Rose Bikes BDS #2 – Fort William – Race Report

It was round #2 of the British Downhill Series this past weekend at Fort William. On a much shortened course due to bad weather it was another Atherton show.

With the second round of the World Cup fast approaching many top World Cup racers decided to get some early practice in and what better place than the British National Series a couple of weeks before. Many racers made the long journey across the country with many arriving on the Friday to get some early runs in on the track. Friday ran well with some decent weather and riders getting their runs in and up to speed.

There had been warnings during the week of bad weather for the weekend but the Nevis Range had assured racers that the lifts would run with little issue. However, this was not to be, with snow and high winds at the top of the track practice was cancelled for the day.

With the forecast looking worse for the following day race organiser Si Paton made the decision to run a push up practice from the Silverline Tools wall ride to the bottom. This of course was deeply frustrating for racers and many made the decision to cut their losses and go home without racing. Practice ran smoothly with many racers keeping hopeful for a full race on Sunday.

Sunday morning and practice was due to run at 8.10am, however with the heavy wind once again causing serious problems with the gondola it had to be shut down. The decision was made to race the shortened track for practice in the morning and then just race runs in the afternoon. Racers committed to the track and made the most of the new Motorway section that had been built for the world cup. This made for some close racing and despite the obvious disappointment of not being able to race the full track racers seemed to be having fun.

Racing came around and there was some very close racing among all categories. In the Elite men Gee Atherton took the win in a stacked elite men’s field. And in the Elite women’s category a win from Rachel Atherton making it an Atherton clean sweep. This concluded the weekends racing with a look forward to the next BDS at the infamous Llangollen Race track, with hopefully much better weather in sight.

Words – Fergus Ryan

Photos –  Sarah Barrett

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