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2008 NPS DH Fort William
Fort William, Scotland
Jim - 14th July 2008
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Fort William has a worldwide reputation among racers as one of the toughest most brutal tracks around. For the fast boys its 4 odd minutes of solid hand pump, constant battling with the bike and an increasing will to get to the bottom just to let go of the handlebars. After missing the recent World Cup round we couldnt miss the opportunity of another pilgrimage up to the Bill, home of the only World Cup track in the country as well as the most vicious midges known to man. These things are persistence personified and will do anything to sink their fangs into my skin. They make piranhas seem as gentle as the neighbours cat but dont get fooled!
Saturday practise cracked on early at 8.30, plenty of time to get enough practise in to remember your lines. The trick with this track, and what caught out a lot of the more inexperienced riders was the amount of practise required. Many riders put in 3 or 4 runs with perhaps one full run to acclimatise to the conditions but being the pap on track it was clear that some riders were putting in the effort and getting their moneys worth but they'd feel it come race day with aching muscles and a tired body.
The track was in incredible condition considering the World Cup was held just 4 weeks before, trackbuilders Bob and co really put in the effort to get the track up to scratch and come race day the ruts were under control. The big story of race day was the attendance of Greg Minnaar, who four weeks previously won the World Cup round here and the pressure was on to keep that acclaim at an NPS race! Local boy and giant Ben Cathro took it upon himself to not make it easy for Greg, practising hard during Saturday and come race day putting down a 4.55, only 5 seconds behind seasoned World Cup racer Greg. There were two Orange 224's on the Elite podium, with MTBCut.tv's very own Joe Barnes crossing the line in 5.02 and BikeRadars Marc Beaumont and Neil Donoghue trailing back in 4th and 5th.
In the Elite Women Katy Curd worked hard all weekend to put a time 5 seconds gap between her and second placed Helen Gaskell on her first race back from injury. Katy being one of the only women to get under 6 minutes, but still not matching her seeding run of 5.55!
In Juvenile Fraser McGlone put in a solid run to get 5.36, well ahead of second placed Greg Gilfillan. In Youth we had some pretty solid indicators as to who the fast boys will be in years to come, Arran Gannicott crossed the line in 5.09 to the utter disbelief of most people in the arena. That would've put him 12th in Elite Men.. absolutely stunning performance for someone who isnt even old enough to ride a moped yet!! Enough of the results run down, full results are available at Mikrotime.
Despite the solid racing and some incredible results from the younger guns in the line up, despite the Athertons being on the start list they didnt turn up, and given that this is a National race it was disappointing not to see them rock up after the domination they've showed us on the World Cup circuit. We fielded quite a few questions from spectators asking when Peaty would be racing, as well as Josh Bryceland, Fairclough, the ChainReaction boys etc. Fort William is a long way from anywhere but it would be nice to see a few more pro's on the bill, this is the premier series in the UK and given that at some regional races there's a bigger line up, it's strange to see what is basically a mix up of regional line ups all bunched together into a start list.
But anyway, no mention of uplifts because thanks to the Nevis Range people we have an awesome chairlift to use! No bikes fell off and despite Ben Cathro and Chris Hutchens nearly missing their start time the guys still whisked them up to the top and away they went. Big thanks to the marshals for putting up with the midges as well as the series sponsors for making it what it is. There was still a shortage of marshals.. come on guys sign your ma or pop and get them out on the hill, and you get free racing! There's always the usual guys marshalling and putting in the effort but come on, help them out! See you at Moelfre and Carlton Bank? Sure will!
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