The new venue of Mt Hutt provided an exciting addition to the New Zealand MTB Cup national series this weekend. Holding a top level downhill event for the first time proved a popular attraction for the 175 competitors and a vocal, partisan Ashburton district crowd.
Competition was furious across all categories, with a Friday practice day giving all competitors ample opportunity to dial the course in, and set themselves up for the final race. The elite men's category again this week displayed just how close racing at this level is and provided an excellent showcase for New Zealand's world class athletes, racing against a number of international visitors.
In the elite women's race, Sarah Atkin was in a class of her own - seeding first and racing to a massive 20-second win over the rest of the women's field. Atkin raced all the "A" lines on course - the only female competitor to do so and the difference in her level of aggression showed directly on the clock, with a comfortable buffer back to Alanna Columb and the rest of the womens field.
Like Atkin, Brook MacDonald doubled up today with a fastest seeding result and the race win. Although by very tight margins, with Australian Jared Graves pouring on the power to almost snatch the win in his best result to date in his New Zealand visit. Only six seconds separated the top 10, and the tension was plain to see as rider after rider first tried to beat early leader Matt Walker, and then gain enough time to try to keep MacDonald from winning his second New Zealand MTB Cup event on the trot. Graves looked to have done enough, however MacDonald clearly knew he could gain enough time to win - which he did by improving on his seeding time by three seconds. For the 2009 junior world champion, two Cup wins in a row underlines his early season form and pace.
Most other categories held true to New Zealand Cup form, but new winners in the U17 and U19 juniors and the senior classes provided confidence boosting results for Carl Goodwin, Lawrence Cawte and Kyle Wilson. All three won for the first time at this level and will be sure to kick on from here as the series moves north.
South Island Downhill Cup
The Mt Hutt race also wrapped up the South Island Downhill Cup, the island portion of the New Zealand MTB Cup. Mat Scoles was rewarded for his results through the first three cup events - never outside the top five - to claim the South Island title for the elite men.
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Atkin was never in doubt for her overall win, and all other category winners posted reasonably comfortable margins to claim their titles.
In terms of regional representation, Dunedin and Nelson riders claimed three South Island Cup titles each, Auckland riders two, and Christchurch, Wellington and Alexandra riders one apiece.
Riders move north to Nelson for the National Mountain Bike Championships next weekend.
Full Results
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Brook MacDonald (NZl)
0:02:24.18
2
Jared Graves (Aus)
0:00:00.98
3
Matthew Scoles (NZl)
0:00:01.64
4
Justin Leov (NZl)
0:00:02.00
5
Richard Leacock (NZl)
0:00:04.93
6
Kieran Bennett (NZl)
0:00:05.02
7
Rupert Chapman (NZl)
0:00:05.27
8
Matthew Walker (NZl)
0:00:05.53
9
Daniel Franks (NZl)
0:00:06.18
10
Bryn Dickerson (NZl)
0:00:06.23
11
Joseph Nation (NZl)
0:00:06.56
12
Reuben Olorenshaw (NZl)
0:00:06.66
13
Sam Perry (NZl)
