Back to Roots - Mini DH Race Report
Check out this great report from the Back to Roots Charity Mini Downhill Race that rolled into Haldon near Exeter last weekend and saw some fantastic racing!
Glorious, cloudless skies accompanied the Back to Roots charity race which hit Haldon Forest on Sunday. Haldon is now establishing itself as a serious race venue, this year it has hosted the inaugural event in the mini enduro series, the firmly established 2XC series and now a Mini DH event.
The race was carried out over two tracks, the first opened with a short sprint before dropping into a steep gullied wood section, more than enough to catch a few unwary riders out, which spat the riders out into a narrow rock garden. The track finished with some flat turns through the lower woods leading to a large table top jump before the finish.
The second track was a far faster, more pedally affair. A scrubland start, which pinged riders between flat corners, then fired them into loose, gravelly switchbacks. Descending further the riders encountered a number of doubles before a flat sprint to the finish line.
The riders had two race runs on each course with their best run times being added together to form their final time
Fastest time of the day went to Will Soffe, who managed to put nearly 10 seconds into second placed Ash Mullane. Special mention should go to Senior category riders Josh Grigolo and Don Howe as well as Juniors, Owen Willicombe and Toby Down, whose times saw them mixing it up with those in the Expert category.
Will told us, “I really enjoyed the event. The tracks were great fun and much steeper than I expected. I got seven whole practice runs in the morning. Then having four race runs was a real treat!
I was stoked to take the overall. The format was excellent and I will definitely be attending future events.”
Race organiser, James Smurthwaite said, “It was so great to see so many people come out to the event, we managed to raise over £500 for young carers in Exeter and hopefully this is an event that can happen for years to come! We'd like to thank our sponsors, One Industries, Evolve MTB, Gawton Gravity Hub and Sacred Rides.”
You can view the full results here...
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