Hamsterley Down ‘n’ Out Winter Race Series

Round 2 - 12/13th January 2008

It’s the first race of 2008, and as we all arrive in the car park the only thing everybody talked about at first was how they had just managed to keep their vehicles on the road through the icy patches after the village. But soon normality returned and we all went into race mode.

The course was walked thoroughly, while the bike was prepared for action, and then practice got underway. With so many riders all trying to ride this short track at what seemed like the same time, full runs were virtually impossible so Ben sessioned the parts of the track where he needed to improve the most.
As soon as the track went live after lunch Ben put in a couple of full runs, this gave him a better idea on how long the track was and what would be required the following day.

Race day came with heavy rain and high winds forecast, everyone had one eye looking over their shoulders at the weather. After a couple of practice runs it was time to get the racing underway, and with two timed runs each and the short daylight hours it was going to be tight.

Bens first run saw him sprint off the start line and round the corner into the bombhole, then out and round the fast sweeping berms and drops of the top section, keeping it as smooth as possible before hitting the tabletop and launching into the rock section and a very slippy and wet left turn between a couple of trees. Pedalling where you can you drop down and leap over the fire road into the bottom half of the course. Here the trees start to envelope the track and the surface changes. Not long after the road gap you encounter a rocky left turn into a drop and along a short section of off camber mud and roots before turning sharp right and onto another rocky section. This is quickly followed by a sharp left onto a really steep slope complete with large rocks, drops and trees waiting to leap out in front of riders (or that’s what a lot of riders said actually happened to them). After all that it was out into the open for a steep descent round sharp, fast corners before entering the final chute and down towards the finish line.

Bens fastest time of the day, 2min 03.92secs came from his first run and gave him 2nd place in the junior category and his first podium finish for 2008.