SNOWBOARD: There were thrills and spills aplenty over two days of snowboard cross action at Hotham Alpine Resort for the Australian New Zealand Cup.
SNOWBOARD: There were thrills and spills aplenty over two days of snowboard cross action at Hotham Alpine Resort for the Australian New Zealand Cup.
DAY 2 - FINALS: Australian riders came away with three victories out of the four finals races today after the riders provided some great action packed racing, capping off two great days of competition at Hotham Alpine Resort for the Australian New Zealand Cup.
With Mother Nature turning on some great weather for the final day, close racing and some untimely crashes near the finish kept spectators guessing as to who would win each of the two finals races on the Rider-X course. In the first of the men's finals, Michael Perle from the USA looked to have the race sewn up before making an uncharacteristic mistake on the final bend allowing Australian Cameron Bolton to clinch victory over Shinya Momono (JPN) and Geza Kinda from Romania. Perle would end up finishing fourth, disappointing after setting fast qualifying times and then leading so close to the finish.
Bolton's victory kick started a hat trick of wins for the Australians with Belle Brockhoff placing second in her first final to Japan's Yuka Fujimori and then bouncing back to lead all the way in the final race and claim victory over her Japanese rival Fujimori.
"I went pretty good and first race I came second, Yuka from Japan she passed me on the second last turn so she got me there. This race I definitely put in more than I ever have because I really wanted to win and I got it, so yeah been really happy with it," Brockhoff stated after her final race victory.
In the final men's race fellow Australian Daniel Morrissy was sitting in third place approaching the final bend when the two riders ahead crashed and he passed through for his first Australian New Zealand Cup victory. There were comments of Australians winning with a "Bradbury", after Steven Bradbury's famous victory at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, and considering the two men's wins did come from competitors falling it was a fair call. But the Australians were very competitive from the outset and it was a great day for both men and women.
Morrissy started out well in the final race and was leading into the first bend before being overtaken. Shinya Momono (JPN) and Michael Perle (USA) were out of front before both tangling on the last bend allowing Morrissy to snatch the win and Geza Kinda(JPN) to come from fourth into second place. Perle again gave up a good opportunity to win but did manage a podium finish considering he had two crashes within sight of the finish line.
"I had a pretty good start and was out in front and coming into the first turn, the other two guys got me just after and we were all pretty close and I was lucky that the other two had a bit of a mess up and I was able to pass," commented Morrissy after the final race.
There certainly was some great racing and many thrills and spills to keep the spectators entertained and while the Australians did have some luck on their side they were ready at any opportunity to pass their rivals.
"I got a bit lucky, we were pretty tight coming into the second last turn and we both went in pretty hard and I thought if he pulled it off it would be great and he couldn't quite hang on and he went down and spun out just before the last turn and I managed to get out and go through for the win," commented Bolton as he reflected back on his good fortune in the first finals race.
Australian coach Ben Wordsworth who witnessed all the action both days was highly impressed with how his Australian charges faired. "It was good the NSWIS guys Cam Bolton won one event, Belle Brockhoff won one event and Daniel Morrissy won one event so yeah we are happy and it was a great event," stated Wordsworth after the race.
Australian number one rider Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin who elected to sit out the race was on hand both days for support and was thrilled that so many young riders were coming through. The Aussie team will now look forward to an overseas camp in New Zealand. He noted that Hotham certainly put on an excellent event and the course preparation the past week for both Snowboard Cross and Skier Cross was first class. "The Suzuki Australian New Zealand Cup races certainly have a great home here at Hotham and we all look forward to the next chapter in this exciting series of events," said Pullin.
"Awesome, awesome racing down the bottom here as we had a lot of close finishes and we had a lot of overtaking on the last two berms so it was pretty exciting," described Scott Sanderson, Hotham Race and Events Manager when asked how he thought the event went this past two days.
DAY 1: Overcast conditions greeted riders today for the qualifying rounds in the Australian New Zealand Cup Snowboard Cross event at Hotham Alpine Resort.
The sweeping course underneath the Road Runner chairlift at Hotham and soft snow conditions certainly had the athletes on their toes as they tried to maintain speed and ensure they posted fast times in both qualifying runs held today.
Yuka Fujimori from Japan qualified fastest in both women's events ahead of Australian Belle Brockhoff. Brockhoff, who is ranked ninth in the world and is Australia's leading woman in snowboard cross, was slightly off the pace with Fujimori posting fast times in all her runs. Karen Iwadare from Japan posted one third placing and young Australian Georgia Baff placed third in the second qualifying race.
Michael Perle (USA) showed a clean pair of heels as he outpointed Australian Cameron Bolton in race one. Geza Kinda from Romania placed third. Australians filled six of the top ten positions and will be striving to move up the ladder on finals day.
Tomorrow the action will start to ramp up as the riders compete in heats of four with two from each heat progressing to the next round and then eventually to the final four where they will ride for the glory of the podium. With two finals of racing it will be an exciting day at Hotham to see who is crowned the Australian New Zealand Cup Champion for 2013.
The top eight women will all be under pressure to stay in the top two of their semifinal and make it straight through to the main final with the small final hosting the remaining four girls.
The top 32 men will all be battling it out to keep progressing from the round of eight through to the final four. You can see all the action in the first final starting at 11am tomorrow and the second final commencing straight after at 1pm.
The weather looks cloudy for the two finals on Tuesday 27 with a mix of sunshine thrown in for good measure.