0:00:07.00
14
Jed Rooney (NZl)
0:00:08.16
15
Thomas Mathews (NZl)
0:00:08.78
16
Hayden Lee (NZl)
0:00:12.62
17
Daniel Heads (NZl)
0:00:12.95
18
Thomas Jeandin (Swi)
0:00:15.36
19
Jarrah Davies (Aus)
0:00:16.36
20
Fabian Kuettel (Swi)
0:00:22.18
21
Eugen-Maxi Dickerhoff (Ger)
0:00:22.44
22
Octavio Teixeira (NZl)
0:00:24.51
23
Sam Stevens (USA)
0:00:26.52
24
James Rennie (NZl)
0:00:26.91
25
Dan Sims (NZl)
0:00:32.76
26
Sam Baker (NZl)
0:00:39.09
27
Kuhn Martin (Ger)
0:00:44.04
28
Chris Patton (USA)
0:08:15.46
DNF
George Brannigan (NZl)
Row 28 - Cell 2
DNF
Nick Bygate (NZl)
Row 29 - Cell 2
DNS
Dario Takada (NZl)
Row 30 - Cell 2
DNS
Tom Winwood (NZl)
Row 31 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Sarah Atkin (NZl)
0:02:53.92
2
Alanna Columb (NZl)
0:00:19.47
3
Sophiemarie Bethell (NZl)
0:00:23.91
4
Harriet Latchem (NZl)
0:00:24.76
5
Veronique Sandler (NZl)
0:00:32.25
6
Amy Liard (NZl)
0:00:35.25
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U19 MEN
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Lawrence Cawte (NZl)
0:02:36.88
2
Reece Potter (NZl)
0:00:00.71
3
Kurt Summerfield (NZl)
0:00:02.87
4
Leo Sandler (NZl)
0:00:03.52
5
Dan McCombie (NZl)
0:00:04.41
6
Harry Chapman (NZl)
0:00:04.99
7
Tom Burns (NZl)
0:00:05.98
8
Jamahl Stringer (NZl)
0:00:06.51
9
Kyle Lockwood (NZl)
0:00:06.63
10
Sheldon Kneale (NZl)
0:00:08.32
11
Zach Baker (NZl)
0:00:09.58
12
Michael Melles (NZl)
0:00:09.85
13
Raphael Kammlein-Cutler (NZl)
0:00:10.92
14
Troy Stewart (NZl)
0:00:11.92
15
Connor Harvey (NZl)
0:00:11.93
16
Caleb Smith (NZl)
0:00:12.73
17
Andy Wilson (NZl)
0:00:13.72
18
Caelab Drummond (NZl)
0:00:18.03
19
Elliot Davison (NZl)
0:00:18.19
20
Callum Sprosen (NZl)
0:00:18.47
21
Lloyd Jenks (NZl)
0:00:19.56
22
Ben Walker (NZl)
0:00:20.29
23
JD Devlin (NZl)
0:00:22.14
24
Alex Kennett (NZl)
0:00:24.07
25
Cameron Kerr (NZl)
0:00:26.53
26
Luke Hooper (NZl)
0:00:35.28
27
Will Keary (NZl)
0:00:42.97
DNF
Hunter Jenkenson (NZl)
Row 27 - Cell 2
DNF
Donovan Isted (NZl)
Row 28 - Cell 2
DNF
Thomas Gornall (NZl)
Row 29 - Cell 2
DNS
Ethan Burgess (NZl)
Row 30 - Cell 2
DNS
Jono Ross (NZl)
Row 31 - Cell 2
DNS
Jake Paddon (NZl)
Row 32 - Cell 2
DNS
Alex Faulkner (NZl)
Row 33 - Cell 2
DNS
Josh Verberne (NZl)
Row 34 - Cell 2
DNS
Robert Havill (NZl)
Row 35 - Cell 2
DNS
Jim Lott (NZl)
Row 36 - Cell 2
DNS
Jay Barrett (NZl)
Row 37 - Cell 2
DQ
Louis Hamilton (NZl)
Row 38 - Cell 2
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Under 17 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Carl Goodwin (NZl)
0:02:42.14
2
Josh McCombie (NZl)
0:00:04.39
3
Gareth Burgess (NZl)
0:00:10.77
4
Hayden Melles (NZl)
0:00:10.95
5
Willam Todhunter (NZl)
0:00:12.35
6
Toby Walker (NZl)
0:00:21.51
7
Fergis Mcintosh (NZl)
0:00:22.44
8
Jonathon Kennett (NZl)
0:00:22.58
9
Marcelo Teiveira (NZl)
0:00:24.45
10
Richard Scandrett (NZl)
0:00:25.09
11
Rod Hall (NZl)
0:00:26.17
12
Taylor Bachop (NZl)
0:00:26.75
13
Michael Lea (NZl)
0:00:27.01
14
Jordan Shadbolt (NZl)
0:00:27.58
15
DJ Holmes (NZl)
0:00:29.42
16
Thomas Goodman (NZl)
0:00:37.36
DNS
James Rattray (NZl)
Row 16 - Cell 2
DNS
Robert Todhunter (NZl)
Row 17 - Cell 2
DNS
Dan Prior (NZl)
Row 18 - Cell 2
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Senior men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Kyle Wilson (NZl)
0:02:36.46
2
Leighton Kirk (NZl)
0:00:00.09
3
Jake Boylett (NZl)
0:00:01.13
4
