mtb worldcup – MS INTENSE RACING

9 Juni 2018

Leogang world cup round 3 with the first podium

admin Allgemein brage, brage Vestavik, brook, brook macdonald, fabian, fabian urlich, Johannes von Klebelsberg, laurie greenland, Leogang 2018, mike jones, mtb worldcup, UCI, worldcup

Another video summary by Björn Hunger of our fabulous week in Leogang… good things happen when you don’t expect them! 4 elite men in the finals, 3 out of 4 in the top 10, 1 podium with a 3rd place and the 2nd place in the team results… you can’t ask for more- we are stoked!

Day 4: Race day

Another race is in the books and we are catching up. We went into the race day fully excited, as we knew we were on a good pace. All the riders from the factory program qualified in the top ten, as well as Johannes qualified for the men’s final and new add on Patrik qualified for the juniors final. The times from the day before were very promising, which let us hope for the jackpot.

Patrik was the first in juniors race and struggled a bit after coming back from a broken scaphoid. He did some mistakes and crashed in the last section of the track. In the end he became 16^th, which was maybe a little setback for him, but the result from qualifying is something we can build on.

Co-factory rider Johannes was the first to come down. Johannes didn’t find his flow, made some mistakes, which send him back into 54^thposition, but we think positive, as we know what to change to get him up in the rankings.

Mike Jones was net to come. He already showed in the first timed training session that you have to have him on the radar. His 2^ndplace was motivation was enough to qualify in 10^thposition with a steady run. In his final race run Mike put a solid run together which got him into 8^thplace in the end.

Laurie was next to come. He qualified in 6^thplace, which was the perfect position for an attack- and so he did. Laurie had one of these runs he is known for- wild and on eth edge, but controlled and precise at the same time. He was just a few tenth of a seconds of the time of current leader Aaron Gwin and crossed the finish line in second position, but got 3^rdin the final result.

Last man of the MS Mondraker team was Brook MacDonald. Still not 100% fit and missing some weeks of riding after a broken collarbone, Brook shows an incredible performance. A 2^ndplace in qualification got him into the circle of favorites. Brook was the second last man to come down today. He lost some time in the top parts and took a different line in the lower section. Brook got 9^thin the end… maybe he was not really satisfied with that, but happy to know that he is on the pace to keep up with the current podium riders.

The 3^rdplace of Laurie was our first world cup podium this season and the fact that we had three riders in the top 10 brought us into the 2^ndplace of today’s team ranking. We are now back in 4^thposition of the team overall world cup ranking and keep catching up.

Here you can find the complete set of results.

We are now heading to Bikepark Innsbruck for the second round of the crankworx series- meet us there!

: Patrik Butler, had some good split times but crashed at the end of his final run

: Johannes von Klebelsberg- always 100%

: Mike Jones is back. The top 10 is his new home along with both his team mates MacDonald and Greenland.

: Brook sending it into the panorama...

: check out the line and where they took off...

: Laurie was again on a pinner... 3rd place

: Ex team mates, Brook and Greg after one eventful afternoon in the woods.

: first world cup podium for the MS Mondraker team with Laurie Greenland in 3rd

Day 3:

We had an amazing qualifying day today. Brook, Laurie and Mike from the factory squad qualified in the top 10, as well as Johannes from the co-factory team qualified in 40^thposition. This result got completed with the 6^thplace in qualification for the men junior race of Patrik Butler, which is pretty promising considering his situation of a coming back after a broken scaphoid. We are now in a very good position for the race tomorrow. Stay tuned and follow the race on https://www.redbull.tv/live/AP-1VPHMM9GS1W11/mercedes-benz-uci-mountain-bike-world-cup

: "habt acht" boys are ready for action

: Mike Jones at one of the bike park wallrides- prefers the natural sections for sure.

: Laurie 6th in qualies...

