Well, the ‘Zevenwacht and Gravity Downhill – The Perfect Combination’ race was exactly that. Great space, delicious food and wine, perfection planning, autumn sunshine (with a good bit of the old Cape Doctor wind), dust and of course, plenty of amped riders on bikes…..and what an exciting finish the riders provided at our second event of the season.
Jasper Barrett. Photo credit: Dejon Nell, The Tattooed Dude.
Western Province Downhill is currently rocking and hosting superb events. The committee is trying really hard to reach all bike-mad people in the Western Cape via our two WPDH Facebook pages and our email distribution list. The races, offer full medical provision, are run on a pre-planned time-schedule and provide plenty of shuttles to take the riders to the top. A BIG thank you to every parent who offered their vehicles to shuttle or to the drivers who took our riders safely to the top. Every little bit of support counts and adds value to the WP DH club.
Chris Nixon, the master of downhill, hogged the hot seat for a long time with a blistering time of 2:18:871. There seems to be a ding-dong battle ensuing between Chris and Jasper Barrett (JM: 2:13: 909) who bumped Chris off the hot seat. Then the elite men took to the track and offered some nail-biting racing. The new, fit and strong (training for Europe) Francois du Toit knocked Jasper’s time side-ways with a 2:12.763 to take 3rd place in Elites. Hot on his heels was Adi van der Merwe with an awesome 2:10:379 and…just skimming Adi’s time, was Theo Erlangsen, with the winning time of 2:09:243. Thank you, Elite men, for providing this thrilling finish.
Zak Jones. Photo credit: Dejon Nell, The Tattooed Dude.
Equally nerve-wracking and exhilarating times were provided by two other Youth Men. In second place to Jasper, was Maximillian Wolfson (JM: 2:26:600 – 9th overall) and in third place, was Matthew van Rosenveld (YM: 2:27:147- 10th overall) Well done to both these boys for making it into the top ten, a really awesome feat. The ice-cream-gangsters or the Sprog and Nipper Boys were not to be outdone. These youngsters are creating some really exciting racing and providing great competition amongst themselves. Well done to Zak Jones (SB: 2:54:605) first place in Sprogs and to Heiko Basson (NB: 3:46.327), first place in the Nipper class.
The next downhill event on the national calendar will be the SA Champs (and SA DH Series #2) at AfriSki, Lesotho on 4/5 May. The next WP event is our #3 WP and SA DH SRAM race is at Contermanskloof on 18/19 May. If you noticed the title change, well done.
Heiko Basson. Photo credit: Dejon Nell, The Tattooed Dude.
SRAM has come on board as one of the event sponsors for the Contermanskloof race which will also double as the third race in the SA DH National Series. If you have never competed in a national event before, this is your chance to enter the big league on home ground. Contermans is one of the Western Cape’s premier tracks, don’t miss out and invite all mountain bike enthusiasts. Cape Town is ready to host the nation.
Finally please remember that downhill has a compulsory dress code (for your own safety) of a full face helmet, full-length trousers or shorts with knee protectors, long-sleeved shirts and full finger gloves. We look forward to seeing you all, and your friends, at our next downhill event.
WP Downhill 2-March2019 Results 1.pdf
