661 Mini Downhill 25th February 2013
The final round of this year’s 661 Mini DH winter series was held at the weekend in the Forest of Dean. Hard to believe that this race brings to a close the FIFTH year of this popular series; the races started out small and have grown to be one of the most popular winter series’ in the UK.
In 2013 the Mini DH winter series even has BCF points on off which drew in even more racers than previous years as Chris and the team found entries sold out well before the event.
One thing that stood out at this round was the weather – it was FREEZING! With temperatures dipping below freezing and wind chill on top of that, the FOD cycle centre was doing a roaring trade in hot pies and drinks as well as bike parts. A major attraction was the wood-burning stove where racers could warm their hands and feet whilst watching Earthed 2 and Aaron “Mono” Bartlett’s Foot Out Flat Out!
Round two was to be held on the Sheep Skull track at FoD which is one of the most entertaining tracks, but not one of the steepest – some riders such as Will Jones even chose to use short-travel bikes instead of a full DH rig. The track is pedally, fast and rooty, encompassing some great jumps and high speed gaps. The middle section of the track in particular has a very high speed root section just after the second fire road crossing. The bottom of the track was relatively flat until, after a shiny and steep ‘S’ bend, riders headed into some man-made berms and jumps. This part of the track has seen extensive digger work and now involved a double and a step-down into 2 steep berms. After another step down and a berm the track sloped down to the finish which was seriously bumpy and rooty and shook some riders off into the bog next to the finish line!
Practice was the usual frantic affair with only the fittest riders being able to fit in 4-5 runs. That is unless they chose to ride the Fly-Up Downhill uplift service which saved your legs for the important business of riding DOWN the hill. Fly Up were charging a very reasonable £2 for a single run or £25 for all day.
I put in five practice runs and did some walking of lines, trying to eek out any advantage I could from such a fast and straight-forward track.
The FOD format is two runs starting with the Juveniles and finishing with the Pro-Am category. The fastest three riders in each category would receive one of the now famous bronze trophies, shaped like full face helmets along with a variety of excellent soft good provided by the excellent chaps at 661 and One Industries.
Results:
Winning margins were super tight, with just 0.3 of a second separating the top FOUR riders in the Pro-Am category. I managed to take the win with a very committed run ahead of Duncan Ferris who was a bit shaken up after a massive crash in his second run:
“I just got loose over the roots near the top and came off onto the fire-road”
Explained the DMR rider, who was understandably relieved to be unhurt after plunging over two metres off a drop on one of the fastest parts of the track. Ashley Maller was pleased to take third his new carbon Specialized Demo 8 but had suffered some rotten luck during the week after some scumbag stole his DH bike after meeting Ash to take it for a test-ride. Careful out there ladies and gents.
The women’s category had a grand total of eighteen riders! A fabulous turnout and great to see so many girls racing. Taking the win was Suzanne Lacey from Louise Williams and Beverly Barnes.
The Vets class was won by Tim Ponting, who edged out Andy Sadler and Rich Simpson for top spot on the podium.
Andrew Titley stormed the Masters category with a blistering 1:25.3 and beat pro BMX rider Kye Forte to the number one position with Wayne Davis in third.
The hyper-competitive Senior class had over a hundred riders and was won by Jonathan Howe ahead of local mechanic and all round nice guy Viv Jones in second on his short-travel bike. Jonathan Weaver rounded out the top three. Special mention goes to my friend Alex Mills who began riding DH two weeks ago and achieved a very respectable 2:06.3 which put him 99th. Yeah buddy!
The Junior class was won by Liam Jones with Sam Marzetti in second and Chad Boxall in third.
Youth was won by Laurie Greenland who narrowly beat Charlie Hatton, although Charlie was stoked to be awarded a special prize of his own titanium shock spring from Spring Loaded (customised to his weight and riding style) so massive props to Sprung Loaded for that. Austin Salmon came third to round out the podium.
Dorset local Jack Miller won the Juvenile (13-14) class ahead of Seth Barrett and Nat Nott.
The Rippers class comprised 10-12 year olds and was won by Jamie Emmett ahead of Sebastian Revell and Morgan Tyrell.
Chris and the team at Naked Racing organised another excellent event so watch out for more Naked Racing events on their website www. http://nakedracing.com/
Words – Will Soffe (Ride.io)
Images – Mark Evans (Photo-bike.com)