Great Southern riders return competitive results at WA Downhill State Series double-header in Denmark

A host of talented mountain bikers garnered impressive results at the WA Downhill State Series in Denmark earlier this month in the competition’s first double-header round. The event, hosted by Denmark Mountain Bike Club on a private property, marked a two-week Great Southern downhill extravaganza following on from the season opener in Albany a week before. More than 150 riders from across the State converged on Denmark on April 13 and 14 for the dual-round event to tackle two tricky courses that required the most attuned bike handling skills. The Saturday course was rocky but fast with only the most daring riders challenging the high speeds down the slopes, while Sunday offered a slow and technical route requiring accurate and precise bike manoeuvres. Jake Drummond notched a brilliant winning double across both events in the under-17s category while Lachlan Collins finished fourth and sixth in the under-19s across the two days. After finishing second in the under-15s boys race on day one to Travis Smith (1min. 31.38sec.), Denmark’s Jy Drummond ensured he was not second on the podium again and clinched an impressive victory with the quickest time of 1.30.15. Denmark’s Karis Alpin (2:27.70.) finished second behind Noreen Sebastian (2.26.32) in the masters women on day two. Albany’s Abbey O’Donnell clinched silver in the women’s under-19s round three event crossing the line in 2:00.65. Top rider Josh Moore claimed the elite men’s division, stopping the clock at 1:25.47 on day one before star Roly Kyme took out round three with a rapid 1:21.20. Other winners across the weekend were Lachlan Wilkes (twice expert men), Jessica Waldron and Tanya Bailey (elite women), Calvin Bartle and Alan Forde (masters 1-2) and Chloe Collis (twice under-19 women). DMBC president Nathan Devenport said despite the dual round being the first of its nature the weekend was a raging success. “We wanted to give travellers to the region more bang for their buck and we like to think laterally with these sorts of things,” Devenport said. “It was a very successful event with a capacity field and the tour-day event gave people more incentive to come and added value for those travelling from Perth. “The two alternate courses meant more skills were required to succeed in the event.”