As the dawn broke on the Gold Coast a rare sight of blue skies and beaming sun blossomed across the morning, after three weeks of rain it was a sight worth seeing and a welcome start to the Fox Superflow at Nerang. Over 250 riders hit the trails on the sunny Gold Coast on the weekend and we were there between the tape to bring you the action….
By Mike Branch
Nerang is a venue that is known for it’s rocky trails, lung busting stages and has been steeped in the history of mountain bike racing in Queensland. It’s home to the gold Coast Mountain Bike Club and a string grass roots mountain biking community – making it a great place to kick off the Fox Superflow Queensland series.
The two day event saw over 250 riders strap on a race plate and hit the trails to battle it out with their mates and race the way they ride. The relaxed racing environment meant there were no shortage of smiles and it was a great opening event for the Queensland Enduro calendar.
Some late changes due to track conditions meant that that the Lazer stage dropped into the Comm games track for a super long 2.2km trail. The other two stages both demanding a high degree of fitness with Stans 1.4 long and Fox 1.8 long. The conditions on track were good but certainly muddy in patches and as the day went on the course deteriorated.
Saturday saw a smaller showing than Sunday but some super fast times were starting to come to light with Tynan Cox posting the fastest time for the day with a 13:26. As Sundays race began to unfold, it was clear that the fastest times would come from the racers on Sunday.
The business end of the day saw Rory McKenzie take the win in a packed field of Elite Men over Darcy Harris and Tobi Thompson, Jess Hoskin took the Elite Women’s win. Hayley Parsons was fastest in Expert Women and Dien Vo took the top step in the Expert Men’s category with a time that would have earned him a top 10 Elite finish.
FULL RACE RESULTS HERE
The Veteran and Masters category were the largest senior categories of the weekend with some fast riders and a super deep field. Clay Schulz took the win in Vet Mens (30+), Elle Ward won Vet Women, Brock Fisher won Masters Men (40+) and Julieanne White took the win in Masters Women.
The Electroflow E Bike category saw Stu Cali take the top step in the open category Men, Sarsha Huntington took win in the Women’s category. Michael Ronning took the top step over Jesse Chirizzi in the Masters Ebike category and Colette Quinn took the Maters Women’s Ebike win.
Junior categories were overflowing with talent and a total of 100 junior riders hit the trails on the weekend at Nerang. The U19 Men saw Bayley Douglas take the win with a time that would have seated him in the top ten Elite Men, Hayley Parsons took the win in U19 Women. The U17 Men was the largest field for the day with 48 riders competing for the top step, Tom Jenkins won with a time that would have seated him in 6th in the Elite field and Piper Brennan took the U17 Women’s win.
FULL RACE RESULTS HERE
There’s little doubt that the South East Queensland racing community have been begging for the Enduro racing season to kick off for 2022, especially with the drenching the region has had lately. The first race of the Fox Superflow Queensland Series went off without a hitch and the team at Rocky Trail Entertainment have continued to deliver the awesome race format to the Queensland mountain bike community.
The next round of the series heads to Toowoomba on 18th June and looks set to be a great round of Rocky Trail racing. Brakes Wide Open will bring you all the action as it takes place and we look forward to catching you between the tape.
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FULL RACE RESULTS HERE
EVENT PHOTO GALLERY HERE
