Team Wideopenmag’s Connor Smith just raced the Kinsham Pearce Cycles downhill race.
Here’s his first race of the year on the team and his first race report for Wideopenmag.
Welcome aboard young gun!
Photos by Big Mac Photography, John Martin and Muddy Shots.
Words by Team Wideopenmag’s Connor Smith.
New year, new team
Last weekend was the long awaited opener of the Pearce series at Kinsham.
Pearce always put on a great event and it was a big one for me. It was my first race in youth since moving up from Juvenile and my first race on Team Wideopenmag and on my new Nukeproof Pulse.
It’s a race I’ve been waiting to get stuck into all winter and it couldn’t come round quick enough!
Flat out
The track was loads of fun. It was fast and loose with a tight top section and loads of flowy jumps at the bottom. It wasn’t too technical… it was the high speed that made it tough. Going no brakes through gaps barely wider than my Funn handlebars can be pretty scary!
Practice went smoothly and I spent the morning doing laps with my new team mates Chris Cumming and Dan Cope. Riding with those guys was great as we’re all nearly the same speed and it was fun sending jumps and getting loose together.
In practice, Luke Williamson was the hot topic and was looking favourite for the win. Loads of the elite guys were raving about how fast he was and, to be fair, he was looking good on track. It’ll be great going up against him this year.
Fastest first year
My first race run wasn’t the best and I went into 13th position. I felt like I was settling back into racing after the winter and I maybe forgot how aggressive you have to be to be competitive.
Second runs came round and I worked hard to fix my mistakes. I pedalled hard out of the corners and managed to shave off 7 seconds and put myself into 6th in the youth category. I was stoked to find myself the fastest first year youth.
The race was also a great chance to jump on the new Nukeproof Pulse and get it up to speed against the clock. I’m new to Conti Tyres and I was really pleased to find that my team-issue Mud Kings hooked up perfectly in the Kinsham dirt.
Joe Smith takes the win
People weren’t wrong about their predictions and second year youth Luke Williamson brought home the youth category win with Harry Barrett just one second behind and Sion Margrave in third.
In the elite field Joe Smith took the win, followed by Charlie Hatton and Shaun Richards. Joe and Charlie were just 0.03 of a second apart!
Rachel Atherton was the fastest elite female with Abbie Sloan and Lucy Drees in second and third.
With my first race on the new team in the bag I’m now getting ready for the first British National race at Cwm Carn in two weeks time.
Big jumps and fast straights are my favourite and I reckon times will be tight! Hopefully will make it an exciting race!
Thanks to Team Wideopenmag’s awesome sponsors:
