British Downhill Series Rd2 Fort William

British Downhill Series Rd2. Fort William.

With the weekend starting very early on Friday morning for most of the team as they made the long journey up to Fort William in Scotland, we arrived with sunshine and clear skies! Fort William to most of the UK racers is the only opportunity to ride the same track raced at the world cup event. The track is probably one of the hardest in the UK, both on the bikes and body. With both Will and Josh making their first trip to Fort William, this was a steep learning curve for both of them. Keeping them off the bike was a bit of a challenge, but pursuading them to only complete 4 practice runs on saturday allowed them to feel fit and fresh for race day.

Saturdays practice was brilliant! No broken bikes other than wheels which don’t really count up here, or broken bodies!! Shame it wasent the same story on race day. We arrived with a van full of spares (mainly wheels) and left with a van full of broken parts and wheels; but this is all part of the fun at Fort William. The young guys were chomping at the bit to ride and cram in as many runs as possible, but with experience from both Richy and Jack teaching both of them to relax and enjoy the sun meant the bikes and riders were both looking and feeling good. The sun was still shining after all!

Race day came round far too quickly. The bikes were looking good and everyone feeling ok. Practice soon finished and the bikes were prepped for seeding runs. All the guys went up and down in-turn with no hiccups, well until Richy’s run. Following a long wait he rolled down the hill with three other elite riders, all of which had fallen victim to a large hole and rock near the top of the hill. Generally the bikes don’t go that quickly without a rear mech.

Race runs were next. Will was up first and with a very good run came down in a 6:32.10. He finished in third place, another brilliant result from will and even more so considering this was his first trip to Fort William.

Josh was next and again with his first experience of Fort William being this weekend riding the small 6 inch Ancillotti FRP bike, he did an amazing run and finished in 24th position with a time of 6:34.08. Well done josh.

Jack loves Fort William. What more can I say. It’s a big boys track and he always seems to shine here. Seeding in 1st position and coming down the hill as first Expert rider to allow time for stealing bits from his bike to help Richy’s broken bike. He went straight into the hot seat and stayed there for the duration of the catorgy, finishing in first place by 3.29 seconds with a time of 5:26.93. this was the 23rd fastest time of the weekend.

Richy T finally made his way up the hill after a frantic bike fix with only minutes to spare before his run. He arrived at the top in the nick of time and rode from the gondola station straight into the start hut! He came down in a super fast time which placed him in 17th place 5:19.37.

What a brilliant weekend!!! and a lot of fun was had by all.

Now time to fix some wheels.