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By John Stevenson in Mt Beauty
The Elite men's downhill at the MTBA national championships went right down to the last rider as Queensland star Chris Kovarik pushed Mt Beauty local hero Joel Panozzo into second place in the day's final ride.
Many riders were slower in the final than they'd previously been in qualifying earlier in the day, as the other categories had churned up the track. Riders like Nathan Rennie and Rick Boyer were a couple of seconds slower, so when Panozzo almost replicated his earlier run, finishing a tenth of a second faster, the question was: could Kovarik repeat or improve the qualifying run that had earned him the right to the day's last descent?
The large crowd lining the final quarter of the downhill course soon had an answer. The Mt Beauty organisers had created a perfect spectacle. Using the old Dual Kompressor course, they routed riders through a chute and over a selection of jumps, berms and tabletops, keeping riders in view for almost all of the last minute of each run.
Kovarik appeared at the top of the finish section seconds after Panozzo crossed the line, and as the timer clicked past the three minute mark it was clear that Kovarik was a couple of hundred metres further down the hill than Panozzo at the same time. With one eye on the time and another on the course, Kovarik kept up the pressure right to the line, sprinting hard through the slightly uphill finish to demolish Panozzo's time.
Asked how he felt about being beaten by Kovarik on his home course, Panozzo was philosophical. "Aaah," he said, "he always does this to me." Kovarik modestly put his success down to his overseas racing experience on the NORBA and World Cup circuits.
It was business as usual in the women's downhill with New South Wales' Tai-Lee Muxlow taking the final by a large margin after a fairly relaxed qualifying run. Talitha Fitzgerald improved on her qualifying run to take the silver.
In the juniors, 2001 worlds bronze medallist Sam Hill improved on last year's silver to take the victory. Hill's time would have placed him fourth in the senior men -- another rider the established guns will have to look out for when he turns senior.
The vets was a stroll as usual for the man from SRAM, Rob Eva. The grand old bloke of Australian mountain bike racing was heard wishing that someone would challenge him in the vet category in downhill and cross country. Careful what you wish for…
Elite Men Final run 1 Chris Kovarik (Spy, Intense, Fox) 3.17.0 2 Joel Panozzo (SunRace, Santa Cruz, Arnette) 3.23.6 3 Jared Graves (GT, Hutchinson, SRAM) 3.26.7 4 Nathan Rennie (Yeti, Pearl Izumi) 3.28.5 5 Rick Boyer (Orange, Hutchinson, Smith) 3.32.4 6 Mathew Tape 3.34.1 7 Bryn Atkinson (Orange, Oakley, Hutchinson) 3.34.2 8 Dennis Beare 3.38.0 9 Brad Kelly (Bike Addiction) 3.40.0 10 Andrew Maxwell (Ashgrove Cycles) 3.40.2 11 Scott Sharples 3.41.0 12 Rohan Gearing 3.42.0 13 Robbie McNaughton (Smith, Fastrider) 