Rocky Trail’s final Rollercoaster Gravity Enduro event for the year was held at Ourimbah MTB Park on the weekend. In a field of 150 competitors from all over NSW and the ACT, Newcastle’s Graeme Mudd and Sarah Booth won the elite categories.
The event was the third and final round of the official Gravity Enduro NSW State Series and riders had to complete three timed race runs with neutral rides to the starts. Genevieve McKew claimed the overall series win despite an early crash and Graeme Mudd is the 2014 NSW Gravity Enduro State Series winner ahead of Manly’s Oliver Kristevic and Jon Odams from Sans Souci.
With the fastest race time on all three timed tracks,Graeme “Muddy” Mudd from Newcastle claimed the elite men’s series title in three Rollercoaster Gravity Enduro events in a combined race time of 10:02 minutes, with a 26 second gap to local pinner Jake Newell from the Central Coast and Manly’s Oliver Kristevic who came in second in the series overall. Third overall in 2014 is Jon Odams from Sydney, one of the most active and successful gravity enduro racers in Australia – unfortunately he couldn’t compete at Ourimbah due to a back injury.
With a comfortable points gap from earlier rounds, Genevieve McKew from Sydney won the elite women’s overall series, without even racing at Ourimbah – the 35-year old doctor and experienced mountain bike racer from Sydney crashed on a wooden pallet, which had become very slippery after a short, but heavy downpour in the morning. Riders and organisers said they expected it, but were equally surprised by the ice-like conditions, which also caught out fellow elite racer Joanne Fox from Emu Heights. “I’m well, and it’s a shame I couldn’t compete in the final series, but I’ll recover and I’ll be back on track soon”, said Genevieve McKew who sustained some ligament damage and plans to return to the gravity enduro racing scene early in 2015 to defend her title.
A hot and steamy summer’s day followed, which completely dried up the track within less than an hour of the downpour and racing continued smoothly.”The positive feedback from all riders was really encouraging”, said Race Director Martin Wisata from Rocky Trail Entertainment. “Ourimbah has great trails for this type of racing and we’ll return with another event next year.” The events organiser is also one of the initiators and promoters of an Australia-wide gravity enduro series, which had over 500 riders compete this year. Fourth in the overall state series series is local downhill club rider Jarrad Connolly, closely followed by none other than cross-country whippet, Jason English, the 24 Hour Solo World and National Champion from Port Macquarie.
“With these types of races we attract a huge variety of riders who enjoy a relaxed day out exploring trails whilst still having that racing element to push themselves and compete against their mates in fitness, endurance and riding skills – the rider excelling in all those disciplines, an all-rounder, is the one who will do well and with Graeme Mudd we have a deserving new state champion going into next year’s season”, Wisata added.
Full results are available on the Rocky Trail Entertainment website – www.rockytrailentertainment.com/events/Rollercoaster-results.html
Top Results Rollercoaster Gravity Enduro State Round 3
Elite Men:
1. Graeme Mudd // Newcastle, NSW // 10:02 min
2. Jake Newell // Central Coast, NSW // 10:28 min +26 sec
3. Olivery Kristevic // Manly, NSW // 10:41 min +39 sec
Elite Women:
1. Sarah Booth // Newcastle, NSW // 13:05 min
Top Results Rollercoaster Gravity Enduro State Series 2014
(min. two races completed)
Elite Men:
1. Graeme Mudd // Newcastle, NSW // 1100 pts
2. Oliver Kristevic // Manly, NSW // 1040 pts
3. Jon Odams // Sans Souci, NSW // 1020 pts
4. Jarrad Connolly // Central Coast, NSW // 880 pts
5. Jason English // Port Macquarie, NSW // 660 pts
Elite Women:
1. Genevieve McKew // Sydney, NSW // 1200 pts
2. Belinda Green // Newcastle, NSW // 1000 pts
Photos: Outer Image Collective
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