Rose Bikes BDS Round #1 – Race Report
The first round of the British Downhill Series took place at a slippy Ae Forest at the weekend. A good opening round to see who has done their homework.
The British Downhill series has grown in size over the years to the point now where it attracts many of the world’s top riders, who come to test their skills in preparation for the up and coming world cup series opener next weekend. When we say the world’s top riders we mean it, as we had the male and female world champions, and the male and female world cup champions and many riders who have podiumed and medalled on world class level, and there were still many British riders missing! For many riders this opening round of the national series was the first race of the season, the weekend started by catching up with friends, discussing the winters training and throwing opinions around about all the new bikes, kit and teams. However by Sunday this nostalgia was replaced with nerves as it dawned on people that this was the first opportunity to test the work of the off-season and see how they fair for the season ahead.
Emyr Davies Headcam
Ae forest has been used for British and Scottish rounds for years and this time round the track followed a similar line but with some of the fun off-camber corners at the top replaces with two long traverses. The track was generally well received by riders with many talking points of the track, stump gaps, rock gardens and multiple line corners kept riders discussing line choice all weekend. The weather surprised everyone this weekend with blue skies and sunshine almost straight through, which meant the track was slowly drying all weekend, which was blessing seeing as most of the weekend was spent queuing for the uplift. This was the main theme of the weekend, with a 2 hour turn around on the uplift 5 runs was pretty much the maximum for Saturday practice which is a shame as the rest of the event was well organised and executed.
After a cold nights sleep on Saturday riders woke to a covering of fog and an early start for practice at 8am. As riders waited at the top of the track for practice to start they were enjoying the morning sun and being above the low lying fog covering the pits. Before you knew it racing was upon us, and at 11am sharp the first Juveniles left the start gate for qualifying, and qualifying ran smoothly with only the odd red flag and one timing glitch holding proceeding up.
Qualifying at the first round of the year is a big deal as many riders have changed categories it gives an opportunity to make a mark on the new competitors. The biggest result in qualifying was in the Elite men’s category, where Innes Graham and Reece Wilson were 1st and 2nd which was a notable results seeing as it was the first race out of junior for both of these Scottish boys.
Racing rolled round with the sun still shining and crowds gathering to watch the world’s best battle it out. The juveniles kicked racing off with Jamie Edmondson taking the win with a very respectable time of 2:50 however Morgan Tyrrell and Harry Barret were in hot pursuit.
The youth category seems to get faster and faster each year, which is down to more teams investing in the young riders to prepare them for the stand alone junior world cup. Most notably the Madison Saracen development team, which has paid off for them as they took 1st and 2nd with Matt Walker (2:30) and Jack Tennyson, with Joe Breeden close behind for 3rd.
The junior men’s category is fiercely competitive now due to the stand alone junior world cup, and this is shown by the calibre of riding with the winning times being good enough for top 15 in Elite! Neil Steward took the honours with a time of 2:25 and was closely followed by Frazer McCubbing and James Purvis, who had a long stint in the hot seat after a crash in qualifying.
The masters category is always surprisingly competitive and is shown by Kye Forte winning with a time of 2:33 and Adam Smith and Dave Wardell rounding out the podium.
Female riders are often not given the support they deserve, but at the BDS they are represented in force having categories that are sponsored much like the men’s and tight racing to keep the spectators happy. The flare clothing women was women by Lucy Drees with a time of 3:22 and closely followed by Becci Skelton and Rachel Simpson. The Schwalbe Elite women category was a close battle even with Rachel Atheron missing, Mannon Carpenter took the win with a time to upset many of the men (2:44) and was very closely followed by Katy Curd who is going to be making a shot at the big time at next weekend world cup. Tahnee Seagrave shows she is still on her world champs form with a 3rd and only 3seconds off the win.
The expert men’s category was dominated by the young guns, which is partly due to the changes in the ranking structure, as riders like Shaun Richards and Sam Herd could easily be in the elite male category. These two riders took first and second with Shaun winning on a time of 2:27, and Brad Mather taking 3rd.
BDS Ae Forest Edit
The Elite men were shaken after qualifying being dominated by first year riders, which triggered some aggressive riding and blistering times. The Madison Saracen team kept their success going with Sam Dale clinching 5th and a place on the podium. The Chain Reaction cycles team were the dominant teams in this category with Joe Smith taking 4th and Mike Jones building on his 3rd from last year at this event with a 2nd this year, it won’t be long until this wild card is winning British rounds and world cups! Josh Bryceland also showed he was still on good form with a convincing 3rd place. The first year Elite riders of Innes Graham and Reece Wilson managed to hold their own with a 6th and 10th place, respectively. Gee Atheron was the man of the day though taking the win with a dizzying time of 2:18.
There it is the first round of the BDS in the books, many riders left with smiles on their faces and a fire in their belly for the first world cup next weekend and for the rest of the upcoming season!
Results
Schwalbe Elite Men
1st Gee Atherton 2:18.866
2nd Mike Jones 2:19.328
3rd Josh Brycland 2:19.753
4th Joe Smith 2:21.024
5th Sam Dale 2:21.162
Schwalbe Elite Women
1st Manon Carpenter 2:44.156
2nd Katy Curd 2:46.802
3rd Tahnee Seagrave 2:47.334
4th Monet Adams 3:06.306
5th Suzanne Lacey 3:12.389
X-Fusion Expert Men
1st Shaun Richards 2:27.979
2nd Sam Herd 2:29.523
3rd Brad Mather 2:30.176
4th James Flinders 2:30.773
5th Bradley Shields 2:31.668
Spank Junior Men
1st Niel Stewart 2:25.750
2nd Frazer Mccubbing 2:26.774
3rd James Purvis 2:28.139
4th Elliott Heap 2:29.939
5th Jacob Dickson 2:30.704
Rachel Atherton Junior Women
1st Elena Melton 3:30.503
2nd Rona Strivens 3:40.577
3rd Rosy Monaghan 3:44.256
4th Hope Jensen 3:44.678
5th Gemma Taylor 3:49.523
Shimano Senior Men
1st James Carr 2:34.221
2nd Conor Martin 2:38.555
3rd Josh Morris 2:40.478
4th Matthew Barrett 2:41.060
5th Dan Simmons 2:42.051
NS Bikes Master
1st Kye Forte 2:33.802
2nd Adam Smith 2:35.439
3rd Dave Wardell 2:35.666
4th Alan Blyth 2:37.702
5th David List 2:38.620
DMR Bikes Juvenile
1st Jamie Edmondson 2:50.445
2nd Morgan Tyrrell 2:58.099
3rd Harry Barrett 2:59.861
4th James Elliott 3:01.179
5th Joe Mumford 3:10.630
Marzocchi Youth
1st Matt Walker 2:30.811
2nd Jack Tennyson 2:32.071
3rd Joe Breeden 2:34.111
4th Conor Bate 2:34.446
5th Kade Edwards 2:35.615
Full Results over at Roots and Rain
Words by Ben Nott
Photos by Sarah Barrett
Podium Photos by Ross Bell