|
|
National Points Series Round 2
Gym Moelfre
Writer & Photos: James - 30th May 2004
Back to racing archive
Couldn't have asked for a better day to ride, or spectate! Roll up and the sun is shining, it's warm and there's a slight breeze to get rid of the dust, and damn there was a lot of it!
The 2nd round of the NPS was set to be great, loads of riders were signed up and the racing ran very smoothly, although it had delays whenever there was a tractor heading up to the very top, or when we had an invasion of sheep on the track! The finish arena was huge! Much better than the effort at the NPS 5th round held here last year. Lots of EZ-Ups were lined up and banners everywhere, looked a very professional deal. Timing was flawless and results were quickly dealed out.
The track began almost the same place as last time, although it was on the other side of the fence. Straight off you were thrown into a left hand turn and the first half of the mountain was laid of in front of you, compromising a series of fast berms and loose off camber sprinting. To cross over to the second half of the course was a very fast, hard packed freewheel up to the road crossing. From here the course quickly dropped off a steep rock strewn run into some more tight berms and short sprints, you then crossed the wall into the last field, you were greeted with a series of fast off camber grassy sections and down the steep mount, which someone, not mentioning names managed to turn the wrong way and end up hucking off the cliff! You then went over the jump into the fast grassy sprint to the finish. Some riders preferred to pre-jump it, whereas some went very big, Longden and Peaty styled it up and still managed amazing times.
The major talking point in this race was obviously who would be the victor, Peaty or Minaar in the build up to Fort William next weekend. Minaar came storming into the finish area and clocked a 2.09, which beat the previous rider by 2 seconds. Then comes Steve flying over the hill, the entire crowd going nuts when he comes to the final sprint and waits anxiously for the results, and clocks a 2.07! Continuing what has been a brilliant build up to the Fort William World Cup round. Let's hope he can do it there too!
Also in the Elite Women, 16 year old Rachael Atherton showing us just how fast she can go, beating the likes of Halfords BikeHut rider, Helen Gaskell!
Big thanks go out to the tractor drivers, the Atherton's for building the course! The NACC Events guys for sorting it all out, all the sponsors, and all the riders and spectators for supporting the sport and enjoying a good days racing!
Results here:www.npsdownhill.co.uk
Over 200 rider images here:FTMB Photos
|
|
|
|
