WynTV in Italy Pt3

WynTV in Italy pt3 >>

WynTV in Italy Pt2

Been hanging out for the last few weeks in Aosta, Italy getting some riding done and having a good time.


MPORA Action Sports >>

Champery World Cup 4 Race Report

So the past weekend saw the running of World Cup Round 4 at Champery, Switzerland. I had been looking forward to this one, as I had heard many good things and it certainly didn't disappoint.

When we arrived we got to check out the track and as soon as you get here you get a perspective for the steepness of the mountain, as the chairlift pretty much goes straight up. Its the first track where I was kinda nervous for the first day of practice, but as soon as you do a couple of run's you get used to it and I was loving it, there's got to be nothing better than doing 2 pedals out of the start and straight into a line of jumps then you're pinned for the rest of the run without even having to pedal.

My practice day went pretty well I only did 5 runs to stay pretty fresh, would have been real easy to to heaps but had to keep it at just a few. The track changed from bone dry to slightly wet midway through practice which made it a bit more interesting. Over night there was alot of rain so the next days practice was pretty loose to say the least, people were crashing left right and center, and there were lines of people lined up for the technical sections, as one after another crashed out. I was having fun in the conditions and getting loose but mostly staying on my bike.

About 5 minutes before our qualifying run it started pissing rain, normally I don't really enjoy conditions like this but I was kinda stoked for my run, I rode my run to stay on my bike and muzzered most of the top section having both feet off through a fair bit of it. I did ride some of it at the bottom pretty well staying feet up. I slid out before one of the jumps at the bottom and cased it so hard I broke my headset and bent my chainring so I had to half pedal my way to the line. I was surprised for sure when it said I was 5th!?! But I guess you just had to stay on your bike and that was what counted.

Finals day rolled round and the track was getting more sticky the mud was heavier to push through but it now had a good rut to ride in most of the corners. I felt awesome in the practice before finals just having fun the whole time loving the conditions and felt like I was riding really well staying feet up most of the time. After practice I had a big wait till finals, and probably got a bit psyched up as I had never had to do this before, I headed up the hill a bit early too I think, as I prefer to only have short time at the top before my start usually. I was up there probably over an hour as the course was closed for a bit due to riders having to get picked up with the helicopter. I set off pretty well out of the start but then felt like I couldn't relax and was riding stiff I got a bit down the first section and blew out a section off the track, by now I was stressing too much thinking rather than just riding but it's good to learn somehow. I rode the rest of the way but was pretty over it and rode far from how I rode the practice, I finished 33rd with a terrible run, and I was pretty angry with how it went but learnt a bit at the same time.
Blinky put together a pretty good run for 4th but I don't think thats what he was looking for, and Brook put in an amazing ride for 6th place his best result to date.

Now I have the 5th Round at Val Di Sole this weekend which is a good course for me also, so I am pretty excited for this one!

Wyn

WynTV in Morzine

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Italian Cup Round 3 Report

So the past weekend saw the third round of the Italian Cup series at Campo Felice near to L'Aquila the Italian city that was ravaged last year by a huge earthquake.

We arrived late on thursday evening after a seemly endless 9 hour drive down from Aosta, it was also probably one of scariest drives too, Im not known to use the "Oh shit handle" but the Italian drivers certainly had me gripping it! after the drive all that was on the cards was dinner and sleep. The next day we headed up the hill to check out the track and after walking it, I wasn't overly excited but riding it was different and after the first few runs I was into it ,some bits could of been better but it was really loose due to all the rocks which made it pretty fun. I spent the afternoon filming it for WynTV, I was lucky enough to have George Brannigan to be my cameraman as he is currently out for a couple of weeks with a broken finger.

The next day was another practice day but it was a easy track to learn so I was pretty much ready to race, so we didn't ride till after lunch and did a few runs got it dialed then went to session the air pillow jump that they had there, similar to a foam pit and it was good for a few laugh's and to kill sometime, I got the 360's down on my DH bike which was sick. That night we had a go carting session at the local track near Campo Felice which got cut a bit short as everyone just got too loose at one point there were people all over the grass and some going the wrong way on the track, I perfected the wall ride in the cart which was a good laugh.

Then it was race day we had to get up early for a change to get a couple of runs in before qualifying, I had a couple of good runs and felt good on the track. My qualifying run certainly didn't reflect that though I set off and got caught out on one of the loose gravelly berms up top, I lost the front then slid a fair way on my side, I got up and kept going and tried to make some back but that is near impossible on a short basic track like this, I ended up 8th and knew I had to keep it rubber side down for the finals and I could do alright.

So after a full italian pasta lunch and a bit of a chill out it was finals time, I did a bit of a warm up at the top to the sound of some full on lightening that was going on, at one point just before my start it looked like it was definitely going to rain but luckily somehow it held off. I set in to my run and was super cautious in the top turns to make sure I didn't blow them out and lay it down, I rode most of the track like that trying not to make any mistakes and felt that I wasn't really quick enough, but I finished on a 2.30 run and surprisingly took the win over fellow kiwi Matt Scoles in 2nd making it another kiwi dominated Italian Cup, bet it must be starting to get to them too when they can't win their own races..

