Hannah takes elite men's downhill crown

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2009 world championship bronze medallist Michael Hannah stayed true to form in the seeding round, to take out the elite men's downhill national championship, the last event of the 2011 Australian Mountain Bike Championships.

Recording the fastest run of the championships, Hannah claimed the gold medal in a time of 2:02.36 bumping good friend Joshua Button (2:04.27) into the silver medal position followed by Canberra's Bryn Atkinson (2:04.33) in third.

Reigning national champion Chris Kovarik hit the dirt in the lower section of the course, costing the 33-year-old any chance of back-to-back victories.

Hannah, who currently lives in Colorado with his wife, returned to Australia in pursuit of the green and gold jersey.  "Everything went perfect actually," Hannah said.

"It's always a bit nerve racking being the last guy, but Josh, a good mate of mine, was leading at the time so I was pretty stoked for him so just wanted to have a clean run. I came over here just for the race, I wanted the win."

Under 19 men’s downhill

An enthralling battle between two South Australian young guns has produced an upset in the under 19 men's downhill competition, with Kingswood's Connor Fearon posting a surprise victory over current world under 19 champion Troy Brosnan.

The victory is the first win of the season for Fearon in what has been in an incredibly tight tussle between the pair throughout the national series.

"This event was the biggest race for this year for me and I made it a goal, so it feels really good," Fearon said.

"The last two races I have been less than a second off (Troy), and this is the best race to beat him, for the national championship."

Hoping to make it overseas to compete on the World Cup circuit and at the world championships in June, Fearon will have a busy year as he juggles year 12 studies. The 17-year-old admits that whilst riding is his main priority, his parents may not agree.

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