Ride.io bring you a massive selection of shots showcasing yesterdays downhill qualifying at the 2013 Fort William World Cup…
Gee getting into the zone before his qualifying runMind gamesCaroline Buchanan cornering hard through the fast, loose turnsGee Atherton running the no. 1 plate. He placed 2nd fastest, 0.176 seconds of Danny’s pace.Greg Minnaar was smooth over the rock garden but couldn’t quite keep up with the top riders of the day. (12th)Gwin: expected to be one of the top riders at this world cup, he was smooth and silent over the rocks. One of the surprises of the day was his 14th place in qualifying. Or is he playing games…Stevie Smith had a great run and placed 5th today.Sam Hill riding his Nukeproof Pulse to an 8th place finish.Brook Macdonald smashed his way to a 6th place finish.Josh Bryceland had a crash lower down the track and finished a disappointing 88th place. Luckily his protected status means he automatically qualifies for the finals.Mick Hannah is on top form this weekend and put in a big effort to claim 4th place.The man of the moment and 1st place qualifier: Danny Hart. He’s going to need to stay on top form to beat the rest of the field in tomorrows final.Marc Beaumont placed 41st and was seemingly a little disappointed with his run after a spill. He placed 5th at the first split, however, which shows he does have the pace needed through the loose twisty corners.Remi Thirion cruising down on his BOS equipped Commencal.Nick Beer dropped from 9th at split 1 to 153rd at split 2. We suspect he had a fairly bad crash since he didn’t finish his run.Sam Dale has been looking rapid all week, and came down in 15th – a great result.Steve Peat had a solid run, placing him 21st in the rankings. We hope there’s more to see from him come finals.Brendan Fairclough came down in 22nd and was not looking as fast as people were expecting.Greg Williamson came down the mountain in 26th.Troy Brosnan showed real maturity as a rider and was consistently fast down the track. He placed one spot better than his teammate Aaron Gwin, beating his time by 0.4 seconds.Lewis Buchanan is in 19th spot after qualifying. So many young British riders are performing fantastically on this course.Harry Molloy placed 121st, despite achieving 11th fastest times through both splits. He was one one of the only riders to gap this section, and put in a strong effort today.The young privateer racer Harry Heath had a fantastic run, exceeding everyone’s expectations and placing 11th in the standings.Richard Thomas, another British rider, came down in 75th spot, placing him just inside the qualifying times.Jack Reading achieved 144th, well outside qualifying times after a flat. He brought some style to the track however, by prehopping this small drop and landing on a slope further down the hill.Alexander Kangas ended up 51stAntonio Ferreiro Pajuelo placed 24th today, and entertained the crowds on the way.Dan Stanbridge ranked 95th and unfortunately did not qualify for finals.Fort William is one of the most brutal tracks on the world cup circuit. Fabien Cousinie paid the price today.Pietro Caire overcooking it after the big road gapIt’s amazing how far Cedric Gracia has come considering the potentially fatal position he was in about a year ago. He placed 79th, just making finals and hopefully reassuring his many fans that he is most certainly back.