Nick McConachie (NZl)
0:00:01.65
5
James Hampton (NZl)
0:00:02.14
6
Carl Edmondson (NZl)
0:00:02.25
7
Cameron Kay (NZl)
0:00:03.21
8
Ben Tyas (NZl)
0:00:03.35
9
Scott McGregor (NZl)
0:00:03.65
10
Ant Jackson (NZl)
0:00:04.21
11
Dylan Sanchez-Pinsent (NZl)
0:00:05.40
12
Mat Prior (NZl)
0:00:06.48
13
Tyler Brooker (NZl)
0:00:07.41
14
Andrew Bias (NZl)
0:00:11.04
15
Daryl Webb (NZl)
0:00:12.65
16
Paul Johns (NZl)
0:00:15.06
17
Josh Barnard (NZl)
0:00:15.28
18
Thilo Rucknagel (Ger)
0:00:16.44
19
Russell Archer (NZl)
0:00:17.24
20
Dan Whearty (NZl)
0:00:17.72
21
William Mathieson (NZl)
0:00:18.76
22
Ryan Tritt (NZl)
0:00:22.35
23
Adam McClintock (NZl)
0:00:23.72
24
Sam Proctor (NZl)
0:00:23.96
25
Mark Johns (NZl)
0:00:26.36
26
Sam Howey (NZl)
0:00:28.91
27
Phillip Walsh (NZl)
0:00:29.90
28
Lorenzo Mukunda (NZl)
0:00:35.21
29
Andrew Paisley (NZl)
0:00:35.97
30
Colin Tocher (NZl)
0:00:38.07
31
Peter Campbell (NZl)
0:00:39.72
32
William Lawrence (NZl)
0:00:49.00
33
Greg Turner (NZl)
0:01:10.14
DNF
Matthew Wood (NZl)
Row 33 - Cell 2
DNF
William Parata (NZl)
Row 34 - Cell 2
DNS
Liam Jack (NZl)
Row 35 - Cell 2
DNS
Jonas Meier (NZl)
Row 36 - Cell 2
DNS
Hendrik Schulze (Ger)
Row 37 - Cell 2
DNS
Sean Kennedy (NZl)
Row 38 - Cell 2
DNS
Jacob Neaves (NZl)
Row 39 - Cell 2
DNS
Oscar Tatom (NZl)
Row 40 - Cell 2
DNS
Luke Johns (NZl)
Row 41 - Cell 2
DNS
Andrew Peck (NZl)
Row 42 - Cell 2
DNS
Jon Stout (NZl)
Row 43 - Cell 2
DNS
Scott Taylor (NZl)
Row 44 - Cell 2
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Master 1 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Derek Winwood (NZl)
0:02:39.63
2
Cameron Bisset (NZl)
0:00:04.23
3
Jamie Nicoll (NZl)
0:00:04.54
4
Chris Mancey (NZl)
0:00:08.46
5
Andrew Martin (NZl)
0:00:09.55
6
Kevin English (NZl)
0:00:14.73
7
Wolfram Schwertner (Ger)
0:00:18.00
8
Kyle O Brian (NZl)
0:00:20.58
9
Tom Francis (NZl)
0:00:22.63
10
Tony Boroviec (NZl)
0:00:25.99
11
Marcos Barbosa (NZl)
0:00:31.18
12
Andy Chapman (NZl)
0:00:42.29
DNS
Mike Pretty (NZl)
Row 12 - Cell 2
DNS
Teruaki Takahashi (Jpn)
Row 13 - Cell 2
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Master 2 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Darryn Henderson (NZl)
0:02:45.45
2
John Boylett (NZl)
0:00:30.78
3
Vaughan Love (NZl)
0:00:32.64
4
Chris Sinclair (NZl)
0:00:37.05
5
Ashley Ruth (NZl)
0:00:38.64
6
Nick Dalton (NZl)
0:00:42.41
7
Vaughan Ellis (NZl)
0:00:53.49
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Open women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Adrienne Hooper (NZl)
0:03:22.97
2
Kaytee Campbell (NZl)
0:00:08.27
3
Julie Berry (Aus)
0:00:13.56
4
Dawn Daley-Coers (NZl)
0:00:17.93
5
Pippa Holdom (NZl)
0:00:26.70
DNF Rosella
Pellegrino (Ger)
Row 5 - Cell 2
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Junior women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Sophie Tyas (NZl)
0:03:12.66
2
Phoebe Coers (NZl)
0:00:31.63
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Under 15 men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Oliver Jarman (NZl)
0:03:01.38
2
Carlos Wilson (NZl)
0:00:15.72
3
Caleb Burgess (NZl)
0:00:25.86
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Tandem
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Jackson & Rose Green (NZl)
0:03:48.55
South Island Downhill Cup final standings (rounded to nearest whole point)
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