The HSBCUK British National Downhill Series went off at Cwmcarn on a damp April weekend.
Despite the dreary weather, the race was a burning hotspot for mountain bike downhill in the UK.
Riding images by Ian Lean, others by Dave Price
The first National downhill race of 2018 felt like it was a long time coming.
This time last year we’d just raced the first event of the final season of the British Downhill Series in North Wales at Nant Gwrtheyrn. The future of the series was up in the air and with no one stepping up to take on the job of organising, British downhill racing was looking ropey.
12 months later and we’re at Cwmcarn and the Ebbw Valley is overflowing with downhill. There’s over 40 elite racers with a solid field of factory riders. More importantly, the race is a near-sell out with a packed field of young guns and old dogs alike. There’s tonnes of young guns and over 20 female racers between the tape. 
In the week running up to the race, the elite field was looking thin.
30 elites had entered but the sharp end was light with only the Athertons, Danny Hart and a couple of others paid-up and on the list.
Whilst the race nearly sold-out, it’s these guys that make or break a national series. Thankfully, Elite racers just seem to be a bit slower a entering races than they are at crossing finish lines… and the race was packed.
They say the best parties always happen in the smallest spaces – and what Cwmcarn’s race village lacked in space, it more than made up for with a busy, buzzy vibe. The pits were bustling with racers and spectators, the coffee was flowing and the atmosphere was great.
The start of the race season is as much about seeing old friends, cruising the pits, seeing who’s on what new bike and getting into the new year. Cwmcarn put on a great knees up to start the season.
Pictured above is 2017’s overall series winner, Charlie Hatton.
2018 sees him on a Trek and under the wings of the Athertons and Trek Factory Racing. Charlie is a perfect example of why National racing is so important.
A couple of years back he was still learning the ropes. This weekend he was on one of the World’s biggest race teams, rocking the #1 plate, signing autographs in the pits with a World Cup season ahead of him. It was awesome to see Charlie punching out runs with Gee on Saturday.
2017 National Champ Greg Williamson is now riding alongside Taylor Vernon on Unno Bicycles.
Greg wouldn’t have been a bad bet for the overall but, it didn’t go to plan and he ended up getting red flagged in his seeding run then taking 8th in finals. You win some, you lose some!
Race venues are rarely perfect right?
If we were being super picky, the XC ride up to the uplift pick-up was a bit of a pain in the arse. Despite the schlep, the riders cracked on and got it done.
It’s great to see that riders are in a super positive frame of mind about the new series. Keep it up guys!
Our National cycling body, British Cycling, has always been involved with downhill and do a lot more than we sometimes give them credit for.
When the BDS shut shop at the end of 2017, British Cycling stepped up and acted as the ring-master to create a new series. They have invested time and money into the series and helped to ensure the future of racing in the UK. And they brought a shiny new finish line sign, which looked sharp against a drab, overcast Cwmcarn.
Photo’d above is BC Commissaire Kelvin who helps keep the races running to the book and Rick Clarkson, the man at BC who we need to thank for making these races happen again.
The young guns are the life blood of racing and it’s those fast, hungry youths and juveniles that are maybe the most exciting part of any race.
Here’s the young Irish pinner Chris Cumming from Team Wideopenmag who just took his first ever national win. Get on, Chris!
Another former Wideopenmag rider, Jay Williamson is one of the many elites on track and pushing to step up to the big time. These guys make up a massive and talented field of at least 50 guys that could easily compete at World Cup.
15th place for Jay Williamson – good luck for the season to the Cornish Fasty!
We spend a lot of our time racing tracks that are muddy, rooty and in the trees.
Cwmcarn is a different beast with a whole load of flat out, man made, bike park features. It’s great to race and it’s great for spectators too. In Taylor Vernon’s words “It’s SO fast and rough, it’s crazy!”.
The speed of the track and little variety in line choices meant that times were super tight with just 8 seconds separating the fastest and slowest of the elite men’s field.
