Brook MacDonald On The Podium At British DH Round 3

Trek World Racing took advantage of the close proximity of the 3rd round of the British Downhill Series here in Innerleithen, Scotland, to next week's all important opening round of the UCI World Cup in Fort William, to get the riders up to speed and iron out any remaining preparations. The weather was unseasonably warm and extremely sunny making the narrow, rooty and repetitive track fast, and hard to learn.

Local riders took the lion's share of the podium with Brook MacDonald the only non-UK rider taking a spot, finishing in 4th place ahead of many of the World Cup's top international riders. Practice runs took up to 2 hours a time due to the large number of riders and the relatively slow uplift system, so learning the track wasn't made easy.

Greg Williamson took a solid 13th place but was a little disappointed after taking the hot seat, not to stay there longer. He was kicked out by Nick Beer (SUI) but was still happy overall with what felt like a top 20 world class ride. Neko Mulally and George Brannigan were both on their first visit to this technical track and used it simply as a way to clean out the cobwebs from long travel and be ready for the big race next week.

Brook said: "This track is so narrow with trees lining nearly the entire route and you really have to watch your handlebars and keep it tidy. It's not an easy track if you haven't ridden it much, but I was happy with my lower half of the race run and met thegoal of podium this weekend. All good."

Greg said: "I'm happy with that, and even though it wasn't the perfect run, it was good enough to get me close to the top ten in what was a pretty stacked field."

The team heads to Fort William tomorrow and is looking forward to getting the World Cup series started with the classic course at Nevis Range.

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.