The international downhill racing season kicked off with Kiwi Sam Blenkinsop, of Christchurch, taking the win in the all new Redwoods Downhill at Crankworx Rotorua.
His time of 2m 53.44s edged out some of the discipline's top riders including fellow Kiwi Brook MacDonald, who finished in 2m 56.26s, and AustralianMick Hannah, who crossed the finish line in 2m 58.28s after a signature suicide-no-hander.
The result pushes Blenkinsop to the front of the pack in the battle for King of Crankworx with a total of 300 points, ahead of Rotorua's Keegan Wright who sits at 275 after winning the Giant Toa Enduro on Saturday and finishing fourth in the downhill yesterday.Blenkinsop said riding the edge on the top half of the course is likely what made the difference.
"I'm always really slow at the top, so I thought, I'm just going to smash the top really hard and push beyond my limits, then I feel like I just cruised the bottom. It's a switch from what I normally do, and it obviously worked," he said.
In the women's race, it was the reverse approach which got Canada's Vaea Verbeeck to the top of the podium.
Riders celebrate making the podium at the Crankworx Rotorua Redwoods Downhill. Photo / Fraser Britton/Crankworx
"In practice this morning I had two crashes. Same corner. So for my race I was like 'Just do it slower. You don't need to front wheel drift into your first corner. Just go slow.' So I did, and I felt pretty slow at the top but I realised it and I picked it up," Verbeeck said.
Verbeeck's time of 3m 32.19s was followed closely by fellow Canadian Casey Brown's time of 3m 32.42s. Jill Kintner, of USA, rounded out the top three in 3m 39.67s.
Yesterday'spodium was the second of the weekend for both winners. Blenkinsop placed one step below Wright in Saturday's Giant Toa Enduro, while Verbeeck took third behind Brown and Ronja Hill-Wright.
Verbeeck said racing the day after the enduro was not easy, but well worth it, summing up the track conditions in one word: "Mint".
"Such a fun track. A track where you can push for speed is just my style. If it had been a really gnarly, steep track that was super physically demanding, I don't know if I would have been super stoked right after the enduro, but because this track was so fun I just lapped, lapped, lapped and got to learn it, then pushed for speed. It was awesome," she said.
The Taniwha Trail in the Whakarewarewa Forest was originally built in 1994 by Rotorua's mountain bike pioneers, bringing a mix of rooty tech, steeps, big jumps and drops to the table. The event's addition to the roster brought many downhill racers out into the famed forest for the first time.
For Blenkinsop, sharing the track with his fellow racers was like sharing a piece of his history. It was the site of his first New Zealand national race when he was 13.
"It's like a home trail for me...The dirt's always good. It's definitely a different feeling than other tracks where you're trying to find traction. This one's big hits, you can go as fast as you want and the traction's really good. It's fun."
Today, the next generation of Crankworx stars take their turn at the Professionals Rotorua National Schools Cross Country Championships at the Whakarewarewa Forest.
