Hunua Downhill

The final round of the MTBNZ Downhill series was held, not too far from home, at the Hunua Ranges. The new extension to the track made it the longest in the series and took around 4 to 5 minutes to ride. The long, peddly track suited me very well and the massive jumps were heaps of fun! The best feature of the track was a 40 foot step down near the bottom of the track. 

The race village.

Practice on Saturday was misty, muddy and slippery as. After the first run we put the 'mud tires' on which made it a bit easier, but there was still a lot of fun slipping and sliding our way down the track. As the rain and mist cleared, around midday, the track started to dry up.

Our muddy bikes after practice!

By Sunday morning the track was almost fully dry, so we switched back to dry tires. The sun was out as we headed up the hill for a few morning practice runs. In seeding I got an idea of just how much effort the race run would require! I was happy to seed 5th fastest with a time of 4 minutes and 15 seconds, knowing that I could push a little harder in race run. 

I rode as hard as I could right out of the start gate, in the race, and put in my full effort. My run went very well and I managed to take 12 seconds off my seeding time, finishing in 3rd place. My brother Liam had an awesome result too finishing 5th in his first year of under 17's. The Hunua team put on a very well organised race to finish off the series and I had a awesome weekend racing! I now have two weekend of racing in Rotorua, first Nationals this weekend then the 2W Gravity Enduro the following weekend, its going to be heaps of fun!