Norris and Wall take debut wins

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It may have taken her four seasons but at round two of the 2009-2010 Jayco Australian Mountain Bike Series in Shepparton, Joanna Wall proved that persistence pays by taking her first win while in the men's race, Lachlan Norris added to his growing reputation with another victory.

After finishing second at the Australian Championships one week ago, Norris was a man on a mission setting a pace in the opening laps that only Sid Taberlay could follow. Taberlay and Norris worked well together to build an almost two-minute lead on their nearest challengers until Taberlay, who looked the stronger of the two, punctured near the end of the second of six laps.

Left out in front on his own, Norris went in search of a late birthday present two days after turning 24 years old.

The ever improving Victorian only just managed to hold onto his advantage as he fought out a two-up sprint with Ben Henderson who rode out of his skin on the final lap to get on terms with Norris just in sight of the finish line.

Third place went to Queensland's Aiden Lefmann, who appeared to relish the warm conditions, and despite his costly puncture on top of having started at the back row of the grid Taberlay showed his class fighting his way back to finish fourth.

But for Norris, the 2009 Under 23 Australian and Oceania champion, his first win in a national series race at the elite level was confirmation he is on the right path to achieve his dream of racing at the London 2012 Olympics.

"It's different to win an Under 23 race finishing mid-field in the elite. Winning it overall gives me good confidence going into the rest of the season and now I know I can beat all these guys and will definitely be up there," Norris said immediately after his win.

"It's been a slow progression but I'm getting there. Hopefully in another couple of years I can be stronger again and be a bit of a show for London. I'm pleased I could get one under the belt. I needed to have a win to set myself up for future wins."

With a lap to go, Norris was more than one-minute clear of Henderson and looked a safe beat for the win but with the fatigue taking its toll he only just had enough left in the tank.

"I was slowing down you could say. The lights were fading. I was pretty much in the box just hanging on," Norris said of the final lap. I didn't realise how close he was until the last little bit and it was a lot closer than I thought.

"I didn't panic. I just thought I can only do what I can do and I knew if I held him off down the last descent I would probably be able to have the best run through the last corner and take it out, which I managed to do."

One of the surprise results of the day was that the recently crowned Australian champion, Daniel McConnell, didn't finish the race and appeared to be suffering from cycling's equivalent to a premiership hangover.

In the women's race, national champion Rowena Fry looked set to collect yet another win after building a commanding lead by the end of the second of four laps.

Attempting to ride through the rocky section of the course, while most others negotiated it by foot, Fry had a front wheel puncture. Despite her efforts to quickly replace the tube she lost more than four minutes and fell back to mid-field.

At the head of the race, Joanna Wall found herself in the lead with Torq teammate Jenni King hot on her heels. Wall made the most of her opportunity and pushed home for the first Australian Mountain Bike Series win of her career ahead of King, while Fry fought her way back to finish third.

"It's been a long time coming. I've wanted a national round for a long time and this is my first one. Never give up," Wall said of her victory. "I paced myself and rode a steady race.

"It was fairly controlled on the first lap because it's such a long climb no one wanted to go to hard off the front because you'd get caught pretty quickly up there. It was hard technical course that had a bit of everything for everyone."

For Fry the experience of puncturing at a crucial time of the race may prove valuable in the future.

The Tasmanian managed to claw back all but 30 seconds of the more than four minutes she lost with her puncture but if she adopted different tactics early in the race she may have had enough to win.

"It probably serves me right for taking it easy in the early part of the race. I really should have gassed it because then I would have had a bit more time up my sleeve," the Australian champion said.  "I was riding really well but that's mountain biking for you. It's always good fun."

Racing in round two of the Australian Mountain Bike Series continues in Shepparton on Sunday when the downhill and short track races will be contested.

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