Cannonball MTB Festival 2022 Day 4 | Rockshox Pump Track Challenge…Battle Time!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Thredbo MTB (@thredbomtb)

The competition was ON last night with each rider knocking it up a gear for the Rochshox Pump Track Challenge.

As the sun went down and the mist rolled through the crowd packed in for what was set to be a huge night of racing. The Pump Track Challenge is nothing like any other race at Cannonball. The aim of the game is to ride around the pump track without pedalling, using only momentum to bring yourself across the finish line. It’s a test of true stamina and skill, and after such a big week of racing already, these riders were feeling the burn!

The night started off with the groms who were shredding it up. Archer Henness was the winner of the U13 men’s with a time of 22.952 and Chloe Brown was the winner of the U13 women with a time of 26.465. It was a tight finish in the U15 women’s between Matilda Henness and Katarina Carlsson with Matilda taking the win by only 0.016 of a second!

The Pump Track was really anyone’s game last night – one missed pump or slipping out on a berm could cost you. The crowd was on the edge of their seats all night as there were a number of categories where the top three competitors scored a time within a second of each other; 50 years and over men, 30 to 39 years men and the U17’s men.

The pro women were on fire with legend, Caroline Buchanan clocking in the fastest time with 21.780, followed by Danielle Beecroft with 22.427, and Ellie Smith with 22.589.

All ages showed incredible talent across the night, but it was the pro men’s category that turned up the heat. Lachie Forbes, Tim Abbott and Hamish Armstrong started off the competition strong, laying down times around the 23 & 24-second mark. The battle was on when Josh Arcus took to the track, crossing the finish line with a time to beat of 21.215. But he didn’t hold onto it for long… Mike Ross and Conor Clancy managed to sneak across the finish line 0.5 a second faster.

That brought us up to Ryan Gilchrist. Gilchrist came out of the gate fast and railed each berm tight, putting him into the winning position and fastest overall with a time of 19.902. It was then up to Connor Fearon, Duke Millington and Luke Meier-Smith to bring it home. After stellar starts, Fearon and Millington got close scoring times of 20.575 and 20.424, but it left it up to Luke Meier-Smith to bag the title. And he was so close, coming in second only 0.090 behind Gilchrist in a nail-biting finish.

We’re onto the last day of the Cannonball MTB Festival and if you think you have seen all the action, think again. Saturday will see the fastest in Downhill racing compete in the prestigious Oakley Australian Open Downhill kicking off at 11.45am, followed by the huge Deity Whip Wars spectacular at 5.00pm.

Stay tuned for all the action coming soon! Find the full list of results here.