The Mother’s Day weekend of 2021 was a huge racing weekend out on those ‘rocky trails’! We had two Shimano MTB GP events and both the Awaba NSW and Logan QLD races had a fantastic female line-up.
We welcomed over 200 #rockytrailracers at Awaba MTB Park near Newcastle. A strong women’s field of over 15% female racers hit the mint course and Canberra’s Zoe Cuthbert continued her strong performance from her Fox Superflow victory two weekends ago.
All-rounder Cuthbert takes the female 4 hour win at Awaba
As the sixth outright racer across the line after lap one, Zoe Cuthbert took out the runner-up position in the 4-hour overall line-honours in a mixed team with racing partner Ryan Gilchrist, the highest rank ever claimed by a mixed team in the history of Rocky Trail racing. With Gilchrist one of the well-known gravity enduro Fox Superflow racers in the ‘Rocky Trail World’, Cuthbert establishes herself more and more as an all-rounder, excelling across both XC and enduro racing types. The pair claimed the runner-up outright line-honours in the 4 hour race.
Check out the interview with Zoe on our Facebook page.
In the Solo division, Central Coast racer Michelle Morris took out the win with 7 laps in 4:28:15 ahead of Tara Sutherland (-1 lap) from Canberra and Maddy Scott from Goulbourn (-2 laps). Canberra’s Gwynn McLeod claimed the 6-hour solo outright win in the women’s with 9 laps in 6:10:13 with Catherine Wood from the Blue Mountains in second (-1 lap). Local Hunter racer Georgia Marjoribanks comes in third with 7 laps ahead of Claudia Fiess from the Northern Beaches. Fantastic to see also plenty of junior girls out on course at Awaba!
Wild Odams chase: outright 4 hour win
One of the race sensations was Jon Odams’ wild ride: coming back late from his warm-up lap, the endurance gun missed out on a position at the front of the pack.
A one-minute mistake, which took 2 hours to fix! Odams instantly switched to ‘attack mode’ and clawed his way through the field in one hell of a ride! By the half-way mark of his 4 hour race he had not only reached the front, but also managed to fend off the mixed team of Zoe Cuthbert and Ryan Gilchrist for the outright line-hours and solo victory with 8 laps.
Check out the FB interview with Jon Odams.
Solo rider Christopher Aitken comes in third outright and in second in the solo 4 hour men ahead of fellow club racer Mitch Lozinski.
Newcastle’s Ben Flaherty took out the 6 hour solo win in 11 laps in 6:31.44 and claims the third outright place. Michael Schmitt from Annandale was in third in the solos and Johnothan Poole came in third in the solos. The 6-hour line-honours go to Geoff Dunkin and Rodney Rae who were ahead by about half an hour.
The next Shimano MTB GP in NSW will be the Glenrock race at the end of May.
Race photos:
Photos from the race are now online on the Outer Image Collective portal! Remember, they are included in your entry, so download them now!
Use #rockytrailracer and #shimanomtbgp so we can follow your race stories!
Supported by:
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All results are available via
https://rockytrailentertainment.com/shimano-mtb-grand-prix/2021-events/awaba/results-mtb-gp-awaba/
For all 2021 venues, dates & event information visit
https://rockytrailentertainment.com/home/calendar-of-events/
Race highlights:
Media photos:
Photos may be used for free with image credits “Photo: Rocky Trail/OuterImage.com.au” for coverage of Rocky Trail events only. For more information, interview opportunities or high-res images for news coverage, please contact our Marketing Director Juliane Wisata on 0416 737 972 or via email juliane@rockytrailentertainment.com
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