BDS rnd. 3/ Llangollen/ 27-6-2010
The 3rd round of the British Downhill Series was held in Llangollen on a steep and twisty track. I was feeling confident coming into the race as I knew the track from the Welsh champs a few weeks back so I was going for the win.
We arrived in the van on Friday afternoon, I walked the track twice, once with Brendan Fairclough which was a good help.
The track was so dusty and loose. It was so much fun to ride and I was loving getting wild on the steep, dusty track. I was running a Schwalbe Dirty Dan spike on the rear for better braking and a muddy mary on the front, gave great grip in the deep dust.
Saturday practise went well for me, I only had 1 small crash. I was having fun on the track but got into it a bit late and only started getting properly up to speed on my last run.
I cleaned and checked everything over on Saturday night then walked the track once more.
Sunday morning came quick and I had 2 good practise runs. I was feeling good on the track and knew what to do.
I went up for my seeding run and just wanted to get down steady as you get points towards the overall for seeding. I had a pretty good seeding run, no mistakes but wasnt full pace.
I ended up in 2nd place, only .3 of a second slower than 1st place.
I was feeling good for the final and knew if I had a good run I could win, but it would need to be on the edge the whole way down.
I ended up crashing in my run, fell down the hill and lost loads of time, I tried getting back on quickly and kept going. When I got to the bottom I finished in 9th place, only 2 seconds of the podium with a crash that lost me over 10 seconds! Im happy I went for the win instead of sitting back and getting a podium.
Thanks to all my sponsors. The bike went great all weekend, helped by the great parts like Novatec wheels.
Up next is the Scottish champs in Dunkeld this weekend, then im riding in Scotland for a week and then doing the British champs in Ae Forest!