Mr Gas To Flat was most definitely on the gas this weekend, beating a whole pile of World Cup podium riders at round 3 of the Saracen British Downhill series at Innerleithen, Scotland.
The weather was glorious, the track was bone dry, and a whole pile of World Cup riders took the opportunity to fit in one last race before the World Cup opener in Fort William this coming weekend. And, after qualifying in second place Adam Brayton prived that was no fluke by going on to beat the rest of the stacked field by almost half a second on the two and a half minute track.
As you can see Brayton took some serious scalps with that victory, as did local boy Lewis Buchanan who came in third. Peaty proved that there’s still more than a bit of life left in the old dog yet by taking 5th, and Brook MacDonald made his intentions for the season clear by taking 4th spot despite not getting much chance to practice the track. Of course Gee also needs a mention for a stellar result, but he’ll have wanted the win and not another second place. Had it not been for a small mistake on the last section the win could well have been his…but it wasn’t it was Brayton’s.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Brayton can hold this form next weekend in Fort William. Confidence can often make a huge difference and if he hasn’t got plenty of that after this result then he’s never going to have it.
In the women’s race Rachel Atherton made it clear with a near two second win that this season is going to be far from easy for the other girls. To be fair though, Manon Carpenter proved that she is definitely up for the fight by being the only other rider to even get close to Rach. I’m sure she was happy with beating Pugin too, especially by such a convincing margin.
1. Rachel Atherton GT 2:50.430
2. Manon Carpenter Madison Saracen 2:52.112
3. Floraine Pugin Scott Gstaad 2:59.011
4. Casey Brown Dirt Norco 3:09.307
5. Fionn Griffiths Team GR 3:09.410
Manon Carpenter will be looking to keep on those top steps of the podium come next weekend in Fort William.