That finished off a pretty awesome weekend, Im now chilling for a couple of days in Rome to check out the city and then head back to Aosta and get some riding in at Pila. I would like to thank everyone that makes it possible for me especially my mechanic Alan and to all my awesome sponsors, South Star Shuttles, Infamous Designs, T.H.E helmets and clothing, Backflips.co.nz clothing, Rockstar Racing, Taranaki Elite Athletes Foundation, Leatt Brace, E*Thirteen, Kenda Playbiker Team, Lapierre Bikes, Burgtec, Fox Racing Shox and last but not least Mum and Dad.

WynTV Schladming sessions

MPORA Action Sports >>

Leogang WC3 report

So the past weekend was the third round and the midpoint of the World Cup series in Leogang, Austria I was looking for a good result at this one as I certainly haven't had the start to the Series that I wanted. I headed out to Austria from Cheshire in the UK, where I had been hanging out for a week staying with Harry Health, it was a massive drive I was wired after 2 Redbulls and a Coffee and we drove pretty much non stop, we were certainly glad to see the end of it after 16hours in the van!

The next day I got to check out the track and on first impressions I wasn't that impressed with how it looked, it had a couple of really good sections but then also had some big flat pedally sections linking to the steeper sections. The first day was perfect weather and we were greeted to so awesome summer weather, which called for a bit of a cricket international in the pits to kill some time, it was also first time cricket for some of the guys and there were some interesting bowls and ways to hold the bat, all round it was a good laugh though!

We awoke to rain for first practice session of the weekend makes it the 2nd muddy race this year. The track actually rode a lot better than what it had looked it was still going to be a hard to do a full race run and it was changing run after run as there were new holes and ruts appearing all over the place, I felt pretty good in practice but had a crash in the last run of the day trying to get the most out of a couple of tear offs I couldn't see properly and missed my line and went off track and over the bars, it wasn't too bad but the only parts of me that hit the ground were my hand and elbow which were healing up, and it did a good job of cutting them back up again. Other than that it was a good days practice, now was the hard part trying to get all my kit cleaned and dry for the next day on the hill, muddy races certainly take some effort!

So next up was qualifying day and once again it was wet, but I was pretty happy with the rain as it makes the track less sticky and a bit better to ride. I did a couple of runs and felt pretty good on the bike and had all my lines pretty well sorted. Then I headed to the top with my mechanics Alan and Nige, did a good 20 min warm up before my before heading in to the start gate. I was set to go and set off rode the top section steady just trying not to make mistakes, I was going well until the end of the second woods were I went in to a big hole got all heavy on the front and just went straight off course, I didn't come off but had to push back up and get going again, I was pissed with myself and tried to make up time pedaling hard the whole big pedally section, I finished in 39th spot which was ok considering I lost a fair bit going off track, Sam Blenkinsop was repping it for the kiwis in the #1 qualifying spot!

Race day rolled around and I got up on track early to make a couple of changes to some lines, as the track was real beat up and there were some wheel swallowing holes to be avoided. I had a good solid couple of runs and was happy with how I felt coming in to the final run. I headed up to the top feeling confident and ready to go, did a warm up and then rolled to the start gate and set off rode the top section ok, but my googles were getting pretty dirty so I had one place in mind to pull a tear off, I went to pull one there in a hurry and missed it so then had to pull it in in a sketchy piece of track and pulled them all off on accident, I was still on the top part of the track and had pulled all my tear offs..I had a stall in one section just after pulling my tear offs, but then rode solid the rest of the way, I pedaled the flat section well but by then end of there I could hardly see anything out my googles and I was forced to pretty my ride to stay on as I couldn't really see the line so I just had to get to the bottom, I was so pissed to have made this mistake as I lost a lot in the bottom and didn't ride anything like I had been, I was glad to hit the line as riding without much vision wasn't really fun, I ended up 34th as so many riders crashed out, it was one of those, "What could of been" weekends, so on to the next and hopefully I can have a good weekend for once. I moved up to 39th in the overall so it wasn't as bad as it could've been, but certainly was not what I was looking for.

The kiwis really did well with Blinky and Cam Cole on the podium in 4th and 5th, Blinky could of won but blew his feet off in the worst place possible, Justin was 7th with Scolesy in his career best 14th, George Brannigan took the lead in the junior WC with his awesome 25th placing and Brook had a solid ride to 27th.

I would like to thank everyone that makes it possible for me especially my mechanics Alan and Nige and to all my awesome sponsors, South Star Shuttles, Infamous Designs, T.H.E helmets and clothing, Backflips.co.nz clothing, Rockstar Racing, Adidas Eyewear, Taranaki Elite Athletes Foundation, Leatt Brace, NZRIDE.com, E*Thirteen, Kenda Playbiker Team, Lapierre Bikes, Burgtec, Fox Racing Shox and last but not least Mum and Dad.