Fox Creek MTBA Gravity Enduro Championships

A massive weekend of racing has gone down at Fox Creek which has be dominated by downhillers, from rAdelaide itself with Troy Brosnan taking the win by just shy of three seconds from Connor Fearon after just over 17 minutes of racing.

MTBA’s Gravity Enduro National Championships brought the best riders together to take on some of the most challenging terrain yet seen on the Enduro circuit here in Australia.

The Fox Creek trail network proved to be an epic enduro venue thanks to some tireless work from Australia’s only DH club; Inside Line. With over 200 riders padding up for the 8 stages over the weekend, the village that sprouted up around Anderson Winery, atop of the trails was nothing short of humming. Racing was spread over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, riders had a chance to rest their legs and lungs, while it was DH oriented, there were more than a few lung busting sprints and long grind transitions to make holding on a challenge for more than a few. With some old Fox Creek favourites on the map along with some additions to newer trails, more than a few interstate riders where finding it hard to get their heads around the lines found on all 8 stages.

In Elite, Troy and Connor traded the lead all weekend, the final result coming down to the final stage, Lone Gum, the same track Troy won on only weeks before at the South Australian State DH Championship. The field was stacked with 57 riders going for the title, so the talent on show was epic. Chris Panozzo continued his strong form with a solid third place while the ever fast Ben Cory took fourth with all time shredder and brand new dad Shannon Hewetson coming in for a solid 5th place.

Rowena Fry took out the Elite Womens class with some solid riding all weekend, her smooth and fast style was evident even through the lower section of the steep and off-camber Stage 3 ‘Muppets’, her total 21:06.87 time unbeatable by Philippa Rostan, with local Shelly Flood rounding out the podium.

The Under 19’s dudes were hauling arse all weekend with some serious style going down! Eventual winner Sam Walsh’s time would have seen him in 5th place in the elite mens class, so we’re expecting big things form this dude when he steps up! Bennett Wythe and Harry Nichols took the second and third places.

With the rise and rise of enduro racing over the past few seasons, it’s so good to see MTBA pulling a solid Australia wide series together along with an end of season Championship for this new generation of rider. With 200+ riders and a hole new generation of quick kids (both make and female) racing this years Championship and a venue capable of handing a whole lot more, the future is looking so good for Enduro in South Australia and on these shores in general. Inside Line have to be commended for their work on getting the trails ready along with their almost 25 year dedication to gravity events, a club that has brought two riders to become household names in Downhill circles in Troy Brsonan and Connor Fearon. We’re thinking theres going to be a few more big names to come out of Australia onto the Enduro world stage very, very soon.

Full Results are available here.