Qualifying – 9th
Race – 9th


Hi all,

Just back from the World Cup in Italy. We were racing at Val Di Sole, the venue which held the 2008 World Championships. A 4X track that holds good memories for me as I finished 2nd in the small final here at Worlds behind Brian Lopes to give me 6th position overall in the race.

For 2010 the track looked in great shape. There were no changes since we last raced here but the soil had settled well and it looked like it was going to be a great race track with big berm corners, a great rock section and fun pro line doubles.

Practice got underway on Thursday and for me it was great to be back in the World Cup after missing Leogang through injury. After it had rained all day for the downhill riders, the sun broke through and gave us a perfect practice session. The track was awesome, and I was feeling pretty quick.

Onto Friday and qualifying. The sun was shining all day, and combined with the rain on Thursday, practice on Thursday night then sunshine all day Friday, the track was perfect. Again my practice went really well and I felt confident stepping onto the gate for my qualifying run. I made a great start and put together a run with no mistakes to cross the finish line with the 9th fastest time of the evening. I was really happy with it as I have been away from racing for 6 weeks and a single digit qualifying result was my aim for the weekend.

So the race day arrived on Saturday, and I was feeling confident. Again the rain stayed away and the sun baked the track once more. My draw looked pretty good. The aim for me again was to finish in the top 10 and add to my overall World Cup score with some good points.

I won the first 2 rounds of racing with no problem to land me in the Quarter finals. I made a pretty good start but I was in the pack going into turn one. Making a ‘snap’ decision I decided to dive inside and take a tight line in turn one to try and pass the other riders. It simply did not work and I exited the first turn in 4th. Going down the track I set up a nice pass and moved into 3rd position, but just couldn’t get close enough to the rider in 2nd to move onto the semi final. After beating him in the 2nd round of racing, I really feel that a better decision in the 1st turn could have given me a good chance to move onto the semi finals but ultimately I bowed out with 9th position for the evenings racing.

I am really happy with the result as my goal was always to come back and score a top 10 finish.



Photo Credits: www.descent-world.co.uk and www.dirty-pages.nl


Couple of great videos from the Parkin Brothers and Dirt TV

Here is a video from Transworld MX showcasing the new 2011 Fox Race Kit.

Enjoy........

WORLD CUPS

1. 23.04 – 24.04 UCI World Cup XCO / DHI / 4X 1 – Pietermaritzburg RSA
2. 04.06 – 05.06 UCI World Cup DHI / 4X 2 – Fort William GBR
3. 11.06 – 12.06 UCI World Cup DHI / 4X 3 – Leogang AUT
4. 02.07 – 03.07 UCI World Cup XCO / DHI / 4X 4 – Mont Sainte Anne CAN
5. 09.07 – 10.07 UCI World Cup XCO/ DHI / 4X 5 – Windham USA
6. 06.08 – 07.08 UCI World Cup DHI / 4X 6 – La Bresse FRA
7. 20.08 – 21.08 UCI World Cup XCO / DHI / 4X 7 – Val di Sole ITA



WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

31.08 – 04.09 UCI XCO/DHI/4X WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Champéry SUI

So it was the third stop on a four week 4X European tour which started at Harthill, onto Fort William, Willingen then Leogang. A busy month and the worst time for any injuries.

Heading into Willingen, and my ankle was not getting any better. We agreed that we would see how the weekend went before making a decision on weather to go to Leogang or not. I had 2 previous weekends of good results considering the injury, but mediocre in terms of what I am capable of.

So practice started well but you guessed it, I cased a double hard and had to stop practice early. Having trouble getting back to the truck we got ice on it straight away and got a lot of the swelling down.



The same story really followed as in the previous races. Qualifying went well. A great lap, but as a few onlookers told me, I was pedalling but not going forward. The strength in my ankle was poor and time slipped away over the whole lap. I qualified 15th. Bad times.



So onto the race. There was a lot of rain around, but luckily it stayed away. I was very focused on the race and was just looking for a bit of luck to get a good result. It didn't happen! I ended up 18th place, which finally put the knife into my mid season. A bad result but the one that finally made up my mind to come home and get some work done on my damaged ligaments in my left foot.

Since arriving home, I have had a couple of physio sessions which one of the physios from Birmingham City Football Club! I am a Wolves fan so it could have been a big problem, but the physio is going really well and I will be back to full fitness by the next World Cup in Val Di Sole on July 31st.