Victorian Down Hill Series - Round 6, Mansfield
By Dave Empey
Thank you everyone for your efforts this weekend.
Mel, great job organising our volunteers. All your efforts made for a great event.
I have to give Matty and Zac a big shout out for building a cracker track.
Adam Baker thank you for your efforts assisting everyone.
So thank everyone who helped and sorry I haven’t named everyone individually.
Here are some notable MMBCC results from VDHS round 6 in Mansfield…
U15 Men
Keegan Carman, 14th.
U19 Men
Spencer Carman, 19th.
Elite Women
Bella Green, 2nd.
Elite Men
Matt Empey, 2nd. (3rd overall in the whole series)
March 18 Teams Race
By Damian Grundy
So this is it… the last Dirt Crits 2024/2025 XC race report!
As the handicapper I came armed with a list of Dirt Crit Rider’s previous race speeds.
I had decided on a Team’s Race format with teams of 3 riders, 1 rider to complete 4 laps, 1 rider to complete 3 laps and 1 rider to complete 2 laps, then add their individual times to see which team had the fastest combined time.
It was a good turn out with 18 riders including three first-timers Scarlett D’Arcy, Emma D’Arcy (armed with an E-Bike), and Sienna Vivash.
The Teams lined up as follows:
Team 1: Beauty and the Beasts: Damian Grundy, 4 laps; Steve Curnow, 3 laps; Scarlett D’Arcy, 2 laps.
Team 2: Two Colts & A Filly: Ben Ross, 4 laps; Dan Hall, 3 laps; Sienna Vivash, 2 laps.
Team 3: Dirt Diggers: Ant Bateup, 4 laps; Luke Vivash, 3 laps; Willem Morphett, 2 laps.
Team 4: Not Too Cool 4 This: Archie Smith, 4 laps, Nicole Hoebergen, 3 laps, Micah Chadd, 2 laps.
Team 5: Wishing they had 3 motors: Tim Ross, 4 laps (corrected); Emma D’Arcy, 3 laps, Cooper Hoebergen, 2 laps.
Team 6: We Should have Stayed in Bed: David Bock, 3 laps; Cody Stephens, 3 laps; Blake Riley, 2 laps.
And so the starter said GO and it was down to racing. A mad dash at the start with Tim Ross furiously trying to hold off Ben Ross at the front… really Tim?! Lol! I keep saying that that ship has well and truly sailed. It didn’t take long for young Ben to assert his familial superiority and take the lead. Ben was definitely on a flyer. He then cut four fast laps and finished the night as fastest on course. Questions were being asked as to the performance of a recently crowned National Champion. Fact is he was beaten fair and square, a credit to Ben.
Here are the results for individual and team times. Despite the announced podium on the night a review of the time calculations has found a couple of small errors.
Fastest team on the night was in fact Team 4: Not Too Cool For This: Archie Smith, Nicole Hoebergen and Micah Chadd with a combined time of 84 min and 6 seconds,
Second was Team 3: Dirt Diggers; Ant Bateup, Luke Vivash and Willem Morphett at 84 min and 34 seconds
Third was Team 1: Beauty and the Beasts: Damian Grundy, Steve Curnow and Scarlett D’Arcy.
Thanks Adam Baker for handling timing, and thanks everyone for your attendance. See you all at the presentation night.
Racing respite in the rain
By David Jagger
Thursday rolled around again, and most riders were preparing themselves for yet another hot and dry race. To their delight the sky was grey and the road wet from a few afternoon showers. The slight splash of water coming off the road was a rare delight for the riders after of months of hot Thursday evenings.
David Jagger was the first to head out on the Whitfield Road with a couple of minutes head start on Dave Bock who was obvious in his rain jacket. Bill Bainger who has ridden extensively but has only raced a few times, teamed up with Tim Hall.
Craig Wilson has been training hard preparing for a riding trip to Italy but was disadvantaged as his teammate left their riding gear at home. The force of Darren Bakker, Simon Hall, Steve Duke and Mick Pearce were always going to be a chance to take the prize for the night as they had a good handicap over the scratch group of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and Dave Moore.
The turn around at Sawpit Gully Road still saw David Jagger in the lead but with Tim and Bill gaining fast. Utilising the fast run back into town, Andy, Bruce and Dave gradually caught Bocky and Craig before the Barwite Road but the pace was proving a bit tough for Dave and he was dropped from the group.
On the edge of town, a large group formed and were desperately sprinting to catch the leading three riders who had kept a persistently good speed since they came together at Long Lane. Rounding the corner into Mt Battery Road together it was a battle to see who had the legs to sprint up the hill to the Showgrounds.
A large crowd of supporters had gathered and were excited to watch a sprint finish.
Tim Hall took the win ahead of David Jagger and Bill Bainger. Bruce Halket led the main peloton up the hill to snatch fourth from Darren Bakker and Andy Garrett.
All competitors enjoyed the change in weather and had an enjoyable race. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the race possible.
Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland and Alex Green for their images.
Next week is the final race of the Summer Series, two and a half laps around the Merinda Way Loop.
