconds adrift of Hill, with Lindsay Klein taking the minor placing.
Photography
- Chris Kovarik pounded his way into first place
- Chris Kovarik crosses the mountainside meadows
- Nathan 'Stomper' Rennie plays avoid-the-haybales. The powerful young rider from Western Sydney finished second.
- Nathan 'Stomper' Rennie powers across the meadows
- Milling about is a vital part of downhill racing
- John Waddell used his international experience to land seventh place
- Sam Hill - the junior worlds bronze medallist was a comfortable U19 winner
- Justin Havukainen starts out on the way to the silver in U19
- Lindsay Klein gets low in the U19 on the way to third place
- Lindsay Klein demonstrates that gravity provides the fastest way between two points
- Ricky Lee was just one of three riders in the U15 class
Around and about
- The time is out of joint - Bruce and the Castech crew are here to put it right
- Extreme repair techniques, as demonstrated by Kip Frost
- Braking bumps made the corners interesting, as Brock Newling demonstrates
- Ashley Rangott was one of several riders sidelined by mechanicals as the tough Thredbo course took its toll
Results
Expert Men
Qualifying Run Final Run
1 Chris Kovarik 5.47.70 5.33.48
2 Nathan Rennie 5.49.93 5.41.86
3 Ben Cory 5.58.75 5.48.43
4 Michael Hannah 5.45.88 5.49.24
5 John Waddell 5.55.17 5.50.55
6 Jared Rando 5.54.46 5.51.73
7 Bryn Atkinson 5.51.59 5.52.44
8 Joel Panozzo 5.51.99 5.54.74
9 Rick Boyer 6.01.58 5.55.09
10 Sean McCarroll 6.02.81 5.56.40
11 Andrew Mills 5.59.35 5.56.91
12 Dave Inabinet 6.09.27 6.04.71
13 Danny Mills 6.06.59 6.04.96
14 Shane Wode 6.07.71 6.05.01
15 William Yarwood 6.09.78 6.05.65
16 Ryan Lennox 6.05.34 6.06.00
17 Brad Kelly 6.08.80 6.06.15
18 Simon French 6.07.81 6.07.89
19 Jamie Green 6.12.03 6.07.99
20 Luke Patching 6.08.03 6.08.09
21 Robbie McNaughton 6.09.99 6.08.09
22 Craig Van Haren 6.11.96 6.09.17
23 Jason Codding 6.08.71 6.09.98
24 Matthew Tape 6.05.63 6.11.87
25 Tim Mann 6.10.04 6.14.37
26 Rohan Gearing 6.11.45 6.16.51
27 Shinichiro Kano 6.10.53 6.22.16
28 Craig Yates 6.12.43 6.26.33
29 Daniel Plumb 6.03.14 7.09.00
30 Andrew Maxwell 6.12.26 12.52.76
31 Garreth Paton 6.12.66
32 M Scroblin 6.14.97
33 Mike Atkins 6.16.36
34 Andrew Epthorp 6.17.08
35 David Ziegman 6.17.09
36 Craig Woodhead 6.17.65
37 Todd Folland 6.17.74
38 Jaan Hurditch 6.18.01
39 Chris Dimbill 6.18.96
40 David Lyons 6.20.27
41 Adam Smithson 6.20.91
42 Jon Odams 6.21.25
43 Dave West 6.24.04
44 Matthew Ardern 6.24.09
45 Matt Thompson 6.24.82
46 Dean Totterman 6.26.13
47 Zac Dooling 6.26.18
48 Curtis Day 6.26.32
49 Paul McPhee 6.27.43
50 Matt Newson 6.29.13
51 Shane Paton 6.29.85
52 Joe Achilles 6.29.92
53 Mathew Rowland 6.30.42
54 John Farrow 6.30.55
55 Ngari Jenkins 6.30.67
56 Tony Carson 6.31.52
57 Gavin Finlay 6.31.68
58 Fred McClelland 6.32.06
59 Christopher Maierhofer 6.35.01
60 Brett Lancelot 6.35.48
61 James Collins 6.35.91
62 Dennis Beare 6.36.26
63 Len Saville 6.37.33
64 David Wood 6.38.51
65 Angus Crombie 6.39.28
66 Dallas Montgomery 6.40.42
67 Mark Turek 6.40.84
68 Adam Hunter 6.40.86
69 Daniel Bedford 6.43.28
70 Dan Cleary 6.45.76
71 John Thomas 6.45.97
72 Luke Wolfik 6.46.27
73 Adam Freeman 6.46.49
74 Evan James 6.47.05
75 Kip Frost 6.47.62
76 Duncan Hall-Brown 6.49.50
77 Oliver Hoschke 6.50.19
78 Jade McGregor 6.51.68
79 Kane Abbott 6.53.12
80 Dean Conkey 6.53.52
81 Brad Spark 6.58.38
82 Daniel Wolfik 7.02.50
83 Simon Gubbins 7.03.41
84 Daryl Snowdon 7.05.68
85 Scott Prendergast 7.05.97
86 P Horst 7.07.69
87 Steve Rush 7.24.13
88 Steven Petherick 7.54.60
89 Matthew Tickle 8.09.52
90 Adam Dossetor 9.21.91
91 James Boland 10.50.26
92 Chris Exner 12.43.75
93 Damien Cullen 23.29.81
