Every year hundreds of riders compete in the Victorian Downhill Series, this year was no different. Almost 300 riders battled for the podium at the infamous Barjarg Downhill Track.
Located just over two hours north-east of Melbourne, this old school rocky track is known for claiming collar bones, and even turning a foot around backwards (Jake, if you’re reading this, hello!).
The weekend delivered classic Melbourne weather, patches of rain kept the mossy rocks slick and the dust down for some loose racing.
This year we saw a few of our top under 19’s riders step up for their first year in the Elite Men’s category, including Cooper Downey and Will Arblaster, who both finished in the top 10 of the category.
To keep things competitive Kona Factory rider and World Cup competitor Jackson Frew got between the tape to finish first with a lightning fast run of 2:38.75 followed closely by Aarron Gungl with a run of 2:41.60 and Darcy Coutts with a run of 2:44.76.
Thanks all the volunteers that make these events possible and all the riders for a huge first round. Shout out to our sponsors: Yarra Valley Cycles, Life of Bikes, Dynamite Cycles, Krush, Reckless Race Concepts, Racefit Athlete Development, MTB Suspension Works and Echuca Printers.
World Cup rider Jackson Frew has offered to take 10 junior riders under his wing for the weekend at Barjarg.
This will include a guided track walk and coaching to help riders dial in their lines.
If you’d like to take part, please enter your details in the form below. As places are limited riders will be randomly selected and notified before practice on Saturday 9 November.
Coaching is open to male riders competing in U15, U17 sport, U17 and female riders aged U17 competing in Sport Women or Elite Women.
Are you looking to take your riding to the next level, but need some support to make it happen?
This Grant has been set up to provide Junior riders from Victoria who regularly participate in the Victoria Downhill MTB series (VDHS) with financial support to attend and race at World Cup and World Championship races, within Australia and overseas.
Eligibility
Funding is only available for Junior category riders ie those eligible for U17 or U19s, residing in the state of Victoria who regularly participate in VDHS events.
Applications will be accepted at the end of the VDHS season and will close on 31 October 2019.
Applications are not restricted to only those selected for the Australian team.
If number of applications exceed amount of funding available, funding will be allocated at the discretion of the VDHS Junior Rider Grant sub-committee.
Priority will be given to those who have demonstrated giving back to the MTB DH community either at club level or at VDHS level and those who have been more specific as to why they would benefit from the funding.
Applicants can apply in subsequent years, however, riders applying for their first round of funding, will be of higher priority.
Applications can be submitted for financial support for domestic as well as overseas racing.