Summer has ended again and for all us racers out there it means the end of the national series and the start of respectable travelling times to races. Yes boys and girls the state series is upon us. Well actually it was upon us over a month ago but I was too lazy to do up a report. I’ve finally got my act together so here’s a brief report of the first two Sunshine Series rounds here in Queensland.

*All photos in this article are from Ipswich

Round 1 Magpie Creek

Magpie Creek was easily one of my favourite tracks from last season. A good length, nice flowing lines the odd rocky section meant that lots of fun was the call of the day. The track was very similar to last year but with the inclusion of some jumps to spice things up. A nice tabletop into the finish provided some action and some scary times at race pace due to a smallish landing.

Transport worked out really well considering there were around 170 competitors. I could hardly believe the amount of riders that turned up. The last few years we’ve been struggling to get the numbers at races. The additional people definitely help the atmosphere and I hope it continues.

All the riders plus the sandy soil that comes with the magpie creek terrain meant that many corners where getting quite blown out during the mornings practice session. I must admit I couldn’t believe my eyes first run down when I saw a metre high berm in front of me. However like the rest of the track it was rather sandy and with all the riders on the track it often felt as though you were trying to carve up the beach every time you hit it.

After some good practice runs and a bit of lunch it was time to go up for qualifying. With nearly 40 elite riders it was thought we’d actually have a top 20 cut off for qualifying for the first time in years. However the organisers thought it’d be best to allow everyone to go back up for a second run which received a lot of approval from all the riders. It seemed that everyone had been riding over the summer with fast times being pulled out by many people. In the end Tim Mann qualified first with myself second. I’d taken qualifying pretty hard as always but felt as though I had a bit left in the tank for the final.

The final came around, my run went well and I’d come across the line with the fastest time up until that point. There was one rider to go, the mighty Tim Mann. He had two seconds up on me in qualifying and I’d failed to beat it in my final. He came out of the trees with enough speed to completely flat land the tabletop into the finish with the fastest time of the day. Woody rounded out the podium in third.

Round 2 Ipswich

The guys at Ipswich have been running races for a long as I can remember and always put on a good day for the hill they have. If you haven’t been to Castle Hill then we’ll just say that it isn’t something you’d expect to run a downhill race on. However year after year they continue to build a track worth racing on. I overheard many people during the day talking about how they’re enjoying the track with many people saying it’s the best Ippy track yet.

Jumps had been extended and the track designed to try keep as much speed as possible down the hill with many bermed corners and fast flowing straights.  It finished with a sketchy right hander dropping riders into a chute and across the line.

Practice was the usually story, walk up ride down. It was good once again to see so many people turn up with around 140 riders showing up.

Qualifying came around and with a shock to many of the elite riders it was found that only half the field was going to qualify. With only 13 riders qualifying and a track like Ipswich it meant that the first run would have to be taken pretty hard and any mistake could cost you a spot in the final. Round one winner Tim Mann was the unlucky one this time. He flipped after his pedal clipped a tree powering out of one of the faster corners on the track. This cost him valuable seconds and a spot in the final. Matt Tape was fastest man down the hill in qualifying with myself second again and Jay Taylor third.

Come finals time and nothing changed. Having to take qualifying hard meant that no one had much left for the final with most posting times similar to qualifying. Matt stood atop the podium, I was second, Jay third, the Ippy boys were represented with Jason Blackmore in fourth and Riley was fifth.

The Toowoomba boys did well for themselves today with Michael coming second in U19’s, Brendon coming second in Expert and Damo winning the hardtail class.

The next race isn’t long away and is planned to be on a brand new course at Brookfield. It’s been heard from people on the inside that there’s going to be a 100m long rock garden and no pedalling. Looks like we’ll be in for some exciting times at the next race. See you all there.

Lindsay

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