OK, so this is the big one, a possible defining moment, as these qualifying points are crucial. It looks like Minnaar has had a shocker, almost 10 seconds down on arch rival Gee Atherton. He was already down on the split times but he also crashed on the drops near the end of the course. This also means that for around 48 hours Atherton will be leading the series on points (but Minnaar will keep the jersey), Gee will be on 867 points and Greg on 840..
1st. Gee Atherton with a double thumbs up wins Val di Sole qualifying in a repeat of the 2008 Worlds. With Minnaar having an off, Gee takes the lead in the points gap
2nd. Point a camera at Sam Blenkinsop and he’ll pull you a quirky face every time. Blenky who has a habit of winning qualis recently, said he prefers not having the pressure of being last man down on finals day here.
3rd. Aaron Gwin is loving this track. The wide taping is just what he’s used to with his moto back ground and reckons he’s pulling lines that no one else has tried.
4th. Josh “Ratty” Bryceland got the kick up the arse he needed by not qualifying in Champery, this made him mad, really mad, and more determind than ever today…it worked a treat.
15th. Greg Minnaar said he had a solid run until sliding out on the loose gravel on the right hand drop coming into open bottom section. How close will the points be after Sundays final? It’s setting up to be a thrilling finish with just Windham to go after the final on Sunday.
Brook MacDonald gets save of the day after launching the big stepdown into the finish field, landing outside the tapes and taking down a dozen wooden stakes.
Full results:
Check out Sundays starting order below:
