Trek World Racing Enters The Enduro Series For 2013

Following the recent announcement of the upcoming Enduro World Series, Trek World Racing is excited to confirm that the team will commit to the series. This follows today's signing of Justin Leov on a 2 year deal that will see the talented New Zealander focus on Enduro Racing. Justin recently retired from World Cup Downhill racing, but the new Enduro calendar provides the 28 year old with the perfect opportunity to extend his racing career.

Justin said today: "I'm really looking forward to racing a fresh new discipline, and being able to make it happen around my new career in building, with Trek Wor ld Racing providing me with all the support for my racing, is the ideal situation. It's a team that feels like family and I know the product and the staff so well, it's the exact support I'll need to compete at the highest level in Enduro."

The team will attend at least 4 rounds of the Enduro World Series where Justin will be on board his Trek Remedy and Slash machines. There will be other selected events like the Megavalanche, and Justin will be also be aiming to regain his title as the Crankworx Garbanzo winner. When the schedules permit, Justin will be lending a hand to his downhill team-mates trackside.

The team website www.trekworldracing.com will be updated with more information on the exact team schedule and co-sponsors in January.

Neko Mulally To Race In Mexico And Indonesia Next Month

While the official race season may have come to a close, Neko Mulally (USA) will still be keeping busy with two major events in very different parts of the world.

The first event will be next week in Taxco, Mexico. The Downhill Taxco, November 2 and 3, is a street course that meanders through the village, even passing through two houses, and is billed as the most spectacular race in Mexico. The organizers have personally invited Neko and put up more than $10,000 in prize money.

Shortly after his return from Mexico, Neko will be boarding a flight heading west to Asia, visiting the country of I ndonesia for the first time, where he'll be hosted by the local Trek distributor. The Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge Cup has been happening for a few years now and has attracted the likes of Sam Hill (AUS) and Troy Brosnan (AUS) in the past, and this year Gee Atherton (GBR). With $10,000 prize money being awarded across the first 5 placed men, it's another off-season race that rewards the top riders who make the long trip.

Neko says: "I'm very excited for the weeks to come as I will have the chance to travel to new places and participate in some really cool events. The urban race in Mexico is something totally new to me and I'm really looking forward to finally racing one of these legendary street races held in Latin America. Following that, I can't wait to go to Indonesia and getting to see that part of the world. It seems to be a really legit downhill track with some top competitors attending and a lot of media coverage; the perfect time to put down a solid result. It's the off-season now and my training has not been as specific as it is closer to the race season, but I've been riding my bike a whole lot the past month and really feel like I will be strong for these races."

Results will be posted on Trek World Racing's website shortly after each event. www.trekworldracing.com

Trek World Racing To Focus On Gravity Racing For 2013

Following on the recent announcement that Aaron Gwin has signed to Trek World Racing for the next 3 years, the team is confirming that it will focus on gravity moving forward. As Trek World Racing refocuses on gravity it will be bolstering its line-up of riders by adding another top rider. Trek World Racing will announce its remaining roster of 3 additional gravity riders later in the year. The only confirmed signing at this point is Aaron Gwin.

After 4 years of successfully racing Trek Bikes at the sharp end of the World Cup XC scene with extremely talented athletes like Lukas Flueckiger, Mathias Flueckiger, Emily Batty, Anton Cooper, Willow Rockwell and Liam Killeen, the Trek World Racing XC program will be finishing at the en d of this year.

Team Director Martin Whiteley – "We are extremely grateful for having been entrusted with the development of the XC World Cup program for Trek over the past four years. With 2 World Championships, Worlds Silver and Bronze, a World Cup Title, 3 World Cup race wins and 23 World Cup podiums, we are very happy with our record. Apart from the extremely talented athletes we've been privileged to work with, we'd like to thank our Cross Country specific sponsors for their support of this discipline. We certainly wish our current riders all the best for the continuation of their brilliant careers."

With Trek World Racing focusing on gravity, Trek will continue to race cross-country at the highest levels with a separate Trek XC Program under the management of Jon Rourke (current Team Director of the Subaru-Trek program).