U19 Men
1 Sam Hill 6.05.93 5.52.78
2 Justin Havukainen 6.05.10 5.59.20
3 Lindsay Klein 6.05.27 5.59.47
4 Luke Strom 6.03.68 6.00.92
5 David McLaughlin 6.11.93 6.03.08
6 Mal Nicol 6.21.73 6.13.38
7 Alexander Duke 6.17.92 6.20.35
8 Phillip Scicluna 6.16.52 6.21.48
9 Riley Donaldson 6.21.76 6.22.63
10 Alan Crisp 6.24.65 6.25.26
11 Llewellyn Cameron 6.26.16
12 Alistair Corr 6.27.16
13 Nick Webb 6.27.79
14 Wylie Burchall 6.28.37
15 Christopher Wein 6.32.01
16 Jonathon Taylor 6.36.31
17 Nick Stubbs 6.38.81
18 Andrew Crabtree 6.50.64
19 Trent Connally 6.55.30
20 Will Clifford 6.58.36
21 James Blencowe 7.09.13
22 Byron Westbury 7.09.32
23 Nathan Langham 7.10.23
24 Timothy Blackman 7.13.42
25 Matthew Dalrymple 7.16.37
26 Jordan Death 7.16.86
27 Adam Tokarczuk 7.19.44
28 Clive Smith 7.50.42
U17 Men
1 Liam Panozzo 6.14.64
2 Jarrah Breeze 6.19.64
3 Ameil Cavalier 6.27.99
4 Mitchell Willcocks 6.30.32
5 Darren Pokoj 6.32.21
6 Christopher Panozzo 6.41.24
7 Michael Kearton 6.41.78
8 Matt Lawson 6.41.80
9 Brock Newling 6.43.90
10 Ashley Stokes 6.52.56
11 Ayden Eves 6.56.80
12 Daniel Carrington 7.04.45
13 Scott Graham 7.11.38
14 Hugh Mansfield 7.18.11
15 Josh Boyd 7.21.50
16 Ben Saville 7.22.60
17 Thomas Egan 7.29.52
18 Che Pianta 7.32.86
19 Alex Strickland 7.51.22
20 Travis Southall 7.52.12
21 Owen Wicks 7.58.30
22 Sam O'Connor 8.05.82
23 Michael Kristen 8.09.51
24 Shaun Ezzy 8.09.97
25 Tylah Breeze 9.01.87
U15 Men
1 Sebastian De Beer 7.18.60
2 Ricky Lee 7.25.41
3 Michael Clark 10.04.17
Sport Men
1 Stuart Keep 6.19.12
2 Miles Mead 6.24.97
3 Gareth Bingon 6.30.67
4 Chadd Hately 6.31.46
5 Andrew Lairo 6.32.82
6 Sam Underdown 6.33.78
7 Terry Rodgers 6.34.41
8 Michael Norman 6.35.27
9 Scott Beeton 6.36.15
10 Sam Walshe 6.36.73
11 Lincoln Verass 6.44.37
12 Brad Stratton 6.45.24
13 Timon Wegner 6.45.32
14 Masaru Akazawa 6.45.33
15 Ben Mundy 6.45.43
16 Ollie Klein 6.48.69
17 Simon Christie 6.48.81
18 Brendan Butler 6.50.78
19 Phillip Tribe 6.51.80
20 Aaron Weekes 6.53.14
21 Tom Doake 6.53.37
22 John Myssonski 6.57.33
23 David Knight 6.58.57
24 Gary Page 6.58.99
25 Andrew Dapre 7.00.45
26 Michael McNaught 7.02.50
27 Bruce Geach 7.07.97
28 Shane Middleton 7.09.72
29 Brett Minion 7.09.85
30 Ken BallHause 7.10.83
31 Jim Campbell 7.11.65
32 Don Hancock 7.15.87
33 Grant Cannan 7.18.00
34 Michael Sierp 7.24.45
35 Mathew Dixon 7.24.64
36 Craig Dudley 7.25.13
37 John Clark 7.25.27
38 Damian Auton 7.25.65
39 Paul Stockley 7.30.12
40 Adam Panozzo 7.31.75
41 Andrew Hamilton 7.32.44
42 Karl Yunker 7.34.52
43 Tony Frece 7.35.83
44 Jason Rutter 7.41.52
45 Craig Maltman 7.44.19
46 Scott Keller 7.45.01
47 Andrew Scott 7.47.33
48 Daniel Hehir 7.47.71
49 Mark Sistrom 7.48.28
50 Wayne Cousins 7.52.34
51 David Kolts 8.19.59
52 Eric Chan 8.32.78
53 Jason Puxty 8.34.42
54 Scott Murray 9.00.64
55 Darren Hawkes 9.47.23
56 Neil Linkston 9.54.64
57 Jarrah Lankas 15.25.83
58 Luke Abbott 16.31.10
Masters 1-2 Men
1 Rob Eva 6.29.08
2 Warren Atkins 6.34.17
3 Troy Rowell 6.47.04
4 Stuart Norman 6.49.23
5 Frank Hoer 6.52.28
6 Troy Parsons 6.53.46
7 Adam Spencer 7.05.59
8 Glynn Hicks 7.11.88
9 Daniel Pradal 7.30.87
10 Jari Hentilla 7.49.89
11 Michael Scicluna 7.52.44
12 Neil Scruton 7.56.36
13 Greg Lane 8.18.09
14 Chris Wilson 9.13.87
15 Dean Leslie 9.24.09
16 Andre Farley 10.01.14
Masters 3+ Men
1 Stefan Wein 6.57.78
2 Anthony Hunter 7.30.67
3 Tony Burchall 7.33.63
4 Greg Wilson 7.33.72
5 Grant Gambril 7.37.91
6 Steve Coles 7.59.58
7 Greg Applin 8.01.05
8 Terry Connally 8.54.47
Hardtail
1 Chris Dewar 6.31.13
2 Matthew Wilson 7.16.49
3 Rob Tyler 7.24.17
4 Rodney Davis 7.36.18
5 David Moran 7.45.76
6 Luke Collins 8.52.49
7 Nathan Mills 9.14.96
8 Nathan Graham 9.37.41