3.42.5 14 Jamie Green (The Bike Shed, Giant) 3.43.5 15 Shane Wode (Norco, 661, Axo, Spy) 3.43.6 16 Adam Smithson 3.46.1 17 Grant Day (Panther Cycles, Hope) 3.46.2 18 Jaan Hurditch 3.47.4 19 Dallas Augustine 3.47.7 20 Chris Dimbill (Craftworks, Michelin, Dragon) 3.48.7 21 Garreth Paton (The Bike Shed) 3.50.2 22 Nari Jenkins (Cyclework, Avanti) 3.50.9 23 Landon Jenaway 3.52.2 24 Tim Mann 3.52.4 25 Miles Mead (Edge Cycles, Planet X Eyewear) 3.53.0 26 Craig Yates (Craftworks, Oakley, Reef Shoes) 3.53.2 27 Adrian Walsh 3.54.1 28 Will Yarwood 3.54.6 29 Matthew Ardern 4.03.1 30 David Ferroni (Rob Evan, Hutchinson, SRAM, Spy) DNF First run 1 Chris Kovarik (Spy, Intense, Fox) 3.20.6 2 Joel Panozzo (SunRace, Santa Cruz, Arnette) 3.23.7 3 Jared Graves (GT, Hutchinson, SRAM) 3.27.0 4 Nathan Rennie (Yeti, Pearl Izumi) 3.30.3 5 Bryn Atkinson (Orange, Oakley, Hutchinson) 3.33.4 6 Rick Boyer (Orange, Hutchinson, Smith) 3.34.2 7 Tim Mann 3.36.7 8 Mathew Tape 3.38.0 9 Rohan Gearing 3.38.3 10 Jaan Hurditch 3.38.3 11 Shane Wode (Norco, 661, Axo, Spy) 3.38.3 12 Scott Sharples 3.39.8 13 Grant Day (Panther Cycles, Hope) 3.40.1 14 Dennis Beare 3.40.6 15 Chris Dimbill (Craftworks, Michelin, Dragon) 3.41.2 16 Brad Kelly (Bike Addiction) 3.42.1 17 Robbie McNaughton (Smith, Fastrider) 3.42.8 18 Matthew Ardern 3.43.1 19 Garreth Paton (The Bike Shed) 3.43.2 20 Miles Mead (Edge Cycles, Planet X Eyewear) 3.43.4 21 Nari Jenkins (Cyclework, Avanti) 3.44.0 22 Will Yarwood 3.44.5 23 Dallas Augustine 3.44.7 24 Landon Jenaway 3.46.2 25 Andrew Maxwell (Ashgrove Cycles) 3.47.3 26 Jamie Green (The Bike Shed, Giant Bicycles) 3.47.6 27 Adam Smithson 3.48.2 28 Adrian Walsh 3.48.9 29 Craig Yates (Craftworks, Oakley, Reef Shoes) 3.49.0 30 David Ferroni (Rob Evan, Hutchinson, SRAM, Spy) 3.50.2 31 Aaron Doig (Bicycle Superstore) 3.50.7 32 Todd Folland (Specialised, Avanti, Sombrio, Spy) 3.51.1 33 Paul McPhee (The Big Bike Shope) 3.51.4 34 Peter Laird 3.51.9 35 Dave West (Trak Cycles) 3.52.0 36 Shane Harding 3.52.4 37 Andrew Laird 3.53.8 38 Shane Paton (The Bike Shed) 3.57.3 39 Jason Archer (Hi-Way Cycles) 3.59.8 40 Matt West (JT Cycles) 4.00.7 41 Tim Colcan 4.01.9 42 Zac Dooling 4.02.1 43 Matt Swann (Sanitarium, Bicycle Workshop) 4.03.7 44 Mick Ross 4.05.1 45 Sam Kilgore (Southern Truck Centre Queanbeyan) 4.06.2 46 Tyron McLean (Vic MTB) 4.06.9 47 Ryan Goddard (Vic MTB) 4.07.8 48 Mike Atkins 4.09.9 49 Shane Weaving (Brunswick St Cycles) 4.12.0 50 Brendan Scale (Bicycle Workshop, Weet-bix, Giant, Fox) 4.15.3 51 Christopher Dewar 4.17.1 52 David Taylor (Bikes & Trikes) 4.20.8 53 Peter Bennison 4.21.2 54 Andrew Randall (Down Hill Tribe, Streamline) 4.22.1 55 Peter Horch 4.24.4 56 Daryl Snowdon (Melbourne Bicycle Centre) 4.26.5 57 Jackson Hepper 4.30.3 58 Thor Phillips 4.31.2 59 Kip Frost 4.41.6 60 Derek Yates 4.45.7 61 Ben Thomson (Bikes Strikies (Bart Racing)) 5.00.6 62 Dallas Montgomery (Planet X) 5.05.9 63 Matthew Evans (Streamline Cycles) 5.15.4 64 Sam Underdown (Euromedia, International