Two Top 15 Results at World Champs As Brook McDonald Retires from Season 2013

21 year old George Brannigan had his best ever result at a World Championship today here in Pietermaritzburg when he took 13th place, just one spot ahead of team mate Neko Mulally. The two riders looked solid all week and were happy with their performances on the demanding South African track. Meanwhile Brook MacDonald, who had earlier this week decided to end his season after this event so he can return home for important shoulder surgery, was unlucky to clip a tree and lose time, settling for 24th place.

For MacDonald the decision to return home has not been easy, but after getting further advice on the rotator cuff tear in his left shoulder, it's clear that he needs immediate surgery ahead of a recovery period of a few months. With an earlier start to the next World Cup season in 2014, the team supports Brook's decision to head home.

George, who himself has been on the road to recovery since he had knee surgery after season 2012, has been steadily rising back to his top form in recent races.

George said: "Both here and at Crankworx I've started to feel like my old self again. I thought it would only take a couple of races to get up to speed, but it has taken a fair bit longer. This is my best result ever on this track and I'm now really looking forward to one of my favourites, Hafjell in Norway in a couple of weeks".

Neko said: "When I arrived at the finish line today I was a little disappointed with myself because I still had some gas left in the tank. I needed to attack a little more and I guess that was the difference between 14th and a top 10. I'm still happy though and have learned from today's experience".

Both George and Neko will head to Norway in 2 weeks for Round 5 of the World Cup.

Neko Mulally Takes Personal Record Points Haul At 2013 World Cup Round 3

The third round of the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup took place in Vallnord, Andorra in front of loud and enthusiastic crowd estimated at around 15,000. Sitting in 3rd place overall coming into this round, Brook MacDonald (NZL) had a difficult week battling a serious shoulder injury that hed incurred a week ago in XC training back home in New Zealand, and only managed 6 complete runs of the course. His team mate Neko Mulally however scored his first ever top 10 in qualifying and backed it up with a solid 16th in the final. This gave the young American 80 points and pushed him up to 15th in the overall standings.

George Brannigan who still races in knee braces following surgery late last year, scored a 29th place, moving him up in the rankings as well to be top 40 for the first time this season. Greg Williamson was impeded in his run when a spectators red backpack was dropped onto the course forcing some evasive action. That, and some personal errors, saw him finish a personally disappointing 33rd.

Neko said after his run: Had a great start but just got a little tight towards the end of the run, but basically achieved what I set out to do. Im happy to move up to 15th and be really close to the guys in front. Mont-Sainte-Anne is the track I look forward to the most all year, so I cant wait for Round 4.

Brook said: My main goal this weekend was to minimize the damage and be 100% for one of my favourite tracks, Mont-Sainte-Anne, in 2 weeks. The shoulder was a lot better today and thanks to my coach and Greg Minnaars Physio, I was able to ride. I kept it smooth and stayed out of trouble but just wasnt able to run at full speed. Im still in the Top 10 overall and I will be chasing points in Canada!

The team will stay on in Andorra for the next 2 days and do some valuable testing, trying out some new things that they plan to have on board for Canada. With 2 riders in the top 15 overall, and all 4 in the top 40, the team is looking forward to the 2nd half of the World Cup season.

Greg Williamson Takes Great Podium at The 2013 British Nationals

Following on from his break out performance at the opening World Cup round in Fort William, Trek World Racing's Greg Williamson has taken an important podium at the 2013 British National Downhill Championships held in Bala, Wales.

Prior to his 3rd place on Sunday, Greg's best ever result in the elite category at the Nationals was 8th last year (and he finished 12th in 2011). The British National Downhill Team is one of the toughest to be selected for with so many of the World's Top 20 riders being British, and only a maximum 7 being able to race for the nation next month in South Africa. Greg is hoping to represent Britain for the first time in his career and Sunday's result certainly helped the cause.

After qualifying 10th in the dry and dusty conditions, on a course he's never raced before, Greg stepped it up for the final:

"After a smooth and steady qualifier I was hungry for my final race run. I started off strong to nail every section with a few loose moments mid-way down the track, then I pedalled hard to the finish which put me 3rd and made me a very proud Scotsman. I ran the Bontrager G5 tires which were perfect for the conditions, and the bike performed brilliantly."

Greg is currently in Andorra for World Cup #3, happening this weekend.

Things Are Heating Up At Trek World Racing

During the recent opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, Trek World Racing unveiled the latest tool the team will have on hand for their riders in the 2013 season. The TWR HotBox as pictured is essentially a bike warmer for use at the top of the mountain prior to race start.

In a similar vein to the systems used in motor sports to have various components of their race machines at optimum temperature in race conditions, the team studied various scenarios and compiled data pertaining to the performance of the Session 9.9 in cold conditions and determined that heating the bikes to a particular temperature would allow the rider to have the bike feeling responsive immediately from the get go, supple over the initial hits and read for the first heavy compressions with complete traction. This has an impact on suspension, hydraulics and some tire compounds.

Designed by 23 Degrees Sports for the Trek World Racing team, the HotBox is totally portable and can be easily taken to the top of the mountain by chairlift and/or gondola, and erected in less than 10 minutes. The team will have the HotBox on hand for key races later in the year, namely in Norway and Leogang, where they'll be used should the ambient temperature at the top of the mountain fall below a pre-determined number.

Team Owner Martin Whiteley commented: "We've had races where the temperatures at the start house were down as low as 5 degrees Celsius, and there is clear evidence that the bikes and technology we run now are simply not operating as they should in these conditions for up to 4 major compressions. There'll be some who think this is going too far, but there are those who said that in motor-sport some time ago and now it's the norm. I spend a lot of time around motor-sport and the advice and information I've been given has been very helpful in arriving at the current design of the HotBox and the various temperature parameters we used both in heating, and start mode. I'm keen for the riders to use it now in race conditions".

Brook MacDonald 'Robbed' Of World Cup Podium, Neko On Target

The hot dusty conditions on the super steep track in Val Di Sole saw Brook MacDonald on target for a 4th place result until a crash in the last sector of his run saw those hopes slip away. Meanwhile Neko Mulally who doesn't see this track as one of his strengths, was very pleased to take his 2nd best career result and be on target for the second half of the season.

Earlier in the day Greg Williamson, fresh off his break out ride in Fort William, was sending it down the hill in absolute style, getting green lights all the way from split to split, only to have the front wheel wash out in the corner made infamous by Sam Hill in 2008.

"I was really enjoying myself in the run, especially the last sector and I don't know, my hand slipped alittle and the next thing i know I was surfing the ground. I'm happy with my speed but just disappointed not to convert it into big points today".

George Brannigan was 6 tenths up on the first split, but was suffering all week to get the right suspension set up for this track and ultimately crashed, but will be racing between now and the next World Cup to get his set up where he needs it.

Neko was the third rider from the team to tackle the course and despite the temptation to push much harder, rode a smart race to arrive incident free at the line in 4th place, which was ultimately good enough for 15th, and has moved from 24th to 16th overall.

Brook was aiming for his first top 5 on this track in 5 years, and was well and truly on target the cross the line in 2nd but a loss of the front wheel and damage to his bike resulted in a 24th spot, and a 3rd place overall in the World Cup.

"About half way through my run I was havign trouble seeign and concentrating. My reaction time was suffering. This schedule here was pretty stupid, almost dangerous. It was 7 hours between my last parctice run and the race run and the day was just too long. The UCI need to get this sorted, you can't be off the track for so long betwen practice and a flat out race run. Having said that, I'm sitting top 3 before the summer break and I'll be keen to chase the podium again in Andorra next month".