Tauranga's 2Stage Mountainbike Park played host to an estimated 3000 spectators, who flooded in to see Cameron Cole take victory in the latest round of the New Zealand Downhill Cup on Saturday.
The new 2Stage race course was constructed specifically for this event, and competitors relished the loose, dusty conditions to post close times at the front of all age group categories.
The elite men's race was a showdown that wasn't to be missed. The morning's seeding showed that it would be anybody's race to win. New Zealand MTB series round four winner Glenn Haden was an early casualty of the course as he punctured during his race run, to ruin any chance of a repeat this week.
American professional Luke Strobel qualified fastest, but just couldn't replicate that clean run with too many mistakes in his race run seeing him slide to 21st.
Cameron Cole rode a calculated run to take the win this week from Wyn Masters, with Switzerland's Martin Frei posting his best result this summer with a third placed finish. Matt Scoles and Nathan Rankin rounded out the top five by the narrowest of margins.
Jay Barrett continued his winning New Zealand MTB Cup form in the under 17 category on the way to posting the eighth fastest time of the day, while Vaughan Woolhouse (under 19) and Freddie King (senior) both won at this new venue, against highly competitive fields.
In the open women's race, Sarah Atkin finally took the top step of the podium after threatening to do so at previous rounds, winning by a huge 12-second margin
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Results Elite Men
1
Cameron Cole
0:02:14.550
2
Wyn Masters
0:02:16.990
3
Martin Frei
0:02:17.160
4
Matt Scoles
0:02:17.240
5
Nathan Rankin
0:02:17.910
6
Hayden McGregor
0:02:18.480
7
George Brannigan
0:02:20.760
8
James Dodds
0:02:22.230
9
Sean McCarroll
0:02:23.000
10
Matt Walker
0:02:23.110
11
Des Curry
0:02:23.470
12
Harry Armstrong
0:02:23.910
13
Tim Eaton
0:02:25.480
14
Joel Gebbie
0:02:25.790
15
Edo Franco
0:02:28.280
16
Rob Venables
Row 15 - Cell 2
17
Ken Faubert
0:02:29.340
18
James Rennie
0:02:33.740
19
Mathew Hillsey
0:02:34.790
20
Hayden Lee
0:02:41.120
21
Luke Strobel
0:02:43.390
DNF
Glenn Haden
Row 21 - Cell 2
DNS
Brook Macdonald
Row 22 - Cell 2
DNS
Thomas Jeandin
Row 23 - Cell 2
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Under 19 Men
1
Vaughan Woolhouse
0:02:22.700
2
Brandon Lumsden
0:02:26.860
3
Sam Baker
0:02:27.310
4
Brandon Ransfield
0:02:29.320
5
Kirk Fisher
0:02:30.420
6
Kurt McDonald
0:02:31.190
7
Mitch Townsend
0:02:33.330
8
Corey Penney
0:02:34.040
9
Matt Silcock
0:02:34.680
10
Ryan Lewis
0:02:35.840
11
Corey Patel
0:02:37.720
12
Jason Lang
0:02:40.420
13
Lachlan Cruickshank
0:02:41.550
14
Oscar Tatom
0:02:42.860
15
Jack Sharland
0:02:46.370
16
Ryan Knell
0:02:47.700
17
Ben Dowman
0:02:48.070
18
Jeremy Compton
0:02:48.510
19
David Browne
0:02:48.600
20
Tyler Caplan
0:02:48.750
21
Jourdan Lethbridge
0:02:48.880
22
Nathan Sheppard
0:02:49.170
23
Jason Todd
0:03:00.560
24
Kyle Stannard
0:03:26.800
25
Jonathan Andrew
0:03:52.440
26
Tyler Kirk
0:04:53.090
DNS
Nick Bygate
Row 26 - Cell 2
DNS
Lucas Jackson
Row 27 - Cell 2
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Under 17 Men
1
Jay Barrett
0:02:19.950
2
Jake Robinson
0:02:26.480
3
Jacques Vosloo
0:02:27.880
4
Louis Hamilton
0:02:30.550
5
Campbell Mercer
0:02:35.330
6
Kurt Summerfield
0:02:35.660
7
Zach Baker
0:02:35.720
8
Giulio Laura
0:02:36.160
9
Dan Mccombie
0:02:38.380
10
Lawrence Cawte
0:02:38.560
11
