Liam Downing

Race report

Fast start! The new starting point is perfect - just a touch more time to spread out, plus shoots you up the hill with a bit of carried speed. Same lap as 26/10 - full climb but no Bottom Woggle. On the first lap, Matt Blanch, Matt Cowley and I went pretty fast up the Sidewinder, Woggle Valley and Up4It climbs before the younger of the Matts took off before Dino Breakout. Matt C and I traded a turn or 2 before his rear wheel decided to loosen up on the final climb and he let me pass. 2nd overall to the fast junior Matt Blanch, and 1st in open men's ahead of Matt Cowley and last lap charging Mark Chapman. Average HR of 174, with a max of 190, so racing was as hard as it always is!

Race report

35 in the men's open class tonight! I was totes chuffed with the open men's win in this one. Iceman took off like an absolute ICBM, and dragged Konsta, Matt Blanch and me up Sidewinder to a pretty massive lead over the chasing field before peeling off, job done (and cooked in his words!).

Matt Blanch sat in for the first lap, before attaching on the second. I managed to latch onto his slipstream for a bit, but that was never sustainable so I dropped back a touch and he eventually got 30 seconds on me (in one lap, sheesh!).

Meanwhile, I had to absolutely bury myself to stay in front of Konsta, who never disappeared. It was only a second's difference in the end in my favour, but could definitely have gone either way...

Great lap tonight - a couple of potential and actual passing spots, and good track choices for a big field with traffic.

Race report

Good, close racing at the front, with Mark Chapman seeing a blistering first lap pace before Matt Fieldus put in an impressive acceleration taking Konsta Vanhanen and me with him (plus fast junior dude Matt Blanch). Matt Blanch took off to win the overall, while Konsta attacked hard and distanced Matt and me for the open men's win. I got past Matt F around the top dam, but managed a Gumby moment on top woggle and he got back past. But he then let me past on an a line. I chased hard, but Konsta was too fast in the end. Dusty fun!

Race report

T'was a dark and stormy night... Literally! Some pinners tonight, with a super fast pace throughout set by Rocket, Matt Blanch, Konsta Vanhanen and Matt Cowley. I felt slightly slower than I'd like to be, and we ended up finishing in the dark and rain. That said, fun as always and I was happy with the race overall. Matt Blanch beat everyone as usual, and Rod took out the open men's ahead of Konsta and Matt C.

Race report

Another really fast evening race - definitely faster than last week! The start was a little hairy from the 3rd row but heaps of fun. I averaged around 175bpm for the race so I was fairly spent by the end. Konsta (in 4th place) was a big improver from last week and unlucky with traffic at one point, and I had to stay in the red to stay ahead of Matt Fieldus in the last lap as I felt him breathing down my neck! Mark again showed how calm he is up front... It was also good to see another Matt (Blanch) mixing it up in 2nd overall.

Race report

First race of the Summer Series - good close racing at the front, but the top two just had the goods over me on the day so I got in for a third place! A heap of fun, with heaps of kids racing around (including my son Angus, who completed his first ever mountain bike race woohoo!)

Race report

Flat, fast and dusty - my big comeback to MTB racing after about 5 years off.