Cycles) 14.37.2 DNF Dean Parker (Bike House) Elite Women Final run 1 Tai Lee Muxlow 4.08.9 2 Talitha Fitzgerald 4.16.1 3 Niki Gudex (Oakley, Sydney Radiology) 4.17.4 4 Emma McNaughton 4.22.0 5 Shelley Kamevaar (KHS, Mazzochi, Panaracer, Spy) 5.04.3 6 Debbie MacGregor (Otway Expeditions) 6.11.4 7 Cara Smith (Bike Shed Canberra) DNF First run 1 Niki Gudex (Oakley, Sydney Radiology) 4.21.7 2 Tai Lee Muxlow 4.23.2 3 Talitha Fitzgerald 4.26.0 4 Emma McNaughton 4.27.3 5 Shelley Kamevaar (KHS, Mazzochi, Panaracer, Spy) 4.52.9 6 Debbie MacGregor (Otway Expeditions) 6.09.3 7 Cara Smith (Bike Shed Canberra) 10.17.8 U19 Women 1 Tess Dickie 7.43.0 Sport Women 1 Julie Harris 6.12.5 2 Wendy McFadden 6.25.8 3 Emily Rousseau 10.25.6 Sport Men 1 Jason Morrison (Cumberland Cycles, CTR, Scaerdykat Racing) 4.01.4 2 Allister Neely 4.07.4 3 Mathew Dixon 4.07.7 4 Sam Steinlauf (Norco, Freewheel) 4.09.9 5 Daniel Neely 4.10.4 6 Neil Linston 4.14.3 7 Michael Sierp (Standish Cycles Unley) 4.16.1 8 Jorge Robinson 4.17.3 9 Tim McDonnell (Daktari) 4.18.2 10 Dustin Dever 4.19.6 11 Paul Glowark 4.23.1 12 Glenn Holloway (Assault Magazine) 4.24.8 13 Adam Panozzo 4.26.3 14 Steven Davies 4.28.6 15 Paul Chauver 4.29.6 16 Andrew Watson (Ballarat Cycle City) 4.29.8 17 Mark Charman 4.30.6 18 John Petersen (Borsari Cycles) 4.30.7 19 Ryan Long 4.33.6 20 Marc McConnachie 4.34.2 21 Andy Mero 4.34.2 22 Scott Letton 4.36.1 23 Nicholas Wright (Bike House) 4.37.8 24 Justin Hams 4.41.1 25 Cameron Shilton 4.42.8 26 Tim McCreeny 4.44.2 27 Matt Camenzuli 4.46.8 28 Peter Hutchinson 4.47.9 29 Scott Bradley 4.49.1 30 Cameron Ord (Downhill Direct, Da Bomb, Shockworks) 4.49.4 31 Lee Gibson 4.50.6 32 Martin Hedenstroem (DH Direct) 4.50.8 33 Ben Reynolds (Streamline Cycles) 4.54.5 34 Juan Roncallo 4.58.2 35 Russell Wood 5.00.4 36 Maurice Pauly 5.00.8 37 Garrick Gallard 5.02.6 38 Gary Moore 5.05.1 39 David Svarc 5.05.9 40 Jamie Mahony 5.06.4 41 James King (Geelong MTB, TRI) 5.08.3 42 Steven Wilson 5.09.9 43 Sky Guyatt 5.11.7 44 Dmitrii Antanovski 5.16.6 45 Jason Ellenshaw 5.17.0 46 Ian Russell 5.22.2 47 Josh Cully 5.29.3 48 Matthew Elwes (Hardcore Racing Wear, Armadale Cycle Worx) 5.47.4 49 Jason Haire 5.49.5 50 Matt Bolger 5.52.2 51 Hew Merrett 5.52.3 52 Roger Hassan 6.04.2 53 Marcus O'Heary 6.08.1 54 James Reid 6.08.8 55 Simon Cox 6.29.2 56 Timothy Price 6.29.6 57 Justin Armstrong 6.32.4 58 Alex Kelly (K&R Mountain Cycles) 6.36.0 59 Tony Cook (Club Safari, Talum, JT Cycles Adelaide) 7.01.9 60 Adrien Giblerr 7.10.0 61 Tim Mott 9.05.2 62 Rory Allen 10.58.5 63 Ben Penberthy 13.20.6 Masters Men 1 Bernie McArdle 4.59.0 2 Mark Gardner 5.08.2 3 Michael Scicluna 5.25.3 4 Stephen Johnson 5.47.7 5 Henri Reinschild 6.32.7 6 Terry Connally (Streamline Cycles) 17.40.2 Super Masters Men 1 Tony Burchall (Streamline Cycles) 4.42.1 Veteran Men 1 Rob Eva (Felt Bicycles, SRAM, Hutchinson) 3.55.3 2 Sean Power 4.06.0 3 Evan James (Craftworks, CTR, Bicycle Express) 4.07.0 4 Brendon Billings (Le Tour Cycles) 4.07.9 5 Jamiee