After a winter break, the season resumes as the riders re-visited the Needles DH Track for a one-day race that formed part of the four-day Paarl Adventure Festival.
Six months back, the venue hosted the South African Downhill Championships, on the same line, in similar weather and trail conditions which one could sum up as dry, loose and rutty. It’s a track that isn’t insanely difficult to get a lap in, however, push the pace up and the level of trickery ramps up, significantly.
With a fair portion of our fastest riders either on World Cup duty, preparing for Red Bull Hardline, Enduro World Champs or sitting this one out due to injury – the scene was set for some new faces to potentially pop onto podiums.
Another interesting point was the one-day format adopted for this round. An extended morning practice session rolled straight into a short lunch break, followed by the race. There’d be no seeding runs this weekend. Just a single run to determine the winner. Now, although this format meant the event wouldn’t officially carry points towards the overall series, most of the riders aren’t phased by that. Racers want to race and everyone was all-in. I’ll jump straight into the action now, with visuals courtesy of Chris Taylor…
Back in SA! Duran van Eeden, the guru of trail building (literally one of the best in the world) rolled a few laps of a track he knows all too well and then slotted his whip into second place in Elite Men. Legend.There were 26 riders in Youth Men category this weekend. Riaan Niemand was just 11 seconds off the win and definitely takes my #KitOfTheRace award. Alex Com(KOM)brink goes full send on the way to a win in Elite Men. Ethan Duvenage, repping for Morzine, grabbed another win in the Sub-Junior Boys category.Fastest in Youth Men, this is Lian de Jager. Oh, he’s got style too. It’s Jacob Martin’s first year of Downhill and he’s getting to grips with the racing side of things. A fast and smooth top section was a high of his race run. Sending it over a berm and having to extract his bike from the bushes was a low of his race run. Next time bru!Zak Jones — reigning South African Junior Downhill Champion took the win in the post-race ‘100% Unofficial Provincial Whip Off Championships’, with a third in class for the race. Isabella Wright, Elite Women winner.Pholani Loots, always pumped to be shredding.Xander Solms hops into the On / Off section on his way to a win in the Sprog Boys category.Xavi Gomes executes a manual through the step-down as opposed to popping it. Word on the hill is the manual is faster. Back at the racing after an eight year sabatical and back on the podium for Eckhardt Kuhn. The Sub Vet category just got a whole lot more competitive!Cape Town shredder Maks Bergh clocked laps from the first shuttle run of the day, then laps of the pump track and kept the momentum for a second place finish in Sprog Boys. Sixth place in the very competitive Youth Men category went to Jonah Gray. A few years back Jonah was one of the youngest at the races, now, he’s fast, he’s a lot taller and he’s got great style. Keep on shredding Jonah!John Rostance gets sendy on the big huck into the bombhole. It’s a tricky section this, jump it too far or too short and you’ll toast your wheel or bike. Nice one John!Sub Vet winner Ryno Fourie was looking insanely fast all day and kept that speed rolling into the race run.Hips bro! Hips. Turning starts with pointing the hipsin the right direction.Good job!Some might say this overall win for Junior Rider Julian Oosthuizen is overdue but in reality this sport is brutal and doesn’t owe anyone anything. In reality, the keys to success (amongst other things) are to follow the training process, build speed over time and perfect one’s race craft. That’s exactly what Julian has done. Chapeau Julian – well played.