Joel Tunbridge
0:02:39.440
12
Tom Rose
0:02:40.720
13
Mark Werpachowski
0:02:43.780
14
Morgan Taylor
0:02:46.780
15
Tim Adams
0:02:48.550
16
Jack Arnopp
0:02:49.840
17
Cameron Hancox
0:02:49.920
18
Michael Melles
0:02:51.390
19
Scott Milner
0:02:52.710
20
Kayne McGlue
0:02:52.860
21
Jackson Hine
0:02:53.620
22
Dan Lawton
0:02:53.920
23
Thomas Schischka
0:02:54.040
24
Jack Dodd
0:02:54.300
25
Mitch Thomas
0:02:56.040
26
Zach Rowe
0:02:57.380
27
Ryan Hunt
0:03:02.400
28
Jamie Rosier
0:03:04.530
29
Daniel La ulu
0:03:05.600
30
James Paling
0:03:07.650
31
Aled Dunn
0:03:10.310
32
Harrison Redshaw
0:03:15.010
DNS
Michael Gunter
Row 32 - Cell 2
DNS
Josiah Clark
Row 33 - Cell 2
DNS
Jarrod Anderson
Row 34 - Cell 2
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Senior Men
1
Freddie King
0:02:21.200
2
Daniel Meilink
0:02:21.240
3
Sam Shucksmith
0:02:21.390
4
Scott McGregor
0:02:21.930
5
Richard Leacock
0:02:22.200
6
David Balderstone
0:02:23.830
7
Tom Winwood
0:02:25.180
8
Carl Edmondson
0:02:25.280
9
Nick Mead
0:02:25.960
10
Daniel Heads
0:02:25.980
11
Rob Farmer
0:02:26.490
12
Kurt Lancaster
0:02:26.790
13
Dominic Stulen
0:02:28.150
14
Chris Johnston
0:02:28.350
15
Bryn Dickerson
0:02:28.930
16
Tyler Perrin
0:02:29.080
17
Ollie Knight
0:02:29.390
18
Joel Flanagan
0:02:30.110
19
Jamie Lyall
0:02:30.450
20
Ben Tyas
0:02:30.480
21
Matt Ineson
0:02:30.620
22
Shanan Whitlock
0:02:35.040
23
Mathew Mcgovern
0:02:35.210
24
Asher Ellery
0:02:36.240
25
Ben Stewart
0:02:36.560
26
Joe Henry
0:02:37.430
27
Scott Taylor
0:02:37.610
28
Simon Dibben
0:02:39.020
29
Kevin Warner
0:02:39.460
30
Callum Wilson
0:02:39.520
31
Steven Pattle
0:02:40.040
32
Jamie Eagle
0:02:41.940
33
Ryan Williamson
0:02:42.090
34
Kai Crow
0:02:42.410
35
Ilya Zharenikov
0:02:45.610
36
Daniel Taylor
0:02:45.840
37
Tristan Ratcliffe
0:02:49.640
38
Tim Warner
0:02:54.740
39
Josh Hutchinson
0:02:58.030
40
Jono Tonkin
0:03:03.770
41
Beau Lowrie
0:03:09.120
DNS
Tom Mathews
Row 41 - Cell 2
DNS
Michael Sims
Row 42 - Cell 2
DNS
Dave Anderson
Row 43 - Cell 2
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Master 1
1
Byron Scott
0:02:19.520
2
Cameron Bisset
0:02:34.030
3
Andrew Martin
0:02:37.480
4
Kevin English
0:02:49.080
5
Leon Duggan
0:02:54.820
6
Stefan Bek
0:02:55.750
7
Rich Seaton
0:03:07.840
DNF
Mike Green
Row 7 - Cell 2
DNS
Eugene Kara
Row 8 - Cell 2
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Master 2
1
Dave Hamilton
0:02:35.410
2
David Rose
0:03:05.960
3
Andrew Melles
0:03:54.540
DNS
Graeme Hunt
Row 3 - Cell 2
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Hardtail Men
1
Jade Erickson
0:03:31.160
DNS
Luke Brindle
Row 1 - Cell 2
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Open Women
1
Sarah Atkin
0:02:51.610
2
Charlotte Clouston
0:03:03.780
3
Sophiemarie Bethell
0:03:09.870
4
Baylee Jackson
0:03:27.570
DNS
Madeline Taylor
Row 4 - Cell 2
DNS
Kaytee Campbell
Row 5 - Cell 2
DNS
Sophie Tyas
Row 6 - Cell 2
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Under 15 Boys
1
Josh Mccombie
0:02:37.210
2
Connor Hamilton
0:02:40.400
3
Cam Barrett
0:02:44.040
4
Gregory Tew
0:02:44.790
5
Ben Watkins
0:02:49.660
6
Josh Airey
0:02:58.960
7
Hayden Melles
0:03:05.210
8
Tom Brian
0:03:13.990
9
Matt Lawton
0:03:18.790
10
Dino Rutten
0:03:27.550
11
Tom Goodman
0:03:39.280
12
Jordan Holliday
0:03:41.290
DNS
Danie Kattenberg
Row 12 - Cell 2
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Sweeper
1
Snow Kris
0:02:41.180
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