SA National Downhill MTB Championship – Jonkershoek

Jonkershoek in Cape Town was taken over by Downhill riders for the South African National Downhill MTB Championship this past weekend. Riders were met by a very wet and muddy start to the weekend but by the time practice and race day came the skies had cleared and the track was surprisingly solid.

Saturday’s practice saw a cautious start by most checking lines and finding out which parts of the track were too slick and which parts were safe to push. As the day went on the speed went up but the track deteriorated seeing a lot of riders going down.

Sunday was game time starting off with the seeding runs. Theo Erlangsen, Sam Bull, Stefan Garlicki and Tiaan Odendaal were all clocking times in the low 2 minute 20’s. The track was starting to dry out and get some grip but unfortunately the wind was starting to pick up.

The race runs got underway and saw most riders up their game by a few seconds. Theo Erlangsen was the second last rider down the hill and broke into the quickest time of 2:18.98. Next it was the fastest qualifier, Stefan Garlicki’s turn, and being notorious for mechanical failures in his race runs it was a nail-bitting moment. Garlicki held it together smooth and pinned to cross the line in 2:17,14, claiming glory and the national title.

Elite Men Results:

1st Stefan Garlicki – 02:17.141
2nd Theo Erlangsen – 02:18.985
3rd Tiaan Odendaal – 02:20.557
4th Samuel Bull – 02:20.811
5th Ryan Frerichs – 02:23.080
6th Adi Van Der Merwe – 02:24.352
7th Dane Olsen – 02:30.854
8th Adriaan Smit – 02:32.828
9th Dustin Rudman – 02:39.934
10th Theo Ngubane – 02:42.740
11th Joshua Bryant – 02:45.239
12th JP Du Plessis – 03:48.878

Photos by Eric Palmer