Troy Brosnan and Sarah Booth have claimed downhill victory on the final day of Round 1 of the 2014/15 Subaru National Mountain Bike Series in the You Yangs, Victoria.
Brosnan (SA) had a breakout year in 2014, winning his first Downhill World Cup and finishing third in both the UCI World Cup Series and the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Brosnan set the fastest seeding run of the weekend in the morning, but it would be Liam Panozzo (VIC) who set the the time to beat in the finals, spending significant time in the Subaru hot seat after suffering a flat tyre on his seeding run. Brosnan was the last rider to start for the event and was untouchable on the tough course, flying into first place with a time of 1:55.42, beating out second placed Graeme Mudd (NSW) by 0.56 of a second.
“It was a little bit windy out there and required a lot of pedalling so I just tried to tuck a fair bit and pedal as hard as I could,” said Brosnan. “I sent all the drops to flat pretty much and was pretty stoked to come away with the win”.
Fellow South Australian Connor Fearon (1:56.85) finished third, with Panozzo ultimately claiming 4th place. In the Junior Men, Andrew Crimmins (NSW) had a great run to finish 1.65 seconds in front of Jackson Frew (ACT) in second and Max Warshawsky (QLD) in third.
In the Women’s race, Round 1 of the Subaru National Series was the first UCI race for Tegan Molloy to step up from the Juniors to the Elite category. Molloy claimed the Junior Women’s World Championship title just months ago in Norway, and today she would start last and ultimately finish second. Booth, who placed 19th in her home World Cup in Cairns earlier this year, was too strong for Molloy and the field in the You Yangs, finishing in 2:31.30.
“I tried to keep a steady mind – eyes up – like how I train all my friends and girls and I just did what I knew I had to do,” reflected Booth. “I kept it low on some of those last jumps because of the wind but I knew I had to put power down.”
Third place and the bronze medal went to Michelle Crisp (NSW).
This first round of the Series was also the opening round of the highly successful Victorian Downhill Series (VDHS), with riders accruing points and prizes in both series.
Short Course Cross Country
Sunday also saw our cross country stars take on a technically challenging short course, one that was built specifically by the You Yangs MTB Club for the Subaru National Series.
For the second time this weekend, Dan McConnell (ACT) and Rebecca Henderson (ACT) took out wins, dominating the elite men and women’s categories.
In early racing, McConnell sat comfortably behind Tasmania’s Scott Bowden and ACT’s Brendan Johnson, before moving into first place with three laps to go and crossing the line with a clear lead over competitors.
In an exciting sprint finish, Bowden claimed second crossing the line not even a wheel in front of Johnston who finished third.
In the women’s race, Henderson and Emily Parkes (NSW) worked well together in early running, but the Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist is a career stage in front of the younger Parkes and rode away to the win.
Parkes rode solidly to claim second with Holly Harris (NSW) finishing third.
Special mention also goes to up and coming rider Zoe Cuthbert, who at only 13 years of age lapped the entire field of the Open Women’s riders to secure a unique win.
The Subaru National Series will continue with Round 2 in 2015 in Pemberton, Western Australia, where riders will be treated to two-days of back to back XCO races.
All event information can be found at the series website: http://mtb.subaru.com.au/national-series/