Field Engineers XC 3 Race Series
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 3 race series. I would like to extend a special thank you to those people who have helped out with commissaire duties, time keeping, marshalling, track set up, and prize organisation.
This has been the M.A.D mountain bike clubs most successful series with around 100 entrants over the three races. In order to give everyone a chance at competing against people of their own skill level there are 5 categories. These categories are:
• Elite – For people who are at the pinnacle of racing at our club
• Comp – For those who want a competitive race but not quite at the Elite level
• Sport – For those who are starting out in the sport and are just getting a feel for racing
• Juniors – 13-16 year olds who race for 1 hour instead of 2
• Women – In an effort to encourage more women into mountain biking this is a distinct category
The three races in the series were well attended and a points system was used to work out the series place getters in each category. The point system rewarded consistency and participation. The riders in each category were closely matched coming into the final race of the series. With a wet and slippery track the racing was tense.
Elite
This category was a 3 horse race between Peter Lister, Dylan Coppo and Ash Hogan ( from the Whitsunday Mountain Bike Club). Ash was unfortunately unable to attend the last race so the fight was on between Peter and Dylan. With either Peter or Dylan able to win the series with a win in the last race it was a tense contest. The lead changed several times during the race with a few thrills and spills. In the end Peter Lister fought back to take the final race and the series after a fall mid race. Congratulation to the winners of this category:
1st Place Peter Lister
2nd Place Dylan Coppo
3rd Place Ash Hogan
Comp
This category was even tighter than the Elite Category with both first and second place for the series tied. Again the slippery track made riding difficult but even that could not separate the leaders. The final placings were:
Equal 1st Jeff Rafferty and Peter Flohr
Equal 2nd Rodney Mills and Stephen Erichsen
Third Place Michael O’Brien
Sport
This category showed riders with the most improvement over the series. Special mention goes to Peter Robertson who finished close to last in his category in the first race but came back in the last 2 races to be just pipped at the post by Maurice Coppo. The places for this category for the series was:
1st place Maurice Coppo & Matt Telford
2nd place Jonathan Weir
3rd place Peter Robertson
Women
It was great to see a solid field of women out racing. They had a lot of fun and we saw some marked improvements in performance. The place getters for this category for the series were:
1st place Sam Sorley
2nd place Niki Giles
3rd place Leanne Coppo
Juniors
The final category was the juniors 13-16 year olds. There was a good mix of ages and abilities in this group. It was good to see some great performances and the seniors are going to be looking over their shoulders at these up and coming riders. The place getters for this category were:
1st place Jack Johnson
2nd place Owen Elvy, Sam Atkins, Tom Sabbo
3rd place Mitchell Braak
A final congratulations to all participants and a special thank you to all the volunteers that made this series happen. I look forward to seeing you all at the M.A.D Rush on August 23rd. Registration is now open on the MTBA website. Get in fast as the numbers are limited.
Steven Elvy
President
M.A.D MTBC
MACKAY AND DISTRICT MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB 