Jersey DH Inter Insular Race 2015 – Race Report

This year saw the first ever Jersey vs. Guernsey Inter insular. Held in Jersey it took place on the gnarliest track they could offer

It was not necessarily the longest but very demanding in terms of physicality and technicality. The top sections was full of steep switchback followed by a 12 foot sender landing into the middle sections which was freshly cut, so it was very loose. This was followed by rock garden which required commitment, the lower half was full of drops and a flat out sprint to the line.

Saturday was practice and qualifying which had riders getting to grips with the different obstacles. The main rock garden seemed to be challenging riders the most with a couple of different line choices going into and out of it and so this is where the majority of carnage took place. Noticeable riders in practice were Guernseys John Mapley and Dan Owen who were putting there DH bikes to good use on the rocks and big drops while Jerseys Luke Pallot, Jack Clayden, James Olliver and Richard Payne were all doing there bit for team Jersey putting in solid laps and cleaning the course.

Quali’s rolled round and it would be Luke Pallot setting the standard with a time of 57.9 closely followed by Mapley in second, Clayden in third, Ollivier in fourth and Rich Payne rounding out the top five.

On race day nerves were running slightly higher with it all coming down to one run and with the track getting faster due to some big ol’ ruts forming in the loam-fest, crashes were becoming more frequent and spectacular. As the riders went through tensions were running high when it reached the top five. Especially as there had been some big offs already.

Richard Payne came through first stepping up the mark with a time of 53.67 throwing the competition wide open, next up was James Ollivier who unfortunately came off just after the landing of the big drop which would cost him eventually dropping him back to 10th overall. Jack Clayden came through the line next with a time of 56.01 improving four seconds on his quail time and with only Guernsey’s John Mapley and Jersey’s Luke Pallot left it was going to be tight so you’ll just have to scroll a little further for the final results.

FINAL RESULTS
1st // Richard Payne // 53.67 (Jersey)
2nd // Luke Pallot // 53.76 (Jersey)
3rd // John Mapley // 54.09 (Guernsey)
4th // Jack Clayden // 56.03 (Jersey)
5th // Dan Owen // 58.42 (Guernsey

TEAM OVERALL RESULTS
1st // Jersey
2nd // Guernsey