Tauranga delivered frantic competition to match the hot and humid weather at the first round of the RaboDirect New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup over the weekend. The Cycle Obsession MTB Park / Summerhill mix of courses in Welcome Bay proved a hit.
Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International) started his summer downhill campaign in dominant style, reflecting his stunning 2010 world ranking of number 4. Seeding in front of a quality world class field on Saturday morning, Blenkinsop screwed the pressure on for the winner take all race run to shatter his likely challengers.
In chasing Blenkinsop's seeding pace, George Brannigan (Ancillotti), Brook MacDonald (MS Evil) and current National Champion Wyn Masters (Wide Open) all came to grief on a deteriorating downhill course that required absolute accuracy and supreme bike control to conquer cleanly. Only seasoned campaigner Nathan Rankin (Levin, Monster Energy) could stay with Blenkinsop's pace, but he was still more than a second off the winning time.
Age group categories in Saturday's downhill race were also hotly contested, with incredibly close margins separating riders. The supporting Under 19 category was won by Nelson's Rueben Olorenshaw by only 0.01 seconds after a two-minute descent on the 160m vertical metre course, and in a storming time that would have placed him ninth in the elite field.
The RaboDirect New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup continues this weekend in Napier for both cross country and downhill racers, at the Eskdale MTB park.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Blenkinsop | 0:02:00.64 |
| 2 | Nathan Rankin | 0:00:01.73 |
| 3 | Matt Walker | 0:00:02.19 |
| 4 | Edward Masters | 0:00:04.01 |
| 5 | Richard Leacock | 0:00:04.16 |
| 6 | Joseph Nation | 0:00:04.21 |
| 7 | Glenn Haden | 0:00:04.23 |
| 8 | Sam Baker | 0:00:04.85 |
| 9 | James Dodds | 0:00:05.71 |
| 10 | Daniel Mailink | 0:00:05.81 |
| 11 | Daniel Heads | 0:00:06.54 |
| 12 | Mike Davis | 0:00:06.60 |
| 13 | Mike Skinner | 0:00:06.91 |
| 14 | Gerard Wolfe | 0:00:07.07 |
| 15 | Dan Sims | 0:00:08.54 |
| 16 | Ewan Doherty | 0:00:08.63 |
| 17 | Tom Matthews | 0:00:08.83 |
| 18 | Wyn Masters | 0:00:11.50 |
| 19 | Brook MacDonald | 0:00:15.96 |
| 20 | George Brannigan | 0:00:26.68 |
| DNF | James Rennie | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Thomas Jeandin | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tamara Ulrich | 0:03:03.36 |
| 2 | Pippa Holdom | 0:00:19.96 |
| DNS | Amy Laird | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Bronwyn Sax | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reuben Olorenshaw | 0:02:06.20 |
| 2 | Jay Barrett | 0:00:00.01 |
| 3 | Buillard Temarii | 0:00:01.03 |
| 4 | Jake Robinson | 0:00:01.55 |
| 5 | Brandon Ransfield | 0:00:03.96 |
| 6 | Reece Potter | 0:00:04.13 |
| 7 | Kirk Fisher | 0:00:05.24 |
| 8 | Brandon Jackson | 0:00:07.72 |
| 9 | Mat Prior | 0:00:08.23 |
| 10 | Dan Mccombie | 0:00:08.77 |
| 11 | David Browne | 0:00:09.98 |
| 12 | Harrison Redshaw | 0:00:10.59 |
| 13 | Nick Bygate | 0:00:10.89 |
| 14 | Kurt McDonald | 0:00:12.33 |
| 15 | Tom Rose | 0:00:13.96 |
| 16 | Jason Lang | 0:00:14.33 |
| 17 | Louis Hamilton | 0:00:17.00 |
| 18 | Mitch Townsend | 0:00:17.43 |
| 19 | Jack Sharland | 0:00:17.44 |
| 20 | Andrew Bias | 0:00:19.44 |
| 21 | Zachary Small | 0:00:19.70 |
| 22 | Campbell Mercer | 0:00:20.06 |
| 23 | Joel Tunbridge | 0:00:23.45 |
| 24 | Michael Gunter | 0:00:26.45 |
| 25 | Zach Baker | 0:00:30.54 |
| 26 | Craig Tomsett | 0:00:38.66 |
| 27 | Giulio Laura | 0:00:40.89 |
| 28 | Mitch Thomas | 0:00:43.58 |
| 29 | Alex Faulkner | 0:00:46.81 |
| 30 | Ryan Hunt | 0:00:50.17 |
| 31 | Scott Anson | 0:00:54.94 |
| DNS | Zach Ryan | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Nathan Sheppard | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Corey Penney | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Mitch Thomas | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lawrence Cawte | 0:02:08.02 |
| 2 | Leo Sandler | 0:00:01.88 |
| 3 | Kurt Summerfield | 0:00:02.34 |
| 4 | Kieran De Grey | 0:00:03.91 |
| 5 | Harry Chapman | 0:00:07.42 |
| 6 | Cole Smith | 0:00:07.95 |
| 7 | Jamahl Stringer | 0:00:08.29 |
| 8 | Jack Arnopp | 0:00:08.57 |
| 9 | Josh McCombie | 0:00:10.23 |
| 10 | Cam Barrett | 0:00:10.77 |
| 11 | Dan Lawton | 0:00:11.94 |
| 12 | Cealab Drummond | 0:00:13.26 |
| 13 | Kyle Lockwood | 0:00:14.59 |
| 14 | Connor Hamilton | 0:00:15.14 |
| 15 | Michael Melles | 0:00:15.29 |
| 16 | Reuben Stovold | 0:00:17.90 |
| 17 | Jack Dodd | 0:00:19.20 |
| 18 | Morgan Taylor | 0:00:20.06 |
| 19 | Callum Sprosen | 0:00:20.37 |
| 20 | Scott Dockary | 0:00:21.00 |
| 21 | Danie Kattenberg | 0:00:22.27 |
| 22 | Cameron Hancox | 0:00:22.46 |
| 23 | Izac Anderson | 0:00:22.71 |
| 24 | Lee Ormsby | 0:00:23.71 |
| 25 | Josh Airey | 0:00:29.14 |
| 26 | Marcus Slack | 0:00:33.07 |
| 27 | Jack Harrington | 0:00:39.93 |
| 28 | Bryan Schofield | 0:00:40.98 |
| 29 | Hanan Cawley | 0:00:43.96 |
| 30 | Lewis McEwan | 0:00:43.99 |
| 31 | James Paling | 0:00:44.31 |
| 32 | Chris Ryder | 0:00:51.53 |
| 33 | Luke Hooper | 0:00:55.14 |
| 34 | Brett Wilkie | 0:00:57.61 |
| 35 | Benjamin Watkins | 0:01:03.02 |
| 36 | Chase Shearman | 0:01:09.44 |
| DNS | Reece Clements | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Humphries | 0:02:32.04 |
| 2 | Matt Lawton | 0:00:07.78 |
| 3 | Hayden Melles | 0:00:08.66 |
| 4 | Ihakara Pene | 0:00:19.72 |
| 5 | Dino Rutten | 0:00:24.94 |
| 6 | Kale Edwards | 0:00:26.17 |
| 7 | Nick Goodson | 0:00:33.28 |
| 8 | Matt Goodson | 0:00:47.91 |
| DNS | Simon Gwynn | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Cameron Osborne | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
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