NZDH Round 1 - Rotorua

We were up bright and early Saturday morning to head down to the first round of the NZDH series in Rotorua. With the car all packed up, we set off towards the event which started at 8am.  NZDH now run these events in a one day format, compared to the common two day with practice and then race day. This makes it possible to do a day trip for the race but gives less time for practice runs. These series act as warm up races for the national season coming up in summer. There are five rounds in total, that are held all over the north island, the final being in Dome Valley, Auckland. 

My new Troy Lee helmet!

Descend Rotorua kept it interesting running a track with some new sections I have not rode before. The top had more technical rooty and off camber sections while the bottom had been improved with bigger berms and jumps! There was some new berms and jumps to shape a really fun track that attracted a massive 150 riders.

In the morning practice it took me a few runs to get used to the new technical sections and riding a downhill bike again. The track had lots of lines to choose from through the slippery technical sections up the top and was fast through the bottom when my arms and hands were getting tired. The extended bottom jump was a great feature to finish the track. Over all I really enjoyed riding the track and I believe everyone else did too. The shuttles were packed all day long which meant we only got in four practice runs. Although I would have liked more time to get to know the track it was all good fun riding with my brother.

At 2pm race runs started. For this series they use a best of two race runs format  This means they take your best time from your two race runs, which was lucky for me because I almost came to a stop when I missed one of my lines in the first one. My second run went better and I felt more comfortable on the track which meant I took 6 seconds off my first run and put me in 7th place in the under 19's. It was then cool to watch the elite riders come down and see Matt Walker win the James Dodzy Memorial Cup. My brother Liam put in an awesome effort coming 2nd in the under 15's and he made this sweet little video: 

The next race has been changed from Levin to Rotorua again in two weeks, which makes it easier for us. So I will be in Rotorua every weekend of the Holidays, with the 2W Gravity Enduro next weekend!