Crankworx Rotorua 2015: IXS DH Photo Highlights

Sending it for the crowd at the inaugural Crankworx Rotorua Downhill. Photo by Jamie Black.

The 2015 Crankworx Rotorua downhill was a stacked race, catching riders who would usually be relaxing during their offseason. With a stacked field, a fast, rough, steep course with sporadic rain, the race was bound to be a good one.

To say that the course was steep would be an understatement. While the top part of the course was fairly wide-open, once it hit the trees, it turned steep, rooty, and just plain rough.
Wide-open step down on the upper half. Photo by Jamie Black.

The middle of the course had the rock garden. Sandwiched by two cheese-grater wood ladders (maybe around fifty degrees), there wasn't a single good line through the damn thing. When riders went through they hit their rims two or three times.

Check out Henry's reporting from the Rotorua Whip-Off World Championships.

As far as performances, Sam Hill unfortunately didn't make it up into the podium, yet still looked incredibly fast. The margins were close…

After an impressive 7th place finish at World's last year, and some podiums on the NZ MTB cup, Sam Benkinsop glided through to a third place.

Sam steezin' out the forty-footer. Photo by Jamie Black.

One of the most impressive rides of the day was from Eliot Jackson. Eliot struggled to reach the top ten last season in the World Cup circuit, yet this finish shows that something has changed. May this be the year for the Pivot rider.

Eliot Jackson nuking. Photo by Jamie Black.

Bringing home the win, Loic Bruni was looking flawless. His line choice was perfect, and he was looking smooth on the bike. Cheers Loic!

Rachel Atherton, to no surprise, took the win for the pro women. Tracey Hannah was just seven-tenths off Rachel, a ridiculously small margin. Both these girls put most of the men to shame, and Casey Brown (6th) had one of the smoothest lines through the rock garden of anyone. Jill Kitner, despite the #1 plate, was unable to ride at full-throttle due to an injury. 

Now for the cream of the crop: Eddie Masters. Eddie is a kiwi who parties hard, and rides even harder (known for doing the Whistler Whip Off Worlds in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops…). He aired a drop to flat as the course crossed the road and absolutely blew up his wheel. He yelped, pulled over, cracked open a beer, and exclaimed: "Well, I almost caught the non-existent backside." A true character indeed.

"Well, that didn't work!" Eddie Masters absolutely blew up his wheel airing to flat. Photo by Henry Lanman Jr.

The final results are below:

1. Loic Bruni

2. Eliot Jackson

3. Sam Blenkinsop

4. George Brannigan

5. Connor Fearon

6. Brendan Fairclough

7. Sam Hill

8. Brook MacDonald

9. Gee Atherton

10. Bernard Kerr

1. Rachel Atheron

2. Tracey Hannah

3. Emilie Siegenthaler