Tauranga's 2Stage Mountainbike Park played host to an estimated 3000 spectators, who flooded in to see Cameron Cole take victory in the latest round of the New Zealand Downhill Cup on Saturday.
The new 2Stage race course was constructed specifically for this event, and competitors relished the loose, dusty conditions to post close times at the front of all age group categories.
The elite men's race was a showdown that wasn't to be missed. The morning's seeding showed that it would be anybody's race to win. New Zealand MTB series round four winner Glenn Haden was an early casualty of the course as he punctured during his race run, to ruin any chance of a repeat this week.
American professional Luke Strobel qualified fastest, but just couldn't replicate that clean run with too many mistakes in his race run seeing him slide to 21st.
Cameron Cole rode a calculated run to take the win this week from Wyn Masters, with Switzerland's Martin Frei posting his best result this summer with a third placed finish. Matt Scoles and Nathan Rankin rounded out the top five by the narrowest of margins.
Jay Barrett continued his winning New Zealand MTB Cup form in the under 17 category on the way to posting the eighth fastest time of the day, while Vaughan Woolhouse (under 19) and Freddie King (senior) both won at this new venue, against highly competitive fields.
In the open women's race, Sarah Atkin finally took the top step of the podium after threatening to do so at previous rounds, winning by a huge 12-second margin
| 1 | Cameron Cole | 0:02:14.550 |
| 2 | Wyn Masters | 0:02:16.990 |
| 3 | Martin Frei | 0:02:17.160 |
| 4 | Matt Scoles | 0:02:17.240 |
| 5 | Nathan Rankin | 0:02:17.910 |
| 6 | Hayden McGregor | 0:02:18.480 |
| 7 | George Brannigan | 0:02:20.760 |
| 8 | James Dodds | 0:02:22.230 |
| 9 | Sean McCarroll | 0:02:23.000 |
| 10 | Matt Walker | 0:02:23.110 |
| 11 | Des Curry | 0:02:23.470 |
| 12 | Harry Armstrong | 0:02:23.910 |
| 13 | Tim Eaton | 0:02:25.480 |
| 14 | Joel Gebbie | 0:02:25.790 |
| 15 | Edo Franco | 0:02:28.280 |
| 16 | Rob Venables | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
| 17 | Ken Faubert | 0:02:29.340 |
| 18 | James Rennie | 0:02:33.740 |
| 19 | Mathew Hillsey | 0:02:34.790 |
| 20 | Hayden Lee | 0:02:41.120 |
| 21 | Luke Strobel | 0:02:43.390 |
| DNF | Glenn Haden | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Brook Macdonald | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Thomas Jeandin | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Vaughan Woolhouse | 0:02:22.700 |
| 2 | Brandon Lumsden | 0:02:26.860 |
| 3 | Sam Baker | 0:02:27.310 |
| 4 | Brandon Ransfield | 0:02:29.320 |
| 5 | Kirk Fisher | 0:02:30.420 |
| 6 | Kurt McDonald | 0:02:31.190 |
| 7 | Mitch Townsend | 0:02:33.330 |
| 8 | Corey Penney | 0:02:34.040 |
| 9 | Matt Silcock | 0:02:34.680 |
| 10 | Ryan Lewis | 0:02:35.840 |
| 11 | Corey Patel | 0:02:37.720 |
| 12 | Jason Lang | 0:02:40.420 |
| 13 | Lachlan Cruickshank | 0:02:41.550 |
| 14 | Oscar Tatom | 0:02:42.860 |
| 15 | Jack Sharland | 0:02:46.370 |
| 16 | Ryan Knell | 0:02:47.700 |
| 17 | Ben Dowman | 0:02:48.070 |
| 18 | Jeremy Compton | 0:02:48.510 |
| 19 | David Browne | 0:02:48.600 |
| 20 | Tyler Caplan | 0:02:48.750 |
| 21 | Jourdan Lethbridge | 0:02:48.880 |
| 22 | Nathan Sheppard | 0:02:49.170 |
| 23 | Jason Todd | 0:03:00.560 |
| 24 | Kyle Stannard | 0:03:26.800 |
| 25 | Jonathan Andrew | 0:03:52.440 |
| 26 | Tyler Kirk | 0:04:53.090 |
| DNS | Nick Bygate | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Lucas Jackson | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Jay Barrett | 0:02:19.950 |
| 2 | Jake Robinson | 0:02:26.480 |
| 3 | Jacques Vosloo | 0:02:27.880 |
| 4 | Louis Hamilton | 0:02:30.550 |
| 5 | Campbell Mercer | 0:02:35.330 |
| 6 | Kurt Summerfield | 0:02:35.660 |
| 7 | Zach Baker | 0:02:35.720 |
| 8 | Giulio Laura | 0:02:36.160 |
| 9 | Dan Mccombie | 0:02:38.380 |
| 10 | Lawrence Cawte | 0:02:38.560 |
| 11 | Joel Tunbridge | 0:02:39.440 |
| 12 | Tom Rose | 0:02:40.720 |
| 13 | Mark Werpachowski | 0:02:43.780 |
| 14 | Morgan Taylor | 0:02:46.780 |