The team website www.trekworldracing.com will be updated with more information throughout December and January.

Justin Leov Races His Last Worlds, Aaron Gwin Suffers Mechanical Failure

Race favourite Aaron Gwin (USA) saw his hopes of taking a 'bonus' title this year come to an end around 1min 20secs into his final race run, when inexplicably both his front and rear brakes failed, resulting in a crash. Shortly after the crash Aaron pumped the brakes to try and get some pressure going but it was insufficient to complete the course safely at speed, and he cruised to the line disappointed he was unable to throw down a run on the three and half minute course.

Justin Leov (NZL) was the best placed finisher of the three Trek World Racing riders, ending a decade of racing for his country at the World Championships with a 21st place. After suffering a repetitive strain injury 2 weeks ago, Justin had recovered completely for the event and was looking forward to the run, but in the end was a little disappointed.

At the World Championships there is no qualifying round or seeding run, but a timed practice session where riders can check their general race speed against official timing. Aaron was happy with his 4th in timed practice and as race day drew nearer, and the sun came out drying the track dramatically, all was set for a classic Aaron Gwin run. Unfortunately the brake failure, something he has never experienced before and in fact is his first mechanical in a race run since joining the team, really took him by surprise.

Aaron said at the finish line – "I really don't understand what happened. I warmed up as usual, tested the brakes as usual at the top, walked down the course to have a look at how the track was running, went into my run, brakes working fine for the first minute or so, and then bang, nothing. I crashed and got up as soon as I could, pumped to see what was there, but it wasn't enough, and knew my day was run".

The brakes have been taken back to Japan for further analysis as there was nothing immediately evident from the post-race inspection, and nothing new was done to these brakes that Aaron and the team has run for most of the season.

Justin said – "For sure I was chasing a top 10 here. The course had dried up really well and I was looking forward to running at speed and getting a great result. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and I'll have to settle for 21st, but it has been an amazing run from Kaprun (AUT) in 2002, to these World Champs in Austria 10 years later."

Neko Mulally who suffered a torn shoulder ligament in Whistler 2 weeks ago was happy to be competitive here and finished 27th. He's not yet 100% but expects to be so for Norway.

The downhill riders re main here in Austria this week to support their team mates in this weekend's World Championship Cross Country events in Saalfelden, then fly Monday to Norway for the World Cup finals where the team has something very special planned for Saturday, race day, to celebrate the victory that was sewn up at Round 6.

Justin Leov Wins Vermont Round Of US National Series

The latest round of the US National Series visited the new venue of Sugarbush Resort in Vermont on the US East Coast, where the sun shone, and the track was dry and fast. The event saw Trek World Racing's Justin Leov setting the pace, as well as Neko Mulally making his return to racing after suffering a fractured ankle, which x-rays confirmed is fully recovered.

In Saturday qualifying Justin was fastest aboard his Session 9.9 with Neko close behind in 2nd. Justin did 3m 32.31secs and Neko 3m 33.96secs. The weather was again perfect for Sunday's race with blue skies and a dry track. The course was reall y fast up top with typical Vermont style sections and some good woods sections that could catch a rider out if not paying attention. Just took nearly 8 seconds off his qualifier to win with 3min 24secs, with Mitch Ropelato (USA) in 2nd and Neko finishing 3rd, 4 seconds ahead of his quali.

Justin said: "My goal for the weekend was to work on my speed for Mont-Sainte-Anne next weekend. I was pretty disappointed after the European World Cups so I was motivated to really work on getting my speed up. I was happy with both my quali and race runs this weekend, both felt fast and definitely in the right direction for the racing coming up in the next few weeks. It was also great to have Neko back racing this weekend, good to see him back on the bike and also riding well. Good prep for him leading into MSA."

Neko said: "My goal this weekend was to get comfortable on my bike again and build up speed for next weekend. My ankle is feeling pretty good and I'm glad to be back r acing."

The guys drive north to Quebec this week and join the rest of the Trek World Racing crew for the all important Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup Round 4.