The Shimano MTB Grand Prix reintroduced the Hinze Dam mountain bike trails to the endurance racing calendar in 2021 with a challenging 4 and 6 hour competition. Local and visiting racers competed on a 7.3km circuit at the Peter Hallinan Mountain Bike Precinct Hinze Dam. The racing action of the Gold Coast’s ‘rocky trails’ continues at Nerang this Friday and on the weekend, supported by Major Events Gold Coast. The crew will be putting on the Gold Coast Edition of the Rocky Trail Academy schools event for secondary students, which will be followed by a 2-day Fox Superflow® gravity event (24+25 July). With its motto “Race the way you Ride” the race, the popular gravity enduro race will be the first of three events as part of it’s Queensland South Series.
It had been many years since the sweet tracks of the dam have been raced and Mayor Tom Tate said that “sport brings together people from all walks of life” and that the Rocky Trail MTB double-header “fits that bill perfectly”.
“The Superflow® and GP races will have some of the nation’s best out on course mixing with weekend enthusiasts. It’s a great formula and in the true spirit of mountain biking. I am delighted to see the tracks made famous during the 2018 Commonwealth Games being utilise in this way. Good luck.’’
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate

Shimano GP: “Seriously fun racing”
Councillor Glenn Tozer who attended the race start of the Shimano MTB GP race was impressed with the “dozens of aspiring riders from across SEQ and NSW”. Those riders included a young athlete and “Rocky Trail old hand” Tom Jenkins from Port Macquarie whose achievements in Mountain Biking and Rowing afforded him mention in NSW Parliament in May this year.
“Mountain Biking is a growing sport in our nation and an important economic opportunity for our city. We need a greater investment in infrastructure and maintenance for our natural areas and fire trails to enhance facilities that attract these adventure tourists.”
Clr Glenn Tozer
Plenty of locals took part in the race with Brent Rees from Mermaid Waters taking the outright line honours in the four hour solo competition. The 23-year old solo racer completed 9 laps in 3:44:24 beating the relay pair of the Norifumi Scott Team with Ross Flewell-Smith and Christian Bromley by close to 25 minutes. The mixed pair of Brett Nelson and Deane Harden came in ouright third. In the solo men, Matthew Ennever from The Gap came in second behind Rees (-1 lap) and Brisbane’s Daniel Schilk was in third.
In the female’s the overall winner was the up and coming racer Holly Lubke from Beerwah near the Sunshine Coast who has become known for her “endurance and power beyond her years”. With 8 laps in 4:15:37 she claimed the fantastic 8th position outright in the entire 4-hour field. The second female overall was Master racer Corinne Dolan from Kallangur and Leah Bell came in third, both on six laps.
Female racers steal the 6-hour show
In the exclusive 6 hour event, Rebecca Stone from Brisbane was the fastest solo rider. With 10 laps in 6:33:18 she beat Lachlan Murray by one lap. The male winner crossed the line in 9 laps 15:55min after the cut-off time.
Felix Rojas came in third in the outright solo division on 8 laps ahead of Terry Franklin. Emma Rhymer was fifth as the second-fastest solo female with Liam Donohue in sixth outright.
A female power couple with Donna Hall and Michelle Woods, arguably two of the fastest and most experienced female Master endurance racers in Australia right now, took out the outright line honours in the 6-hour event. With 10 laps completed in 6:01:27 and racing for PCS Coaching, they beat the male pair of Pete Smith and Robbie Gould from Giant Ashgrove by over seven minutes.
Major Events Gold Coast: Rocky Trail action continues this weekend at Nerang
On Friday, secondary school students will be able to put their MTB abilities to the test in the “Gold Coast Edition” of the Rocky Trail Academy schools events. Entry is open to all secondary school students and juniors may sign up as part of a school group or also independently if a parent or guardian can be present with them on the day. Organisers expect the biggest Rocky Trail Academy line-up since its launch in 2019 yet.
The ‘super’-social race format of the Fox Superflow® will guarantee adrenaline highs on Saturday and Sunday. The competitors will ride to the starts at Nerang un-timed and then complete three race tracks fir an awesome day out for many categories – from elite to amateur racers to families with juniors, couples and groups of friends riding together.
“Major Events Gold Coast is thrilled to be supporting two leading racing events that are coming to the Gold Coast this July. The Gold Coast has such a wide variety of venues and open spaces suitable for such a broad range of sporting events. It’s fantastic to see two incredible outdoor sporting venues, the Hinze Dam MTB Trails in Advancetown and the Nerang National Park, being used for these two incredible events as more than 550 competitors compete across multiple races and categories.”
Major Events Gold Coast quote CEO Jan McCormick
The next Shimano MTB GP will take place on the Sunshine Coast in August and the NSW/ACT Series will continue on the NSW South Coast in August/September. The Fox Superflow® will be at Ipswich in two weeks. For dates and more details visit the Rocky Trail website.

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!

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RESULTS
Check out detailed results via the link below – don’t forget to download your results and podium certificate! Simply click on your name to see all race times and then select it to download (via the pop-up window).
All GP results are available via
For all 2021 venues, dates & event information visit
https://rockytrailentertainment.com/home/calendar-of-events/
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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