Brook MacDonald Wins First Ever National DH Title

Trek World Racing's new signing Brook MacDonald (pictured here with team mate Neko Mulally in New Zealand, courtesy of Carol Stacy) took his Trek Session 9.9 to a first ever Elite National Title on the Rotorua course earlier today. The former Junior World Champion and World No.5 has had a busy couple of weeks both preparing for this event, racing in Hunua and filming in Queenstown for Anthill Production's new project.

Brook qualified fastest after his main world class rival Sam Blenkinsop, who's won the last 3 rounds of the NZ National Series, flatted in his seeding run. This meant Sam set an early time that was good enough to keep him in the hotseat until Brook hit the track. Sam's time of 2m 49.90secs looked solid and placed him ahead of team mate and current Junior World Champion Loic Bruni (FRA), but Brook crossed the line more than 2.5secs quicker with a 2m 47.22secs and was understandably ecstatic.

"It's my first ever National Champs title so I am pretty stoked. I made one pretty big mistake up the top and I was pretty sure I was going down. I dont know how I rode that out, so I was pretty lucky and I knew from there I had to make up time. For the amount of training I've been able to do with a back issue and a lot of travelling, I still have my fitness so it is super cool and great to be back on the top step. To be able to wear the national jersey for my new team Trek World Racing will be sick."

The team's other downhiller from New Zealand, George Brannigan, did not compete as he is still recovering from knee surgery.