Great Britain's Bernard Kerr edged out Christchurch downhill superstar Cam Cole by the narrowest of margins to win the first round of the BikeNZ Mountain Bike Cup Series in Bluff on Saturday.
Kerr claimed victory in the elite men's race with a time of 2:52.35, a mere 0.04 of a second ahead of Cole on the 1.37km track descending the iconic Bluff Hill.
Louis Hamilton from Rotorua took third place with 2:55.43.
Kerr won ahead a start-studded line up with riders from France, Japan, Brazil, Canada, and New Zealand.
"My race run wasn't perfect, it was really windy, which made it difficult to do all of the jumps, but overall I'm really happy," Kerr said. "It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to the next races in the series before I leave in February."
Another UK rider, Jess Stone, outrode her opponents to claim the elite women's victory.
Stone rode a time of 3:29.16, over 13 seconds faster than second place Alanna Columb, 3:42.75, and former Oceania Champion Amy Laird, in third place with 3:45.06.
Local knowledge proved valuable for Connor Harvey who won the under 19 men's category in 3:07.06, with Raphael Kammlein-Cutler and Lawrence Cawte in second and third respectively.
Conditions had improved drastically after unseasonably cold weather mid-week, with the track drying out after five days of rain.
Downhill riders have three more rounds; Mt Hutt next weekend, Levin on February 1-2, and Hunua in Auckland on February 8-9, before the National Championships in Rotorua on the February 15-17.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 0:02:52.35 |
| 2 | Cam Cole (NZl) | 0:00:00.04 |
| 3 | Louis Hamilton (NZl) | 0:00:03.08 |
| 4 | Fabien Sellier (Fra) | 0:00:04.13 |
| 5 | Nathan Rankin Levin | 0:00:05.35 |
| 6 | Sam Perry (NZl) | 0:00:06.50 |
| 7 | Reuben Olorenshaw (NZl) | 0:00:06.81 |
| 8 | Desmond Curry (NZl) | 0:00:08.17 |
| 9 | Tom Matthews (NZl) | 0:00:08.73 |
| 10 | Yuki Kushima (Jpn) | 0:00:11.14 |
| 11 | Bryn Dickerson (NZl) | 0:00:11.27 |
| 12 | Ken Faubert (Can) | 0:00:15.65 |
| 13 | Gregory Brunache (Fra) | 0:00:16.56 |
| 14 | Octavio Teixeira (Bra) | 0:00:22.55 |
| 15 | James Rennie (NZl) | 0:00:25.26 |
| 16 | Rupert Chapman (NZl) | 0:00:25.54 |
| 17 | Kieran Bennett (NZl) | 0:00:29.66 |
| 18 | Matt Scoles (NZl) | 0:00:39.54 |
| DNF | Nicholas McConachie (NZl) | |
| DNS | Frei Martin (Swi) | |
| DNS | Reon Boe (NZl) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jess Stone (GBr) | 0:03:29.16 |
| 2 | Alanna Columb (NZl) | 0:00:13.59 |
| 3 | Amy Laird (NZl) | 0:00:15.90 |
| 4 | Sophie Tyas (NZl) | 0:00:17.08 |
| 5 | Veronique Sandler (NZl) | 0:00:29.28 |
| 6 | Amanda Pearce (NZl) | 0:00:37.27 |
| 7 | Traharn Chidley (GBr) | 0:00:43.33 |
| 8 | Yvonne Birker (Swi) | 0:01:16.52 |
| DNS | Sabrina Morell (Swi) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Harvey (NZl) | 0:03:07.06 |
| 2 | Raphael Kammlein-Cutler (NZl) | 0:00:00.21 |
| 3 | Lawrence Cawte (NZl) | 0:00:02.23 |
| 4 | Josh McCombie (NZl) | 0:00:02.49 |
| 5 | Michael Melles (NZl) | 0:00:02.89 |
| 6 | Leo Sandler (NZl) | 0:00:04.59 |
| 7 | Carl Goodwin (NZl) | 0:00:05.07 |
| 8 | Sheldon Kneale (NZl) | 0:00:05.60 |
| 9 | Keegan Wright (NZl) | 0:00:10.86 |
| 10 | Jack Arnopp (NZl) | 0:00:11.36 |
| 11 | Caelab Drummond (NZl) | 0:00:17.90 |
| 12 | Ethan Burgess (NZl) | 0:00:20.47 |
| 13 | Kurt Summerfield (NZl) | 0:00:21.30 |
| 14 | Rod Hall (NZl) | 0:00:26.19 |
| 15 | Josh Hicks (NZl) | 0:00:27.23 |
| 16 | Andy Wilson (NZl) | 0:00:28.18 |
| 17 | Tom Burns (NZl) | 0:00:29.98 |
| 18 | Andrew Pittams (NZl) | 0:00:59.36 |
| 19 | Dan Lawton (NZl) | 0:01:30.92 |
| DNS | Jake Paddon (NZl) | |
| DNS | Tane Wilson (NZl) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Milne (NZl) | 0:03:24.98 |
| 2 | Hayden Melles (NZl) | 0:00:02.98 |
| 3 | Oliver Jarman (NZl) | 0:00:03.00 |
| 4 | Carlos Boyes-Wilson (NZl) | 0:00:08.60 |
| 5 | Michael Breading (NZl) | 0:00:09.30 |
| 6 | Mathew Gillan (NZl) | 0:00:09.40 |
| 7 | Robert Todhunter (NZl) | 0:00:09.63 |
| 8 | Harlam Heydon (NZl) | 0:00:10.28 |
| 9 | Matt Lawton (NZl) | 0:00:11.43 |
| 10 | Gareth Burgess (NZl) | 0:00:11.61 |
| 11 | William Todhunter (NZl) | 0:00:14.21 |
| 12 | Daniel Horgan (NZl) | 0:00:16.30 |
| 13 | Nathan Saunders (NZl) | 0:00:28.48 |
| 14 | Tom Goodman (NZl) | 0:00:29.33 |
| 15 | Cam McDowell (NZl) | 0:00:30.92 |
| 16 | Rhys Pittams (NZl) | 0:00:31.36 |
| 17 | Caleb Burgess (NZl) | 0:00:41.45 |
| 18 | Shaun Barclay (NZl) | 0:00:46.56 |
| 19 | Jack Hale (NZl) | 0:00:49.84 |
| DNS | Kale Edwards (NZl) | |
| DNS | Bryn Clarke (NZl) |
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