Handful of locals claim victory at the third round of the WA State Downhill Series in Albany

Six Great Southern riders emerged victorious in the third round of the WA State Downhill Series at the Poikies track in Kalgan at the weekend. A total of 62 mountain bike riders from around the State took part in the event, held on Saturday and Sunday, including more than 20 from the Great Southern region. Riders were split up into 10 categories by age or gender, with more than half of the divisions won by local competitors. Albany’s Hamish Wilkes was crowned the champion in the under-17 category, winning by 1.5 seconds, and recorded the fastest race time of any rider. Wilkes won in a time of 1min.17.39sec. ahead of Zac Wilson (1:23.76) and Alfie Cronin (1:24.15). Albany junior Declan Poett proved too strong for his eight competitors in the under-15 category, after winning the same division in the Albany round last year. Poett finished in a time of 1:27.76, just under five seconds quicker than last year, to defeat Austin Johnson (1:30.84) and Albany’s Tyla Anderson (1:31.49). Denmark’s Kaiden Godden claimed the expert category and recorded the fifth fastest time overall at 1:24.88. Godden was more than two seconds ahead of Adam Whitelaw (1:27.21) while Dylan Fernihough (1:31.64) filled third. Jessica Waldron, from Albany, was too classy for her other rival in the open women division, winning by more than four seconds. Waldron finished her race run in 1:53.07 to down Clair Soutar-Dawson (1:57.44). Denmark Mountain Bike Club president Nathan Devenport was the sole competitor in the masters 3/4 division recording a time of 1:33.84. The e-bike class was taken out by Denmark local Greg Ross (1:39.23) after defeating his sole rival Shaun Johnson (1:.47.40). Charlie Howard from Esperance recorded the second fastest time overall on his way to winning the elite category. Only three riders competed in the elite category with Howard finishing in 1:18.89 to edge out Albany’s Zak Wilsher (1:26.48) in second and Trevor Dempsey (1:28.57). Australind’s Dayne Kingshott (1:26.07) narrowly took out the sport men category ahead of of Liam Watts (1:26.87) and Robert Gibbon (1:33.30). Lakelands rider Cooper Dunlop (1:39.53) won the under-13 division, defeating local Lorcan Contier and Jy Drummond. Matthew Robinson from Harvey was too strong in the under-19 division, winning with a time of 1.27.25.