: Laurie enjoyed riding the new version of the worldcup track in Leogang

: Johannes qualified in 40th position

: Brages was sick all week- too enfeebled to qualify

: Brook again on fire- 2nd place in qualies

: typical bike park section... wall ride action

Day 2:

First day of practice was wild. The riders couldn’t wait to ride the new version of the DH world cup track in Leogang. Laurie, Brook and Mike got on speed really quick and they were on the same pace thru out the open training session. Mike was leading in the timed training session for quite a while and got 2^ndin the end. Brook got 14^thwith a solid run and Laurie got 20^thwith a so-so run and an almost crash, where he hit a tree. We have a good pace and everything is open for tomorrows qualification.

: Austrian rider Fabian Ulrich

: the MS Mondraker train is on course

: Brook is getting stronger and stronger after his broken collarbone

: The Viking Brage Vestavik- will he qualify this weekend?

: no question- Laurie like the new version of the track.

: new for this weekend- Patrik Butler from Australia joined the cofactors squad

: our Italian rider Johannes von Klebelsberg- also known as"putega internazionale"

: Mike Jones- a 2nd place in timed training get him back on the screen.

Day 1:

In the past few years Leogang was maybe not the most popular track on the world cup circuit. Too easy and to “bikeparky” was the common sense between the riders. Even more we have been surprised on track walk when we saw the modifications the organizers did to the track- especially the nice new grass off camber section was in favor of all the riders. The new common sense?! Bring on the race and lets rock!

: Greenland getting all out of shape on the first kicker.

: Mike Jones keeping up with the MS squad.

: the boys are sharing lines...

: thats the way to go...

: Brook and Ben doing fine adjustments

: the good stuff for the cockpit- Renthal bike components

: Laurie and Brook switch to hike mode ready to go find out what awaits them up the mountain.

: bike is getting a overhauling

We had an amazing qualifying day today. Brook, Laurie and Mike from the factory squad qualified in the top 10, as well as Johannes from the co-factory team qualified in 40^thpositi

2 Mai 2018

Losinj- the closeness of Victory and defeat

admin Allgemein, racing brage Vestavik, brook macdonald, croatia, Johannes von Klebelsberg, laurie greenland, losing, mike jones, mtb worldcup, UCI, worldcup

Full race report:

Losinj in Croatia was the first tour stop of the 2018 Mercedes UCi downhill world cup. The venue was new on the calendar and there were doubts about the conditions of the track. Videos from former races showed hard and very different conditions to other races.

For sure the rocky track characteristics supposed to be a murderer for the material and a lot of flat tires were expected, but the doubts of being a too short course with too many rocks were gone after course walk.

Laurie Greenland came to Losinj with already one victory under his belt and also Brook Macdonald and Mike Jones proofed the 2018 performance with a third place and a 12 place at the European IXS cup on the weekend before.

Laurie was not too much in favor with the track, but Brook and Mike really liked it and from how the riders looked it seemed like it will be a good race for the MS Mondraker team.

Even there were high expectations the start into the race weekend was surprising: Brook went fastest in timed training, which does not mean too much as a lot of riders such as Laurie use the timed session for finding the right line.

Everything was served for a good qualification: Laurie set a good time with a few little mistakes in his run. After a few years not having top results Brook was the big surprise. He set the best time in qualification with 1,169 seconds ahead of American Dean Lucas. Mike Jones came thru split 1 with the 8^thbest time and managed to catch uptime till the 3^rdsplit where he came thru in 4^th. Unfortunately Mike hit a rock and punctured his tire, which made it impossible for him to qualify. Another big surprise was the performance of the young guns of the co factory team. Brage Vestavik as well as Johannes von Klebelsberg managed to qualify for the top 60 finals.

Last man in qualification start first why Brage Vestavik opened the finals on Sunday. He pulled out a decent run which got him into 53^rdplace in the end. Johannes struggled thru out the week with finding the right setup, but managed to end up in 46^thplace. Both results mean a big step up for both riders.

Fastest qualifier Brook came down first of the MS Mondraker squad. He looked strong from the start and expectations where high. He came thru split 1 and 2 with the fastest time, but missed his line before he scrubbed down over a drop and crashed pretty bad. As a result of the crash Brook broke his collarbone and has to have a break for a few weeks before he will be back on the world cup circuit. The positive thing he can take out of this weekend is that he proofed the package of him and the Mondrkaer Summum and that he is back up to speed.

