DMR Bikes Pump Track Challenge - Brunel Way Report

Bristol has a brilliant riding scene, with loads of quality places to ride within 20 minutes of the city centre - and the Brunel way pump track is even closer than most, barely 5 minutes away.

Built by architrail and funded by the council back in 2011, it's a great track to mess about on, with four main straights and some very, very tight corners. Some recent resurfacing has clearly been done, leaving the track very loose as well. Fun to session, challenging to race!

The idea of pump races seem to really be taking off in the uk, clearly shown by the fact that some of the worlds best riders across all disciplines turned up to race - world cup downhiller Brendan Fairclough, dirt superstar Olly Wilkins and world cup 4X racer Lewis Lacey to name but a few. It was going to be tight at the top! Though the great thing about these races is that anyone can turn up and have fun, with four categories: women's, rippers, open and pro elite.

The format was pretty simple, one seeding run each and then three race runs, with the fastest of your three times counting. Quickest at the end is the winner! The women's was probably the simplest to call as first timer Alice Ducket was beaten by seasoned 4Xer Jess Greaves. The five riders in the rippers fought hard for the three podium spots, with Joel Anderson edging out Reece Richards and Bard Kerr to second and third respectively. Fifteen riders contested the open category, and the no pedalling rule was flaunted a couple of times leading to disqualifications from that round.

Riders were pushing the limits to get that extra hundredth of a second, as on a sub 20 second track, every fraction of a second counts. Ultimately, Hotlines' Martin Astley put in a storming lap to take the win. He won it in the second corner, a loose 180 degree turn where it's so easy to be cautious and lose all your speed on exit. Many riders were caught out here. Greg Hampton took second and Isaac Anderson third.

Pro elite was incredibly tight as ever. Ben Baker won here last year, but he pushed too hard to get that one perfect run, getting a bit ragged and losing time. Almost all of the 15+ riders were between 17 and 18 second mark, showing just how tight the times were. Brendan Fairclough was top qualifier and led the times through the first two rounds. Kerr and Wilkins were also up there, as was local elite Duncan Ferris and the stylish Dan Bateson. Coming into the final run it was all to play for, and Bernard put in an absolutely flawless lap, rinsing all of the corners and maintaining incredible speed to get the first sub-17 second lap. Lewis Lacey tried but with no pedalling, he couldn't get down his characteristic power and finished just outside the top three. Duncan Ferris was the man who put down a great lap and edged him out, stealing third spot. At least second place was guaranteed for last man on track, Brendog, but he went all out for the win. Unfortunately, Bernard's lap was just too good so Brendan finished second.

A great days racing, with top banter provided by Andrew Cooper on the microphone, and massive thanks to Chris Roberts for organising and to Monster energy for keeping us all refreshed.