Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof had a mixed weekend of racing at the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup, where Matti Lehikoinen finished 13th, Lewis 36th, Matt 44th and Joe 77th in the downhill finals.
Meanwhile in the 4X competition, Lukas Mechura placed seventh while Michael Mechura's race was ended prematurely, crashing in the quarter finals.
Downhill
Mont-Sainte-Anne's downhill track is probably the most brutal on the World Cup circuit, combining high-speed rough sections, super-tricky steep rock and wooded sections, long pedalling stretches and huge jumps that you can't afford to get wrong. The weather played havoc with the course over the weekend with the early rain drying out for race day making the track even more difficult, with huge holes in some of the corners and high speed sections.
All the guys cruised through qualifying and made it into the top 80 for Sunday's finals with Joe qualifying with the best time in 24th. Each of the riders gave 110% on race day – Matt Simmonds, still trying to find his full speed and mojo after injury, rode 'a bit too steady' (in his own words) but placed 44th overall on the day. Lewis Buchanan stepped up his game a bit more and managed 36th on the day and fourth in the Junior category.
Joe Smith was looking strong this week but disaster struck after he picked up a rear flat roughly half way down the course, ending any chances of a good result – a real shame as Joe was riding really well. Matti Lehikoinen put a great run together and finished in a strong 13th place, only one second off the top ten.
4X
Both Mechura brothers made it into the 4X finals on Saturday night with Michael qualifying in eighth, but it was Lukas with the better result making it all the way through to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Lukas rear flatted in the rock garden whilst battling for second place and a position in the final four.
Team mechanics Dave and Carl performed a Formula 1-style tyre change to get him back up for the small final where Lukas placed third and seventh overall. Michael went down pretty hard on the fast right hand turn after the pro section jumps in his quarter final, ending his night early. “Both of them are riding great now. Good effort guys," said Team Manager Nigel Page.
Nigel added: "Thanks to Ronnie from Marzocchi for providing our pits this weekend; Dave and Carl for working their butts off all week keeping the bikes going; Mono, Scott and Sebastian from MTBCut for our video and photography, and all our sponsors for their continued support.
We leave for Windham, New York now for round five next weekend so let’s hope we can continue to improve and move closer to our racing goals."