Formula 1. Former World Champion Gee Atherton is awesome to watch on a race weekend. He’s a lesson in top level, professional racing and his (and his team’s) approach is a cut above. But, like a few riders in the top tier, Gee had a really hard year on 2017. He got injured, he got benched and he came into the year late and missing the results he wanted.
We chatted to Gee and he admitted that the time on the sidelines helped, putting him into the winter fresh and ready to train without any niggling race-season injuries.
Gee won the last British National held at Cwmcarn over a decade ago… but he couldn’t piece it together. 7th in seeding, 6th in race runs.
#2 in the overall battle for 2017, Adam Brayton, would be a great shout for those fantasy teams.
He spent a lot of time in the top 15 at World Cup, broke into the top 10 and scored 13th at World Champs and 18th overall in the Cup. He’s flat out and “quietly confident” he says.
5th place for Brayton in a stacked field.
New races mean new faces… But it’s not all new. MTB MC Andrew Cooper is back and on the mic to keep those racer dads up to date!
Thanks for keeping the results rolling and giving the event some atmosphere, Coop!
Fresh back from a winter in New Zealand, Laurie Greenland is looking strong and sounds excited about his new team mates Brook MacDonald and Mike Jones.
Laurie couldn’t quite piece together a winning run, instead settling for 4th place in the elite men’s field.
The women’s field used to be sure bet on Rachel Atherton, but times have changed and Tahnee Seagrave and Katy Curd are both (which Rachel admits) putting serious pressure on her.
Katy had a tough year in 2017 after a big head injury but is now on a new bike and absolutely hauling ass.
Katy landed in 3rd in the women’s elite race, just 5 second off 1st place.
Mike Jones crossed the line fastest in his final run but clearly wasn’t happy. He knew he hadn’t gone fast enough an admitted it was “a bit sketchy in places… but a lot better than seeding”.
Mike took his Mondraker to 3rd place – not a bad start for his first National on his new team.
New year, new team and Danny Hart seems fired up. He chopped and changed between wheels sizes and was slow getting up to pace in 2017… But sounds super confident for this year, treating it as a fresh start on Madison Saracen.
Danny took 2nd place, just ahead of Mike Jones but not quite enough to take the win.
The ladies race was a bit of a mess in seeding. Lucy Drees went down hard on the bottom section and Tahnee and Rachel got held up and scored times north of 10 minutes.
In our interview during the day Tahnee told us “I want to try and win everything I enter” and her run was flat out. She was the fastest of the female field through the bottom section, almost half a second quicker than first place.
Unfortunately for her, her top 2 sections weren’t quite fast enough and she needed to lose 3 seconds to take the top spot.
Rachel Atherton. Yet another rider with shit luck in 2017.
Rachel admits freely that she’s more nervous about the competition about British Nationals and that Tahnee and Katy Curd are giving her a proper run for her money.
Despite the nerves, Rachel Atherton took the win at the first ever HSBC UK British National Downhill, three seconds up on Tahnee Seagrave. Needless to say, she was stoked.
Women’s elite top 3
- Rachel Atherton 2.47.917
- Tahnee Seagrave 2.50.72
- Katy Curd 2.52.788
And your men’s elite winner and fastest time of the day. Matt Walker.
What can you say about Matt Walker? He’s down to earth, level headed, always up for a chat about one of the most humble racers you’ll meet. He recognises that he’s racing alongside the guys that inspired him to start riding in the first place and admits that beating them is pretty mind blowing. We reckon he might need to start getting used to it!
Matt Walker, your 2018 HSBC UK National Downhill Series round one winner.
Men’s elite top 3:
- Matt Walker 2.29.589
- Danny Hart 2.30.878
- Mike Jones 2.31.777
We’ll leave you with a shout out to this guy and his team, Charlie Williams and the Welsh Gravity Enduro family.
Charlie saw a vacuum in British downhill racing and stepped up to put on an incredible event. They pretty much sold out of entries, the track was great, the atmosphere was buzzing.
What more do you need?