Easton 4.09.8 6 Darren Moore (Trak Cycles, Monty, CTR) 4.12.5 7 Rob Craft 4.17.6 8 Steve Munyard (Streamline Cycles) 4.23.4 9 Damian Auton (Moyo Dirty Wear) 4.26.7 10 Ollie Klein (Lifecycle Bicycles, Scaerdykat) 4.27.2 11 Simon Hampton 4.28.1 12 Evan Jeffrey 4.29.9 13 Paul Selleck 4.29.9 14 Philip Catton (Spy, Fox) 4.30.2 15 Ian Stewart 4.33.2 16 Scott Paton 4.36.5 17 Darren Taylor 4.41.7 18 Bill Dengate (Da Bomb, Shockworks) 4.46.1 19 Allan Clements (theclem1@bigpond.com) 4.48.7 20 Denis Kane 5.17.7 21 Ian Petrie 5.28.9 22 Pat Coe 5.57.6 23 Nigel Molyneux (Highway Cycles, Bondin, Strathfield) 5.57.8 24 Paul Eckert (Calvin Cycles Unlimited) 6.36.7 25 Brett Maddison 15.00.2 U19 Men Final run 1 Sam Hill (Hi-way Cycles, Adidas) 3.27.6 2 Luke Strom (Giant, Zeal, Citizen, Panther Cycles) 3.41.4 3 Wylie Burchall (Streamline Cycles) 3.50.0 4 David McLaughlin 3.50.4 5 Alan Crisp 3.53.6 6 Will Hudson 3.55.7 7 Phillip Scicluna 3.59.8 8 Dan Johnson (JT Cycles) 4.18.0 9 Ben Mundy 4.20.9 10 Lackie Dickie 4.22.2 First run 1 Sam Hill (Hi-way Cycles, Adidas) 3.27.6 2 Luke Strom (Giant, Zeal, Citizen, Panther Cycles) 3.41.4 3 Wylie Burchall (Streamline Cycles) 3.50.0 4 David McLaughlin 3.50.4 5 Alan Crisp 3.53.6 6 Will Hudson 3.55.7 7 Phillip Scicluna 3.59.8 8 Dan Johnson (JT Cycles) 4.18.0 9 Ben Mundy 4.20.9 10 Lackie Dickie 4.22.2 11 Tim McKechnie 4.11.1 12 Trent Connally (Streamline Cycles & DAD) 4.15.1 13 Len Saville 4.15.8 14 Adam Hunter (RawNRG, Ironhorse, Vic MTB) 4.16.0 15 Hayden Lebbink 4.36.8 16 David Knights 4.42.5 17 Jensen Woodcock (Otway Expeditions) 5.18.5 18 Jonathon Taylor (Orange Bikes UK, Oakley, Hutchinson Tyres) 8.44.2 19 Marc Wyckmans 9.06.1 U17 Men 1 Michael Kearton 3.57.2 2 Matt Lawson (Bike Shed) 4.07.5 3 Ben Cleggett 4.19.8 4 Ken Ballhause (Rawsons Bikes Bairnsdale) 4.24.8 5 Jarah Breese 4.30.3 6 Che Pianta (Cycle Science) 4.30.8 7 Hugh Peters 4.32.3 8 Thomas Egan (Cycle Science - Mitcham) 4.32.9 9 David Thompson 4.39.8 10 Matthew Bawden 4.41.7 11 Ben Saville (Mum & Dad) 4.44.6 12 John Clark 4.44.9 13 Tom Doake 4.47.7 14 Jack Willet (Gilmore Cycles) 4.53.8 15 Travis Southall (Cycle Science Mitcham) 4.55.1 16 Sam Gregory 5.11.1 17 Chris Bergin 5.54.1 18 Zac Calabro (Video Paradise, Balwyn) 6.02.0 19 William Koenig 6.24.3 20 Ben McKechnie 6.32.7 21 Sean Hurley 6.40.4 DNF Jamie Rogers U15 Men 1 Liam Panozzo (Panozzo Racing, Buzz's Bikes & Bits) 3.35.6 2 Christopher Panozzo 3.54.0 3 Ayden Eves 4.09.3 4 Ashley Stokes (Mum & Dad) 4.11.7 5 Kane Lukassen 4.16.6 6 Damien Plas 4.24.1 7 Lachlan Gardner 4.26.8 8 Luke Garnham 4.28.7 9 Ricky Lee (Raw NRG, Ironhorse, ACO, Sixsixone, Walking Clinic) 4.44.9 10 Christopher Hetherington (Team F.S.R.) 4.45.6 11 Alex Swann (Sanitarium, Bicycle Workshop) 4.45.6 12 Luke Potter (DAD) 4.52.5 13 Tom Mathews 5.05.4 14 Tglah Breese 5.09.3 15 Jeremey Sherwill 5.25.8 16 Ben Stray (Brunswick Street Cycles) 6.39.2 17 Sam Matthews 7.13.4 U13 Men 1 David Hetherington (Team F.S.R.) 5.23.4 2 Timothy Harrington 5.45.6