| 15 | Tim Adams | 0:02:48.550 |
| 16 | Jack Arnopp | 0:02:49.840 |
| 17 | Cameron Hancox | 0:02:49.920 |
| 18 | Michael Melles | 0:02:51.390 |
| 19 | Scott Milner | 0:02:52.710 |
| 20 | Kayne McGlue | 0:02:52.860 |
| 21 | Jackson Hine | 0:02:53.620 |
| 22 | Dan Lawton | 0:02:53.920 |
| 23 | Thomas Schischka | 0:02:54.040 |
| 24 | Jack Dodd | 0:02:54.300 |
| 25 | Mitch Thomas | 0:02:56.040 |
| 26 | Zach Rowe | 0:02:57.380 |
| 27 | Ryan Hunt | 0:03:02.400 |
| 28 | Jamie Rosier | 0:03:04.530 |
| 29 | Daniel La ulu | 0:03:05.600 |
| 30 | James Paling | 0:03:07.650 |
| 31 | Aled Dunn | 0:03:10.310 |
| 32 | Harrison Redshaw | 0:03:15.010 |
| DNS | Michael Gunter | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Josiah Clark | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Jarrod Anderson | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Freddie King | 0:02:21.200 |
| 2 | Daniel Meilink | 0:02:21.240 |
| 3 | Sam Shucksmith | 0:02:21.390 |
| 4 | Scott McGregor | 0:02:21.930 |
| 5 | Richard Leacock | 0:02:22.200 |
| 6 | David Balderstone | 0:02:23.830 |
| 7 | Tom Winwood | 0:02:25.180 |
| 8 | Carl Edmondson | 0:02:25.280 |
| 9 | Nick Mead | 0:02:25.960 |
| 10 | Daniel Heads | 0:02:25.980 |
| 11 | Rob Farmer | 0:02:26.490 |
| 12 | Kurt Lancaster | 0:02:26.790 |
| 13 | Dominic Stulen | 0:02:28.150 |
| 14 | Chris Johnston | 0:02:28.350 |
| 15 | Bryn Dickerson | 0:02:28.930 |
| 16 | Tyler Perrin | 0:02:29.080 |
| 17 | Ollie Knight | 0:02:29.390 |
| 18 | Joel Flanagan | 0:02:30.110 |
| 19 | Jamie Lyall | 0:02:30.450 |
| 20 | Ben Tyas | 0:02:30.480 |
| 21 | Matt Ineson | 0:02:30.620 |
| 22 | Shanan Whitlock | 0:02:35.040 |
| 23 | Mathew Mcgovern | 0:02:35.210 |
| 24 | Asher Ellery | 0:02:36.240 |
| 25 | Ben Stewart | 0:02:36.560 |
| 26 | Joe Henry | 0:02:37.430 |
| 27 | Scott Taylor | 0:02:37.610 |
| 28 | Simon Dibben | 0:02:39.020 |
| 29 | Kevin Warner | 0:02:39.460 |
| 30 | Callum Wilson | 0:02:39.520 |
| 31 | Steven Pattle | 0:02:40.040 |
| 32 | Jamie Eagle | 0:02:41.940 |
| 33 | Ryan Williamson | 0:02:42.090 |
| 34 | Kai Crow | 0:02:42.410 |
| 35 | Ilya Zharenikov | 0:02:45.610 |
| 36 | Daniel Taylor | 0:02:45.840 |
| 37 | Tristan Ratcliffe | 0:02:49.640 |
| 38 | Tim Warner | 0:02:54.740 |
| 39 | Josh Hutchinson | 0:02:58.030 |
| 40 | Jono Tonkin | 0:03:03.770 |
| 41 | Beau Lowrie | 0:03:09.120 |
| DNS | Tom Mathews | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Michael Sims | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Dave Anderson | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Byron Scott | 0:02:19.520 |
| 2 | Cameron Bisset | 0:02:34.030 |
| 3 | Andrew Martin | 0:02:37.480 |
| 4 | Kevin English | 0:02:49.080 |
| 5 | Leon Duggan | 0:02:54.820 |
| 6 | Stefan Bek | 0:02:55.750 |
| 7 | Rich Seaton | 0:03:07.840 |
| DNF | Mike Green | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Eugene Kara | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Dave Hamilton | 0:02:35.410 |
| 2 | David Rose | 0:03:05.960 |
| 3 | Andrew Melles | 0:03:54.540 |
| DNS | Graeme Hunt | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Jade Erickson | 0:03:31.160 |
| DNS | Luke Brindle | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Sarah Atkin | 0:02:51.610 |
| 2 | Charlotte Clouston | 0:03:03.780 |
| 3 | Sophiemarie Bethell | 0:03:09.870 |
| 4 | Baylee Jackson | 0:03:27.570 |
| DNS | Madeline Taylor | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Kaytee Campbell | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Sophie Tyas | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Josh Mccombie | 0:02:37.210 |
| 2 | Connor Hamilton | 0:02:40.400 |
| 3 | Cam Barrett | 0:02:44.040 |
| 4 | Gregory Tew | 0:02:44.790 |
| 5 | Ben Watkins | 0:02:49.660 |
| 6 | Josh Airey | 0:02:58.960 |
| 7 | Hayden Melles | 0:03:05.210 |
| 8 | Tom Brian | 0:03:13.990 |
| 9 | Matt Lawton | 0:03:18.790 |
| 10 | Dino Rutten | 0:03:27.550 |
| 11 | Tom Goodman | 0:03:39.280 |
| 12 | Jordan Holliday | 0:03:41.290 |
| DNS | Danie Kattenberg | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Snow Kris | 0:02:41.180 |
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