Hey Guy's, last Sunday I raced the final round of the Queensland State Downhill Series 2009 at Townsville North Queensland Australia. Dad and I travelled 3,000km to compete in this event and the weekend was full of dramas right up to race time. I managed to break my World Cup forks, Hope Pro 2 rear hub axle and Code rear brake which meant that Dad and our mate Woody were working overtime in the Pits rebuilding my bike several times over to keep me going. Added to this I managed to crash in the final practice run on Sunday morning and remove several centimeters of skin off my forearm but Dad swung into the nursing role and patched me up in time for qualifying and the eventual race run.
I managed to qualify 1st with almost 12 seconds to 2nd place and then in my race run I finished 1st by 8.5 seconds with a race time of 5m 34sec's over a distance of almost 3km. The track was a killer with two distinct sections and a 150-200m pedal section (some uphill) in the middle - I had nothing left at the end!! It is a great track being very technical, steep, loose, dusty with lots of jumps, berms, rock gardens and drops thrown into the mix. Over the series of 4 races on different tracks throughout Queensland I managed to get the Legend home with 3 x 3rd and 1 x 1st placings in Under 19 Men category (for the record I have just turned 16 years). As a result I have now been crowned overall winner Queensland State Downhill Series 2009.
Despite the issues with breakages the Legend is just that, a bloody Legend and I cannot wait for the Australian National Series to commence later this year in which I will be contesting all races. I am totally convinced the Legend can hold its own and surpass all of the top end downhill bikes currently available such as V10's etc. Understanding that my bike is a prototype and that there will be refinements made with the production model I just want to keep riding and racing it because it is a winner and will make many more podiums with riders lucky enough to get their hands on one!!
Finally, a big thanks to Darren Boman of Barspin Imports (Banshee Agent/Distributor - Australia) for having the faith, commitment and giving me the opportunity of riding/racing this baby. I hope to reward his faith with many more podiums in the years to come racing with Team Banshee.
