wearelusty Australian Open Downhill Recap

The big rigs were out and the big guns lined up for the downhill showdown…

It was an action packed dirt battle on the final day of the Cannonball MTB Festival, the wearelusty Australian Open Downhill did not disappoint. The sun was shining, the dirt was drying and the crowd was brimming with anticipation.

It was an incredible day of racing that saw over 200 racers from 12 years to 60+ line up to take on the three kilometre, 372 vertical metre track.  Stepping back, the race kicked off at the top of the Kosciuszko Express taking in the famous fire road, before entering the technical descent to the village and big waiting crowd.

In the Pro Men’s it was Troy Brosnan, who literally flew down the mountain in a time of 5:06:41 to take the win, three seconds ahead of fellow world cup racer Connor Fearon with French rider Amaury Peirron coming in third.

The win made it a three-peat for Brosnan in the festivals signature event.  Track conditions changed over the course of the weekend from wet on Friday for practice to dry and dusty at race time.

“The track was hard this year, they changed it up adding more wood sections, making it more technical, which hurt your hands even more. I went out fast from the top, just did what I could and so stoked to get the win” said Brosnan.

In the women’s pro event local Jindabyne and Thredbo MTB rider Tegan Molloy used her home ground advantage to pick up top spot on the podium nearly five seconds ahead of Danni Beecroft with Sian A’Hern, who came off her bike earlier in the day, coming in third.

“I really love to win on my home ground in front of my family and friends, I was so stoked with this win” said Molloy.

All categories were hotly contested – Kye A’Hern showed he is one to watch taking the u/19 junior win in 5:20:65, Pat Butler second and Aaron Gungl third. The junior women’s saw the super consistent Ellie Smith win with local rider Mackenzie Diver number two and Sally Potter rounding out the podium.