Results - Round 2

"Tree Stumps In The Mist" - A Tale of Pearce Series Round 2

Lest not we forget that it was only last year that Fabien Barel made the long trip across the Channel with the sole hope of riding a muddy race in preparation for the '07 World Cup Series. Champery this was not, but the amount of mud we witnessed at the weekend must surely make Shropshire once more the envy of downhillers worldwide...just try and remind yourself of this fact when your washing machine stops working...

Welcome to Hopton 2008. Forget the old school long pedally sections and one main track of the past, Dave and the Pearce Cycles Team have literally revamped the whole place in the last year. Three completely separate tracks all starting from a new start hill, with uplift right to the start line.

Track 1 was the trail that got the yellow tape treatment, and was well received by all that sampled her flow. Rooty at the top, fast technical corners in the middle and like a downhill MX track at the bottom, even in thick mud you still had a smile on your face.

Another thing that put a smile on your face was the Red Rock Wear Marquee. Just when the cold grey drizzly day was getting you down you could go and chill in a big heated tent and watch videos on a big screen...What more can you ask? Well apart from sunshine...

And so to the racing- Marc Beaumont, Sam Dale and Tom Braithwaite were here notching up some early season practise against the clock; and even Tracey Moseley had entered, but then her bike didn't turn up (or something like that.) Saturday practise was a dry affair and the track was riding fast and hard, but everyone had seen the forecast and as predicted it rained hard all night and tyre choice was the main topic of conversation that evening.

So not for the first time in its long MTB history, the sleepy village of Hopton awoke to the unmistakeable sound of High Rollers being exchanged for Wet Screams. Sunday was mainly drizzle and although some sections went a bit sticky the track didn't cope too bad considering most sections were new.

No prizes for guessing who set the fastest time? Marc Beaumont holds the course record for all the usual Pearce Series tracks and is also fairly handy at places like Schladming and Mont Saint Anne. His time of 2:27 on both runs showed impressive consistency and was a full 5 seconds quicker than Sam Dale and Ben Morgan.

Sam Dale is the new Mick Hannah for 2008 and took the junior win here by 4 seconds from Emyr Davies. Talking of Emyr Davies, this guy's got mad commitment in rooty sections. Anyone who is willing to hit the tree stump line at the speed he did deserves some credit, especially as he crashed it then brushed himself down and hit it even faster.

The Morgan Bros are the real deal. 1st and 3rd in Expert despite missing their second run due to being asleep, and they stayed behind to clear up the field!

For full results check out the link next to this article. And also spare a thought for Rupert Bradley who hit a tree after the step down at the bottom. Get well soon fella.

As ever, a massive thanks to all our sponsors, helpers and landowners, and we’ll see you in a few weeks time at Bringewood for some rock garden action...let’s just hope it doesn't rain...