The organisers of the Northern Downhill series have successfully held the first North East Championships at Hamsterley forest. For 2011 the Northern Championships were split into separate regional events with Ramsgill holding the Yorkshire Champs and Farmer Johns having the North West Champs earlier in the year.
Northern Champs 2011 - Mike Newbould Helmet Camera
The trails at Descend Hamsterley are familiar to a lot of riders up north so the challenge for the organisers was to find a trail which was a little different. They certainly succeeded with no one expecting them to use the full length of the 4X track with the addition of a small new section allowing the riders to rejoin the main downhill line.
From the start hill the riders were immediately confronted by a series of 3 table top jumps, each bigger than the last. It was faster to jump the first two as they were slight step downs but most racers opted to stay low and pedal over the big third. Rounding a big left hand berm the riders were faced with a small step down immediately followed by a table. During race runs the majority of the field were opting to stay low and touchdown on the first lander allowing them to get back onto the pedals, the exception being the current world champion Danny Hart who sailed over the vuvuzelas of the excited crowd and landed on the second lander.
As the riders rounded the next flat turn they were faced with a series of five smaller jumps ending with a small triple which led into a super fast downhill berm. Out the berm it was over a table, over a series of pump lumps and a small drop down onto the fire-road. Next up was the new section which linked the 4X with the main DH line and despite its very short length the organisers had squeezed in a wooden kicker.
The racers then descended onto what was a familiar track many of the riders, the first challenge being a drop directly into a berm and onto the rough stuff. The smooth and fast part of the track was definitely over as the racers were faced with the main rockgarden littered with massive rocks just waiting to rip off mechs. There were a few different techniques through here, taking the direct but challenging high line over the bigger rocks or staying left and going over the slightly smaller ones.
Out of the rockgarden and the riders came off a drop onto a smaller rock landing which was followed immediately by a tight berm. Next up was the double drops which, as the name suggests, was a pair of drops one after the other. Messing up here normally resulted in broken tape as riders flew over the berm after the second.
There was a bit of a let up in the track as it cut across the hill with a few smaller rocks to negotiate before the riders were faced with the steep switchbacks followed by a drop which send the racers down a chute and onto the final tabletop.
Saturday practice was bathed in lovely autumn sunshine, meaning that the tracks were mainly dry and fast rolling. After some rain during the night the track became greasy, making the exposed rocks and roots on the lower half of the track more of a challenge than they were the previous day.
On to the results and it was Bradley Swidbank who took the win in Juvenile and also walked away class champion with a 1.33.22. Andrew Dorritt came in second with a 1.35.72 and James Purvis completed the podium in third. Moving on to Youth and it was George Gannicott who took the win with a 1.26.2 just half a second ahead of Dan Farley in second. The top three in Junior were separated by 0.3 of a second but it was Matty Stuttard with a 1.24.8 who took the win beating Jordan Doig and Jim Shaw.
In Senior Thomas Pollock took the win with a 1.24.7, nearly a second faster than Andy Kipling in second and Reece Langhorn in third. Russ Clark came down fastest in Veteran with a 1.29.4 with Thomas Reed and Mark Weightman coming in second and third. Grand Vet was won by Aldan Harrison with a 1.47.46 followed by Alan Turnbull in second. The women was won by Angela Coates with a 1.46.79 followed by Sara-Jane Rennie and Gina Robertson.
In Expert Liam Little finished off a good season with his 6th win in the series this year. He put in a 1.25.19 only 4 tenths faster than Joe Young and Simon Stuttard.
Elite was easily won by the current World Champion and local ripper Danny Hart with a 1.20.3, Peter Williams clinched second with a 1.21.5 only a few tenths ahead of Scott Mears.
A big thank you must go to Carl Davidson and the team behind Northern Downhill seres for putting on the event, it was good to see the event sell out.
The North East Champions for 2011 are:
Juvenile - Brad Swinbank
Youth - Tristan Riley-Fox
Women - Angela Coates
Grand Vet - Alan Turnbul
Veteran - James Nichols
Master - Steven Jones
Junior - Jack Bell
Senior - Shane Craig
Expert - Joe Young
Elite - Danny Hart
Words & Photos:Richard Easton or www.photo-moto.co.uk
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Northern Champs 2011 - Mike Newbould Helmet Camera
The trails at Descend Hamsterley are familiar to a lot of riders up north so the challenge for the organisers was to find a trail which was a little different. They certainly succeeded with no one expecting them to use the full length of the 4X track with the addition of a small new section allowing the riders to rejoin the main downhill line.
From the start hill the riders were immediately confronted by a series of 3 table top jumps, each bigger than the last. It was faster to jump the first two as they were slight step downs but most racers opted to stay low and pedal over the big third. Rounding a big left hand berm the riders were faced with a small step down immediately followed by a table. During race runs the majority of the field were opting to stay low and touchdown on the first lander allowing them to get back onto the pedals, the exception being the current world champion Danny Hart who sailed over the vuvuzelas of the excited crowd and landed on the second lander.
As the riders rounded the next flat turn they were faced with a series of five smaller jumps ending with a small triple which led into a super fast downhill berm. Out the berm it was over a table, over a series of pump lumps and a small drop down onto the fire-road. Next up was the new section which linked the 4X with the main DH line and despite its very short length the organisers had squeezed in a wooden kicker.
The racers then descended onto what was a familiar track many of the riders, the first challenge being a drop directly into a berm and onto the rough stuff. The smooth and fast part of the track was definitely over as the racers were faced with the main rockgarden littered with massive rocks just waiting to rip off mechs. There were a few different techniques through here, taking the direct but challenging high line over the bigger rocks or staying left and going over the slightly smaller ones.
Out of the rockgarden and the riders came off a drop onto a smaller rock landing which was followed immediately by a tight berm. Next up was the double drops which, as the name suggests, was a pair of drops one after the other. Messing up here normally resulted in broken tape as riders flew over the berm after the second.
There was a bit of a let up in the track as it cut across the hill with a few smaller rocks to negotiate before the riders were faced with the steep switchbacks followed by a drop which send the racers down a chute and onto the final tabletop.
Saturday practice was bathed in lovely autumn sunshine, meaning that the tracks were mainly dry and fast rolling. After some rain during the night the track became greasy, making the exposed rocks and roots on the lower half of the track more of a challenge than they were the previous day.
On to the results and it was Bradley Swidbank who took the win in Juvenile and also walked away class champion with a 1.33.22. Andrew Dorritt came in second with a 1.35.72 and James Purvis completed the podium in third. Moving on to Youth and it was George Gannicott who took the win with a 1.26.2 just half a second ahead of Dan Farley in second. The top three in Junior were separated by 0.3 of a second but it was Matty Stuttard with a 1.24.8 who took the win beating Jordan Doig and Jim Shaw.
In Senior Thomas Pollock took the win with a 1.24.7, nearly a second faster than Andy Kipling in second and Reece Langhorn in third. Russ Clark came down fastest in Veteran with a 1.29.4 with Thomas Reed and Mark Weightman coming in second and third. Grand Vet was won by Aldan Harrison with a 1.47.46 followed by Alan Turnbull in second. The women was won by Angela Coates with a 1.46.79 followed by Sara-Jane Rennie and Gina Robertson.
In Expert Liam Little finished off a good season with his 6th win in the series this year. He put in a 1.25.19 only 4 tenths faster than Joe Young and Simon Stuttard.
Elite was easily won by the current World Champion and local ripper Danny Hart with a 1.20.3, Peter Williams clinched second with a 1.21.5 only a few tenths ahead of Scott Mears.
A big thank you must go to Carl Davidson and the team behind Northern Downhill seres for putting on the event, it was good to see the event sell out.
The North East Champions for 2011 are:
Juvenile - Brad Swinbank
Youth - Tristan Riley-Fox
Women - Angela Coates
Grand Vet - Alan Turnbul
Veteran - James Nichols
Master - Steven Jones
Junior - Jack Bell
Senior - Shane Craig
Expert - Joe Young
Elite - Danny Hart
Words & Photos: Richard Easton or www.photo-moto.co.uk
