Press Release: The popular WSMTB 12Hour Race returned to Yellomundee Regional Park on Saturday, 8 August 2009. The traditional 12 Hour format attracted 357 riders out to the Blue Mountains on a warm, sunny day, who where joined by 88 MTB Grand Prix racers at the event centre at Yellomundee.
The event had it all – fierce racing, teams that were chasing each other all day long, qualifying laps that decided pole positions for the MTB Grand Prix start while the 12 Hour teams were already under way, live music in the afternoon to chill out and get ready for the finish.
The JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour Race had male & female Elite Solo categories that raced for cash and the men’s field was dominated by the local rider David Ludenia from Lawson in the Blue Mountains. He won the 12 Hour race in the Elite Male category with 21 laps on the just under 10km track that was in fantastic condition thanks to the outstanding efforts by the WSMTB crew. In the female Elite category, Canberra rider Claire Graydon took out the first place with 17 laps.
The Male Solo category saw Jeff Rooney ride 19 laps to victory. The most laps – 25 – were completed by a South-Sydney Male Team of 4: Matt Potter, Tim Bateman, Jason Morgan and Andrew Arthur completed them in just over 12 hours.
The showdown of the race goes to Elite riders James “Chops” Lamb and Jason “Dreggsy” Dreggs who were in 3rd and 4th position, respectively with the same number of laps. James arrived after his 19th lap at the event centre with about 5 minutes until the track was going to close. He decided to take a quick break and to see if Dreggsy was going to make the cut off time? imagine 300 people at the timing tent. Waiting and dreading the next rider to come through. Everyone was waiting for number 6? always having an eye on Chops who could not take his eyes off the tree line about 200 metres from timing. Then he appeared, rider number 6, Dreggsy, with 10 seconds until the cut off. His front wheel in the air, he was carried into the event centre by a crowd of people cheering – some in surprise, some in shock but all in awe. In awe of the two riders, James Lamb and Jason Dreggs who sped off into the night to fight for third place. James came back in third with about 3 minutes on Dreggsy who was fourth in the overall Elite category. What a finish to the race!
The first round of the Rocky Trail MTB Grand Prix started off at about 10am with a qualifying hot lap (average times in teams) that was to decide the starting grid for a 4 Hour race. With a course slightly different from the 12 Hour race – a bit shorter and easier in sections – the pole position riders of each category kicked off the race just after noon. With 11 laps on the just over 8km course Michael Crummy from South Windsor took out the Male Solo title and Lana Moy from Collaroy was the Female Solo winner with 9 completed laps.
The second round of the Rocky Trail MTB Grand Prix will be held on 26 September this year at Awaba and online registration is open on the Rocky Trail website.
Top Results JetBlack 12 Hour Race
Elite male solo:
1. David “Dave” Ludenia (Lawson, NSW – 21 laps)
2. Shane “Tails” Taylor (Sydney, NSW – 21 laps)
3. James “Chops” Lamb (Central Coast, NSW – 20 laps)
Elite female solo:
1. Claire Graydon, JetBlack Products, Mal Adjusted Bicycles (Watson, ACT – 17 laps)
2. Bron Gould (Downer, ACT – 14 laps)
3. Nicole Lancaster, SRAM (Thirroul, NSW – 5 laps)
Male solo:
1. Jeff Rooney, Cell Bikes 1 (Stanmore, NSW – 19 laps)
2. John Evans, JetBlack Products (Woodford, NSW – 19 laps)
3. Francis Le Brun, Radical Lights (Queenscliff, NSW – 18 laps)
Male team 2:
1. Bike Bug: True Swain, Gavin Storey (23 laps)
2. Nasty Boyz: Peter Hamilton, Dion Blair (22 laps)
3. The KOM Funky Buddhas: Tim Kerle, Stuart Ferguson (22 laps)
Female team 2:
1. Bricks and Beans: Kath Bicknell, Gaye Camm (14 laps)
2. Sutho Chicks: Emma Lovelock, Karen Smith (6 laps)
Mixed team 2:
1. Vanina and Gav: Gavin Burland, Vanina Vergoz (20 laps)
2. Autolab’s Beauty and Beast: Daniel Chermak, Petra Tesarova (20 laps)
3. Classy Cleats: Ann Holden, Andrew Johnson (19 laps)
Male team 4:
1. Team FRS Rotor: Jason Morgan, Tim Bateman, Matt Potter, Andrew Arthur (25 laps)
2. WSMTB wombats: Aubry Hill, Darren Hamilton, David Bourke, Brian Price (24 laps)
3. The Daffodills: Steve Podmore, Joshua Lester, Andrew Poppet, Damon Malek (23 laps)
Mixed team 4:
1. Nobs & Knockers: Matt turner, Steve Burnes, Kristin Peattie, Dale Atterby (22 laps)
2. Team tap out: Gary Eastment, Mark Jenkins, Michael Carter, Christina Robinson (21 laps)
3. Anzacan: Jordan Wilson, Lauren Pevy, Garreth Christian, Cannonball Hall (21 laps)
Open team 6:
1. Fully loaded 5: Brent Johnstone, Matt Sparkle, Andrew Bennett, Brad Crawley, Kipp Johnstone (16 laps)
Junior Mixed team 6:
1. Two Wheeled Attack Team: Tom Chaffey, Alex Wagner, Kyle Ward, Daniel McDonald (25 laps)
2. Knox Grammar School 1: Rohaan Taneega, William Swanson, Jacob Van Egmond, Thomas Dalyell (18 laps)
3. Knox Grammar School 2: Cameron Pattinson, David Strain, Nicholas Luxford, Patrick Arnold (15 laps)
source: Bike Media
