NZDH Rounds 3-4 Double Header

The race format of the NZDH series runs as a 1-day event, with practice during the morning and 2 race runs in the afternoon. This racing style allowed for a double-header weekend in the Hunua ranges to the southeast of Auckland. The week leading up to the events was packed with the infamous spring rainstorms, leaving the clay soil extra saturated.

Saturday was at Hunua regional park on the National Downhill track. The trail had a few new changes at the top, and started off with a technical root section followed by off camber steeps. It then moved into a more old school DH style flat out track with a mix of on an old but remodeled skid road, along with tricky singletrack. The track then went into a large 50+ft. stepdown and a 30+ft. gap (both with bug out options) before the finish.




Conditions in the morning were slippery at best but still rideable. Practice runs formed a few promising race lines, with the fastest riders sending the biggest features.




With Mother Nature turning off the tap for practice runs, conditions seemed to be improving. Local knowledge and experience on the greasy clay surface seemed to be paying off, with the Auckland riders looking fast.



Unfortunately, just before the race runs started, the heavens opened up and laid down a fresh layer of moisture and the dirt on track quickly turned into a substance resembling peanut butter. Not even the best mud tires could hold traction and racing changed to survival of the fittest.




Peter Bethell was the clear winner in Men's Elite on the day, keeping it rubber side down, besting Connor Hamilton by 24 seconds.

Amanda Monk took the Open Women's category, but the Women's Overall went to another Auckland Local, Vinny Armstrong who was almost 55 seconds faster than any other female on the day.

Sunday brought out the sunshine at 440 MTB park, which was a welcome sight after the mud bath of the previous day. The park crew had been hard at work building new sections into the DH track, with more off-camber root sections and some new jumps, just to keep things interesting.



With more rain overnight, the clay-based track was still a bit slippery but the wind was drying the dirt out and every run had increased traction. The freshly cut track was completely transformed after practice and kept things interesting come race time.



The new sections in the native forest developed motocross style ruts and exposed stumps and roots that were previously under deep soil.



By the first race run, the old sections of track were super tacky, and in prime condition. This allowed for some quick times and close racing.





In the end, Cole Lucas beat out Auckland local Peter Bethell by just over 1 second to take the win for the Elite Men on Sunday.

Amanda Monk won the Open Women by 25 seconds, but again the overall was taken by Vinny Armstrong by 22 seconds. Maybe it's time for her to try a shot at the title?


Results Day 1 - Hunua

Elite Men
1 Peter Bethell 05:22.378
2 Connor Hamilton 05:46.784
3 Cole Lucas 06:19.563
4 Jack Fisher 06:38.426
5 Brendan Regan 06:42.520

Open Women
1 Amanda Monk 07:09.143
2 Sarah Fox 07:23.504
3 Ashley Bond 11:50.441
4 Ashley Waghorn 12:24.140

Open Men
1 James Lamb 05:26.348
2 Tom Humphries 06:02.115
3 Tom Sinclair 06:05.693
4 Joel Den Hartog 06:10.146
5 Logan Jensen 06:20.091

U19 Men
1 Liam Bethell 05:43.705
2 Max Pearson 05:52.898
3 John Richardson 06:06.553
4 Reif Andrews 06:14.198
5 Carson Raynor 06:28.164

U17 Men
1 Cameron Adcock 05:50.370
2 Joshua Oxenham 05:52.908
3 Finn Parsons DNS 05:56.351
4 Louis Vuleta 06:03.374
5 Logan Caesar 06:13.877

U15 Men
1 Blake Ross 06:06.324
2 James Macdermid 06:11.358
3 Jacob Earles 06:12.290
4 Guy Johnston 07:18.214
5 Ethan Blanchard 07:38.629

Masters 30
1 Matt Cable 05:40.518
2 Kai Crow 05:51.248
3 Tim Hunter 06:00.548
4 Ben Thomson 07:01.323

Masters 40
1 Brendon Dally 06:25.290
2 Justin Nelson 06:31.922
3 Justin Glavish 06:56.670
4 Paul Simkin 07:00.510
5 Justin Walsh 07:34.912

Junior Women
1 Vinnie Armstrong 06:14.623
2 Shania Rawson 07:09.705
3 Nikki Clarke 19:19.023


Results Day 2 - 440 Mountain Bike Park

Elite Men
1 Cole Lucas 03:06.589
2 Peter Bethell 03:07.889
3 Jack Humphries 03:13.916
4 Brendon Regan 03:31.791

Open Women
1 Amanda Monk 04:12.647
2 Sarah Fox 04:27.806
3 Ashley Waghorn 07:46.029

Open Men
1 James Lamb 03:13.859
2 Tom Sinclair 03:14.890
3 Joel Denhartog 03:20.559
4 Sylvain Epitalon 03:20.594
5 Logan Jensen 03:22.099

U19 Men
1 John Richardson 03:09.747
2 Liam Bethell 03:11.754
3 Carson Raynor 03:14.041
4 Shaun Campbell 03:19.079
5 Tyler Smith 03:20.619

U17 Men
1 Finn Parsons 03:07.273
2 Cameron Adcock 03:10.583
3 Charlie Makea 03:11.023
4 Jonty Vink 03:17.181
5 Isaac Ewan 03:19.903

U15 Men
1 Blake Ross 03:27.366
2 Jacob Earles 03:30.488
3 Guy Johnson 03:32.112
4 Ethan Blanchard 03:37.185
5 Flynn Russ 03:43.786

Masters 30
1 Matt Cable 03:15.860
2 Tim Hunter 03:26.620
3 Tim Keane 03:27.292
4 Dwayne Coles 03:38.319
5 Kai Chow 03:41.763

Masters 40
1 Brendon Dalley 03:35.269
2 Justin Glavish 03:50.517
3 Paul Simkin 03:55.888
4 Edd James 04:04.028
5 Dan Gannaway 04:04.850

Junior Women
1 Vinny Armstrong 03:45.634
2 Nikki Clarke 06:20.274