On Sunday it was time for round 2 of the series, and not soon enough for the 72 racers who took part. For many it was their first taste of downhill racing, and they loved the fun track set up by Steve of i-Cycles bike shop in Innerleithen.
Riders can do as many runs as they want and Rob Waite rode an impressive 7 timed runs ! With that kind of enthusiasm and commitment the future of downhill racing is pretty safe in Innerleithen. The course was greasy and tricky to start and had some challenging bends for the riders, but as the day went on, the track dried and the riders started learning their lines the times started getting faster.
There was a good turn-out in the Girls race, with a full podium. Rebecca Kennedy, current Scottish Champion in her age group, took the win with a time of 1.44. James Purvis continued his winning streak taking the 10-years male 1st place at 1.29. Times were close at the top in the 13-14 years male, Neil Stewart taking the win in 1.28, with Brad Swinbank on the same time, and the top place awarded for consistent times through out the day. Rory McRitchie won the 15-16 years male in 1.19 and Calum McRitchie was the fastest 17-18 year old in 1.09, the fastest run of the day.
Full results, including all race runs, are below.
This race series is run with the support of the Tweeddale Sports Council, Grease Monkey Cycles and i-Cycles of Innerleithen. The final round of the series is on 30th October, a special Spooky Downhill race.
The picture shows riders lined up at the start, Andrew Winton of Peebles at the front. Race pictures will be available soon from Ian Linton's website.
