UK’s no. 1 downhill venue hosted second round of Halo BDS downhill cup. Fort William race was won by World Champion Danny Hart (Giant) and Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) but both Jess Stone and Harry Heath did a fantastic job. Jess was third after Manon and Rachel Atherton, so she took another podium finish for the team. Harry had much harder work with all the best UK riders on the start list. In the final run he had a time of 5:00.44 (just 8 sec down on Hart’s time), which was enough for very solid 8^th place. He found himself in the group of top DH riders, and with next round of World Cup getting near this is great moral booster.

Results on Roots and Rain.

http://www.rootsandrain.com/race952/2012-may-13-halo-bds-2-fort-william/

Harry and Jess had a relaxing weekend before their second British Cup race in Fort William this weekend. Jess raced mini downhill in the Forest of Dean and got 2nd behind 2010 World Champion Tracey Mosley and this is what Jess had to say:

"The race was so much fun. The Dean Trail Volunteers certainly put on a great event this weekend at the Forest of Dean! I couldn't quite believe how many people were spectating and just generally riding, that place is quite popular!  It was going to be a tough race with Tracy Moseley also racing, but it was very chilled out and just, fun ! We had a few uplifts on the FlyUp Downhill and got in a few runs before racing. The weather was quite surprising, it was actually quite warm when the sun was out! I was expecting the tracks to be slippery, however it was very grippy and running fast.

My first race run was good, I felt like I was riding well and didn't make many mistakes however I could have carried my speed much better. I came down with a time of 1:18.5... 0.2seconds off Tracy with a time of 1:18.3 ! So it was very close racing. I knew I could go faster but I also knew that Tracy would now not want me to beat her and also go faster !! So I had to work hard.

The second run was very smooth, and I felt like I was riding with great control. I felt strong all the way down. I finished with a time of 1:17.1 however, Tracy pipped me by 1 second with a time of 1:16.1 !

Overall, I felt like I was riding well. The true test for me will be Fort William National this coming weekend which is considerably longer than Forest of Dean !! Hopefully I can hold on ! I'm so excited for it !"

Photo: Chris Ratford

Žiga is no stranger to downhill podium but the top spot somehow always got away from him. Not today though! He won his fist ever downhill and not just any race – he was fastest on the UCI Class 1 race Shambhala Open in Bolgaria.

“I had no doubt in my head, I was just flying on my bike,” said Žiga Pandur right after last rider came down the hill and could not beat Žiga’s fastest time of the day. Žiga was feeling strong a week ago on the iXS European Cup event in Monte Tamaro but after the unfortunate qualifications the finals were cancelled. “I wanted to keep that good feeling and top racing form that I had in Switzerland. The trip down here was worth it. I won for the first time in my career and this is only thing that matters right now,” told us super happy Žiga.

The race in Shambhala park near Sopot in Bolgaria is ranked UCI Class I, so it got the attention of very strong international competition. UK riders were the favorites with some pro riders and some young talents, but event the fastest qualifier Sam Dale could not beat Žiga’s final time of 4:17,30. Žiga just had too much fun! “Course over here is rocky but good for riding and I like it from the first minute. And to take a win in such a strong competition is even sweeter. Now I have a result that proves how fast I ride and now I have to transfer this also into the World Cups and other events.”

Žiga won the race ahead of Sam Dale (UK, Transition) and Adam Bryton (UK, Banshee – One Industries); Slovenian Boštjan Volf (Supersnurf Giant) took 26^th place.

Photos by Andrea Radačić

First round of the iXS European Cup was held in Monte Tamaro in Switzerland. Nejc and Žiga as regular contenders on the iXS European cup, travelled to Monte Tamaro with high goals, together with their local team mates from Slovenian Rajd Trek team. Due to bad weather on Sunday, organizer decided to cancel the race, mainly due to security reasons. Not all the riders were happy with that, as the situation got much better after a while and there was plenty of gap to move the start times.

Final ranking for the race was taken from the semi final results, where Nejc took 10th and Žiga 12th position. We are all very happy with this achievements, but would still rather see boys trying to go even higher on the final run. The competition was really high, with top contenders from the World Cup, so the result is even more important. See full results here

Morning situation, Photo iXS Downhill Cup