The first UCI World Cup of the season kicked off this week in Pietermaritzburg South Africa. The GT Bicycles team of Marc Beaumont, Mick Hannah and Kevin Aiello along with mechanics Mark Maurissen and Terry Chanethomvong and team manager Steve Spencer have spent the last week training and testing on the new GT Fury downhill bike. A lot of excitement and talk has surrounded the new full carbon racing frame and the team is out to show that the bike is the wave of the future in downhill racing.

 

A new format for the downhill had qualifying on Friday and finals on Sunday so the team prepared for the elimination round in hopes of a top result for a finals seat and to acquire the much sought after UCI points. Marc had a successful season in 2008 giving him an early start in the qualifiers while those with lesser results from the previous year of were new to the circuit had to start later. Kevin is the fresh new rookie on the team so he would be start towards the back of the pack as well as Mick Hannah. Mick is not a newcomer to the World Cup scene but did take a year off from racing so he is basically an unranked rider coming into this event. There has a great deal of talk surrounding Mick’s return to World Cup racing. Mick decided to take a break from racing to spend time with his family which is very admirable since he left the sport as one the top gravity riders in the world.

 

 

As qualifying began the top seeded riders came down first. Last year’s UCI World Cup Champion is Greg Minnaar and he is from Pietermaritzburg so he was the odds on favorite coming in and was the first to come down. He clocked a very fast time of 3:50.31. GT’s Marc Beaumont was chasing the time but made a couple of mistakes adding to his time but still had a respectable time of 4:00.52. US GT rookie Kevin Aiello had his World Cup initiation by trying to qualify against the world’s fastest downhill racers. Kevin had a major “get off” in his run but recovered to still qualify into the final.

 

 

Since Mick basically came in as an unranked rider he had to start further back in the pack. As the rest of the field came down the times were not coming close Minnaar’s time and the crowd thought their local hero would finish out the day as the fastest qualifier. The team was waiting for Mick to come down and as the rider before Mick was coming down the last section before the finish everyone noticed Mick was right behind him. It took a few seconds to sort out the two finish times that were so close to each other but as the finish clock reset the time of 3:48.78 appeared…. Mick moved into the lead by over 1.5 seconds! What an amazing result for Mick’s return to the international race scene. Along with his time trial win Mick earns 50 UCI points and an early lead in the series standings. Now everyone eagerly waited for the downhill final on Sunday.

 

 

In the 4X, GT International riders Roger Rinderknecht of Switzerland and Luke Madill of Australia also had their qualifier later in the day. The clouds rolled in along with the threat of rain but Roger and Luke each ran a smooth lap easily qualifying with the top-10 all finishing within 2 seconds of each other.

 

 

The 4X finals were greeted with sunny and humid weather. Even though the racers are fit and prepared the heat and humidity would test the best of athletes. Roger rode strong and consistent making it all the way to final. Luke wasn’t as lucky with a crash with another rider going into the first turn in the first round of elimination. Roger loaded up in the gate for the final with the fastest and most notable 4X racers in the world in the likes of Jared Graves, Michael Prokop and Rafael Alvarez. It was tight going into the first turn and Roger hung tight as all four racers dove into the first turn together holding their lines. Roger came out in third right on the back tire of Prokop and was eyeing up a move for a pass. Just as Roger was setting up into a turn towards the bottom of the course he was bumped from behind causing his tire to pinch and go flat. Roger would have to settle for a 4th on the day but was a great result and keeps him close in the points hunt with it just being the first race of the season. Look for Roger to be at the next 4X event in Houffalize Belgium May 2nd and 3rd.

 

 

The much anticipated downhill finals were staged for Sunday. The crowds rolled into the race venue with a huge turnout of support for local favorite Greg Minnaar. The big topic of conversation was the success of GT riders Mick Hannah and Marc Beaumont and the buzz around their new race rigs, the GT Fury. By some the bike was dubbed the “Super Model” of the weekend. The weather was excellent for the final as crowds rolled in to the venue. As the guys prepared to stage up for their final runs team mechanics Mark Maurissen and Terry Chanethovmong packed up to head to the top of the course to get ready for the guys. The finalists started in reverse order meaning the faster qualifiers would do their final runs last.

 

 

 The new young-gun of the team Kevin Aiello was one of the fastest junior racers to qualify and started off close to mid-way through the start order. Kevin had a good run going until he hooked a bump near the bottom sending him to the ground. Kevin got up quickly and realized that he did not have a seat but still forged on the finish. His time was pretty decent even with his fall but was out of contention to a top spot.   

 

 

Next up was Marc “Slugger” Beaumont. Marc was riding strong in practice and was looking to drop some time from his qualifying run. As he came down the wind started to pick up right into the faces of the racers down the last section of the track. The breeze would make the long course feel even longer and Marc was feeling it as he was charging to the finish. In the end marc would lock down a very respectable 9th place.

 

 

The last racer to come down was Mick Hannah. Greg Minnaar had just come down before Mick and set the fastest time of the day with a very large margin over 2nd place meaning Mick had his work cut out for him. Mick’s final run looked very strong and had everyone on the edge of their seats as they were watching the split times to compare with Minnaar’s. The final split time had Mick at a slight disadvantage but he was on the gas looking to gain every second possible. When Mick crossed the line he came up slightly short of Greg’s time but still secured 2nd place which Mick was very excited for as well has his teammates. Considering the Mick had just got back on a bike in January after a year off from racing it was a tremendous accomplishment. The top World Cup competitors now have Mick on their radar and consider him a serious threat for a top spot in the World Cup series and at the World Championships.

 

 

It was a great weekend for GT Bicycles but there is not much time to rest as the team now packs up for the 2009 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California April 17th through 19th.