Greg Minnaar wins in Leogang
For the second year in a row, a Team G Cross Honda rider has put the Honda RN01 on the top spot at the Top To Bottom Eliminator, a 4 man downhill that forms part of the awesome Out Of Bounds Weekend hosted by Kona. This time it was Greg Minnaar that won the final, after Matti Lehikoinen won in it 2005.
An enthusiastic crowd of hardcore downhill and freeride fans were on hand to watch the event today. Qualifying was yesterday and reigning 2 time World Champ Fabien Barel of Team Kona Les Gets set the fastest time of 2mins 29.50secs, with Matti coming in 2nd with a 2mins 32.50secs, just half a second ahead of team mate Greg.
With only 50 riders qualifying, the first 2 rounds were fairly easy for both Greg and Matti, as they won their respective heats with room to spare. Greg had his first real challenge in the quarter finals with Filip Polc (6th in Willingen) in his heat, but made a sweet move at the halfway mark to pass Polc and keep alive his winning record.
The two Team G Cross Honda riders met in the semi finals, and forged together a classic 1-2 finish with huge jumps at the finish showcasing their skills and lighting up the crowd. They went onto the final to meet the 2 Kona Les Gets riders: 4X specialist Kamil Tartakovic, and the race favourite, fastest qualifier Fabien Barel.
Out of the gate, and Greg took the 1st corner with a slight lead over Barel, with Matti in 3rd after slipping his pedal at the gate. About one quarter into the race, Matti tried a move to overtake Barel, but he slipped on a rock as he went out wide, and slid down the hill, losing all chance of competing, rolling down to take 4th. Greg rode a masterful race with Barel in hot pursuit, riding strongly and never losing control, keeping focus despite hot pressure from the Frenchman. Before he crossed the line to take the win, Greg did a huge tail whip to put an exclamation mark on his dominance, and the crowd loved it.
Top 7 results:
1. Greg Minnaar RSA Team G-Cross Honda
2. Fabien Barel FRA Kona Les gets
3. Kamil Tartakovic CZE Kona Les Gets
4. Matti Lehikoinen FIN Team G-Cross Honda
5. Michael Marosi CZE RSP
6. Filip Polc SLO Gravity group
7. Neil Donaghue GBR MBUK Santa Cruz
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