Last man to come down was Laurie and all our hopes for a good result was now on his shoulders. Laurie started with a strong pedaling performance in the start section and came thru the splits with decent times. A little mistake in the very last wood section where he caught a little rock cost valuable tenth of a second, which where missing for a podium result. Laurie finished in 7^thplace- 0.37 seconds of f the podium.

Overall the start into the race season was not the best based on the results and the injury, but the MS Mondraker team showed a strong performance and that we will be competitive.

Stay tuned for the next round of the 2018 Mercedes UCI worldcup in Fort William/ Scottland. Keep reading below for daily reports from day 1 to 3 including impression galleries.

Day 3:

So this is not how you want to finish a race… again this final showed how close victory and defeat are: 7^thplace for Laurie Greenland, but a DNF (did not finish) for Brook MacDonald.

Fastest qualifier Brook was 2^ndfastest in the 2 top splits and missed his line over a drop and crashed. The result is a broken collarbone and several weeks break.

Laurie had a strong pedaling part at the start and looked good thru out the rocky middle section. A little mistake in the bottom part cost some essential tenth of a second what got him into 7^thplace 0,37 seconds off the podium.

Co factory riders Brage and Johannes proofed their results of the qualification 53^rdand a 46^thplace in the finals. This means a big step forward for both of them and an upgrade into the A training for the upcoming races.

: Lauries mechanik Mark Sterland is giving some finishing touches to the bike...

: another rider to look at in 2018 is the Norwegian Brage Vestavik. Qualified in 60th position in his first elite worldcup.

: young gun Brage Vestavik- 53rd place.

: Coming back from Enduro racing Johannes von Klebelsberg proofed his DH skills with a 37th place in qualifications and a 46th place in the end

: Brook in the top section of his final run- Split 1 2nd, split 2 2nd...

: Brook almost accomplished the impossible... he was on a winning run...

: ...unfortunately he crashed with top split times- broken collarbone.

: Laurie in the top section- very nice panorama, but no time for them to enjoy...

: rock garden from top to bottom...

: some little mistakes hold him back from entering the podium- just 0,37 seconds off...

: Laurie finished in 7th position... best world cup season start for him so far.

: Laurie was happy with his season start- for sure he had some more up the sleeve, but managed to come down in one piece and a 7th place is more than a solid season start.

Day 2:

The first qualifier in the 2018 Mercedes UCi world cup showed how close victory and defeat are:

After being fastest in timed training Brook MacDonald managed to win the qualification with 1.160 seconds ahead of Dean Lucas. Laurie Greenland ended up in 9th place with a mistake in the top part and Mike Jones couldn’t qualify because of a flat tire even tough he came thru with the 4th fastest time at split 3.

Especially satisfying where also the results of the MS Mondraker co-factory program: Johannes von Klebelsberg qualified in 37th place and Brage Vestavik managed to qualify in 60th and last spot.

Don’t miss tomorrows race and follow us on https://www.redbull.tv/…/AP-1UU8QF…/world-cup-chatter-losinj

P.S.: site fact: it is the very first time in Brooks career that he set the fastest time in a timed training session and won a qualification.

: Ben is playing around with the wait... even running a heavier setup the Summum Carbon wc race machine is pretty light...

: Laurie inspecting his new Fox kit.

: Brook and former head mechanic Christian- good memories as their last cooperation resulted in Brooks first world cup victory.

: perfect picture to document the sharp rocks of Losinj.

: it was about finding the right line thru all the loose rocks...

: no room for mistakes and no escape...

: Laurie in the so called pinball section.

: Brook on his way to his first little success after being back on the MS Mondraker program: 1st place qualification

Day 1:

First round of the 2018 Mercedes UCi world cup started today with the first day practice. The track of Losinj is known for its characteristics such as the sharp rocks from top to the finish part, where the track changes from natural into manmade city style conditions.
Apart from 2 flat tires and a few mechanical problems at the beginning first practice went good for the top boys Laurie, Brook and Mike as well as for the co-factory pilots Johannes and Brage, while Fabian is suffering from gastrointestinal infect.
Brook brought down a solid run and had the fastest time in the timed training session with 2:22:739 and 1,160 seconds ahead of his fellow Sam Blenkinsop.