Events

SRAM Western Province Downhill 2020 | Paarl

Story and photos by Ewald Sadie.

· By BikeHubCoreAdmin · 0 comments

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The 2020 Western Cape Downhill season kicked off with an absolute bang this past weekend, for the first time in a very long time, hitting triple digits in entries. With the event doubling up as a shuttle day on Saturday and race day on Sunday, and the inclusion the Enduro category, plenty new riders joined the party to start the year on a very positive note indeed.

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ccs-62657-0-90541000-1580188434.jpgShuttles powered by SRAM.
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ccs-62657-0-48879400-1580188442.jpgBy far the quickest, most scenic and least invasive shuttle on the WPDH circuit.
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ccs-62657-0-15999500-1580188447.jpgThe Paarl landscape with ominous clouds rolling in to provide a few more drops of rain for the day.
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We experienced all four seasons in one day, with rain the previous evening and during the morning, sunny and hot later in the morning to windy & gusty conditions as we headed through mid day. The track remained pretty much unchanged from previous years however there was a slight change in format for the racing with the best of both runs counting, instead of a quali run followed by the race run. This format was introduced to give everyone a more fair chance and not have everything come down to just one run that could potentially be spoiled by a mechanical issue or flat tyre.

ccs-62657-0-29897200-1580188450.jpgHendre De Villiers
ccs-62657-0-46293000-1580188451.jpgDylan Lamb & Cornel Swanepoel
ccs-62657-0-61778300-1580188452.jpgHeiko Basson
ccs-62657-0-60183500-1580188453.jpgNiko Velasco
ccs-62657-0-62563600-1580188454.jpgTheo Erlangsen | Overall men’s winner

It’s the first time in a while that we got over a hundred entries. There’s tons of kids here that I’ve never seen before and they’re all going really fast, so really good to see that. The track was really nice, for the first time ever in my Paarl history, it actually rained the day before, so this morning we had some nice hero dirt. I decided to send it properly in my first run, and I didn’t really think Pottie and Stefan could get back from that. Luckily I did enough on that run so I could just cruise down on the 2nd run.
Theo Erlangsen

ccs-62657-0-88401200-1580188455.jpgChris Nixon
ccs-62657-0-33447600-1580188457.jpgSebastian Dudas-Smith
ccs-62657-0-25279300-1580188459.jpgJohann Potgieter
ccs-62657-0-51841800-1580188460.jpgDayle Holmes
ccs-62657-0-78245600-1580188461.jpgFrankie du Toit | Overal women’s winner

We had an hour practise this morning after last night’s rain, so we had to get used to the track a bit again. By race time it was still pretty tacky, but unfortunately my chain dropped off halfway down, so I really struggled on the bottom section. My 2nd run was a lot better, but it was so dry, and completely different from the 1st run, but I managed to put down a faster time.
Frankie du Toit

ccs-62657-0-09569700-1580188463.jpgDaniel Dobinson
ccs-62657-0-06924700-1580188464.jpgDuran Van Eeden

ccs-62657-0-43450800-1580188465.jpgGina Nixon
ccs-62657-0-15031100-1580188467.jpgScott Meredith

Top 5 Men:
  1. Theo Erlangsen 01:37.720
  2. Johann Potgieter 01:40.878
  3. Stefan Garlicki 01:42.079
  4. Adi Van Der Merwe 01:42.878
  5. Jasper Barrett 01:42.956
Top 4 Women:
  1. Frankie Du Toit 02:13.114
  2. Gina Nixon 02:16.439
  3. Charlotte Wolfson 02:26.223
  4. Jess Gwynne-Evans 02:40.793

Full results can be seen here.

ccs-62657-0-46767300-1580188468.jpgEnduro Youth Men / Enduro Veteren Men / Enduro Elite Men
ccs-62657-0-64428200-1580188469.jpgDH Nipper Boys
ccs-62657-0-92244200-1580188471.jpgDH Sprog Boys / DH Sub Junior Boys / DH Youth Men
ccs-62657-0-12317600-1580188473.jpgDH Junior Men / DH Sub Veteren Men / DH Veteren Men
ccs-62657-0-16262500-1580188474.jpgDH Master Men / DH Elite Women / DH Elite Men

A fantastic effort by the new WC DH commission, getting everything and everyone in place to put up a successful event. A big shout out must also go to our title sponsor SRAM, as well as Commencal, ION, and LYNE Components. Hopefully this is the start of a great year for DH in the Western Cape and that the momentum will carry on through the rest of the season.

Official race images can be purchased here.
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We’ll see you at Jonkershoek on 22/23 Feb for the SA Champs. Don’t miss it!

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