Our British National Downhill Series coverage is brought to you by Fox Racing.
Round 2 of the Lloyds National Downhill Series brought the racers to Antur Stiniog and the dramatic 360 degree views of Snowdonia.
Words & Photos by Jez Prout & Dave Price.
Surrounded by foreboding slate mines, with the historic town of Blaenau Ffestiniog nestled in the valley below and the mile-long track stretched across the face of the mountain, this venue certainly dishes up the drama.
Descending 700ft the track quickly drops from the start hut and with some initial tight turns opening up into fast flowy sections. The speed is only interrupted by a section of steep tech halfway down and plenty of jumps and step-offs the length of the track to keep the riders attention.
Blaenau is renowned as one of the wettest places in Wales and Friday’s (controversial ..?) unofficial practice was cut short by a downpour that changed track conditions completely. Evening trackwalk was now essential, even for those with an extra day’s worth of laps under their belt.
Saturday dawned dry and bright with an optimistic forecast so perhaps it’s no surprise that official practice got underway at 8am with the start hut and higher sections of track literally cloaked in cloud and fog. Conditions and visibility were far from optimal. Very Wales.
Before long the weather improved and the six hour practice session ran smoothly with only a handful of incidents and accidents momentarily slowing the pace of the 292 competitors. Track conditions continued to improve with intermittent sunshine, a bitterly cold wind and near constant rider traffic drying the surface throughout the session.
By the time seeding got underway the track was loose and nearly completely dry, the uplift buses were full, spectators lined the hillside and all was set for some exciting racing. Although conditions were prime, the gusting wind would add just a little unpredictable jeopardy and create plenty of unexpected shape off the jumps.
Sundays practice and race were also notable because of the weather, on this occasion because of the glorious sunshine and clear blue skies, there weren’t many that expected huge clouds of dust hanging in the (still bitterly cold) wind in north Wales in early May, but that’s exactly what they got.
The fastest time of the weekend and overall honours were taken by Josh Turner (Elite) with a time of 2:23.1 taking victory by 1.9 seconds. 0.261 seconds separated 2nd to 5th place. All down to the wire in Elites.
In the female elite category a focused and attacking run from Emily Carrick-Anderson would see her take a commanding victory with a time of 2 mins 42 secs, some 9 secs faster than fast Becci Skelton in second place and Lacey Holmes coming home in third.
Racing was tight across most of the categories, times split by tenths and hundredths of seconds rewarding brave lines and penalising the smallest of mistakes, Elliot Smith taking the win in his category by just 0.5 secs over the mile is a prime example of how competitive the packed youth categories are. Ty Simpson and Reid Simpson also took to the top step of their category podiums.
Ida Martin, Annie Dennis, Megan Horne and Emily Rudd all took notable wins in their female age categories, committed and fearless in their pursuit of victory.
At the other end of the age categories, the male 50+ win was taken by the narrowest of ten second margins by the man that won’t back down… Steve Peat.
Mike Marsden and the Borderline crew delivered another exceptional event and should be commended for their track and race-village management, it looked from our side of the tape as if the weekend ran extremely smoothly – with the possible exception of having unexpected parking restrictions placed on the event by the landowner, meaning spectators were forced to find public parking in the village and make their way, no short distance, to the venue on foot.
A nod should also go to Chris Roberts at AST (Action Sport Timing) for recording and sharing the splits, in real time, across a hectic and challenging weekend.
As the sun sets on Round 2 it’s clear you would have to travel some distance to find a track with better views than Antur Stiniog, Round 3 at Glencoe should fit the bill perfectly…. Bring it on.
Fstop Media (Dave and Jez) will be there to capture all the action, see you on the hill.
Elite Men
- 1st – Josh Turner 2:23.109
- 2nd – Josh Lancett-Edwards 2:25.022
- 3rd – Will Haines 2:25.166
Elite Women
- 1st – Emily Carrick-Anderson 2:41.926
- 2nd – Becci Skelton 2:25.577
- 3rd – Lacey Holmes 3:06.087
Junior Men
- 1st – Elliot Smith 2:24.464
- 2nd – Max Lewis 2:25.041
- 3rd – Osian Morris 2:26.717
Junior Women
- 1st – Megan Horne 2:45.225
- 2nd – Ella Burchett 2:48.546
- 3rd – Mia Woodman 2:54.175
Full results and imagery can be found on Roots & Rain.
This has been the British Cycling National Downhill Series at Antur Stiniog, we’re FStop Media!
