VDHS Rd3. Mt Buller

on

The sunset view from Buller Summit is not to be missed when visiting the area. 

It’s safe to say that DH is as strong as ever with 298 racers attending the Alpine Resort of Mt Buller for Round 3 of the Victorian Downhill Series. It was also quite a historical race being the first ever event to be incorporated in the MTBA National Cup, the Tier 1 event possibly drawing extra riders from interstate.

However, the good people at VDHS made it clear they wouldn’t be changing a thing when it came to organising the event and as the best in the business who can blame them. The series has produced some of the worlds best DH racers and it’s very clear they will continue to do so. There were no fewer than 20 past and present World Cup athletes practicing alongside up and coming juniors of all ages, that can do nothing but inspire the future stars of our sport.

The old but finely tuned International Trail was this years colosseum and the racers would battle a rocky, dusty and technical track, Shannon from ATC mentioned they had added a few changes and tried to tape it as wide as possible to open up potential new lines. The riders enjoyed the changes alongside access to the chairlift (which has been closed all Summer) that gave the event a more relaxed vibe.

The lower half of the track is dense and has a little more flow.

When it came to racing, some of Australia’s biggest names had come out to compete including Dean Lucas, Jackson Frew, Tegan Molloy, Tim Eaton, The Zwar Bros, Ellie Smith and a plethora of Juniors who are starting their campaign to represent Australia at the World Championships this August.

When the dust had finally settled it would be Tegan Molloy and Jackson Frew who would be victorious, let’s let the pictures tell the story!

Dean Lucas with Darcy Wilkinson. These guys have been going to VDHS races together for 10 years! Clearly haven’t grown up yet though.
Tegan Molloy
Jackson Frew showing Dave Ferroni the lines
Tim Eaton
Dean Lucas going warp speed on the new Scott
Yep! Can See!
Ellie Smith
Wildflower Season just starting here (and March fly season)
Dave Habicht
Awesome to see Ellie Wale back at it
The Meier-Smith Family made the trip down to Buller, all podium threats.
Ollie Davis demonstraiing a new line option
Jackson White hoping to keep that #3 plate!
Olly Zwar Back in Black. Expect big things from the Zwar Bros this year
The classic wall ride dance
You don’t want to go outside the tape too often
Rebecca Wyatt had a great Quallie, but couldn’t keep it together in the final
Rachel Hore, the fastest Trail Bike out there!
Liam Panozzo demonstrating the proper road gap technique
I always like an excuse to climb a tree
Ben Zwar
One of the many U19s chasing a National Team berth. Billy Cartwright
Darcy Wilkinson. I guess being a World Cup mechanic requires being a badass racer. 7th place for Dean Lucas’s new mechanic 
Lachy Roberts. Remember this name, the kid is a legend
Cooper Downey
Jackson Connelly and Ollie Davis cutting a lap together. Two more future stars.
Luke Ellison rode but I didn’t see him race.
Chris Halshaw through the dusty flowers.
Zwar Bros
Sunset Dreaming
Sunday morning saw Jackson Frew line scouting with a fresh coffee 
Before showing everyone how to ride.
Dean Lucas had a headcold all weekend but he still looked mighty fast!
Another future star Jessica Sheridan
Harrison Tailby all smiles! He’s looking fast this season too!!!
Easily the best dressed racer this weekend.
Tom Carter won the Quallie in U17s but crashed near the bottom in the final. 8th place.
Remy Meier-Smith cruised into 3rd place U17s.
Ollie Davis railing into 2nd U17s.
But Jackson Connelly took the U17 win by just over half a second.
Scott Chaston didn’t have a chain for his race so Dean Lucas and Ben Zwar gave him a helping hand at the start.
Josh Tanzen
Ethan Corney. 5th place U19s.
Jaxon Sawyer. 3rd place u19s
Josh Arcus. 2nd place U19s.
But it was Luke Meier-Smith who took the win in U19s! This kid is on another level at the moment!
Cassie Voysey through the rocks
Elise Empey stepping up into 4th place!
Rachel Hore took away the Bronze Medal here at Buller
After being just a second beind Tegan in qualifying, Ellie Smith went for it but pushed a little too hard and crashed. 2nd place though!
Tegan Molloy! Back on top! 1st place!!
The Fastest Mechanic on the circuit? Darcy Wilkinson 7th place! Nice birthday present for Darcy
Matt Carter, also looking fast this weekend. 6th place.
Dave Habicht taking 5th place!
Ben Zwar won the scrub of the day award. 4th too!
Tim Eaton sailing into 3rd place!
Dean Lucas put down a solid run but missed the win by just 0.7, not a bad first race with the new bike!
Jackson Frew! Winner Winner
Hi5s all around!!!
Cooked!
Tim Eaton, stoked to put it together.
Lachy Roberts already wielding the mic like a pro!
Women’s Podium (Ellie Wale, Rachel Hore, Tegan Molloy with Elise Empey. Ellie Smith was absent thanks to the 11 hour drive home before Monday morning work…
Tegan’s Tan game is strong!
Elite Men Podium. Dave Habicht, Tim Eaton, Jackson Frew, Dean Lucas, Ben Zwar.
Buller, taking it to another level!

Results for the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/vicdhseries/

I caught up with the race victor Jackson Frew to ask him how he won:

Frew: “Yeah, I don’t really know to be honest. I’m just felling really good on the bike at the moment,  we’re getting closer and closer with the Kona now and I’m working with some pretty awesome people this year. I’m just stoked to be riding a bike!”

GDU: “So what’s up with the Kona, we haven’t heard much on the Team Rumors with you?”

Frew: “Yeah, yeah uuummmm, I’ll just leave that one for now, I’m just excited about what’s coming up.

GDU: “Heading into the new season, looks like it’ll be a good Aussie Summer and heading back to the World Cups, is that a goal for this year?”

Frew: “Yeah, definitely, I proved to myself last year that I can hang with the fast guys and I had a couple of great results overseas. So far this Aussie season has been really good so I’m just looking to keep it rolling throughout the year”

The battle between Frew and Lucas will continue in just a few weeks!

But for now that’s it for another round of the awesome VDHS, round 4 is being held at Baw Baw on Feb 16/17. It’s also a Tier 1 DH National Cup event along with UCI points, so you can expect it to be just as big as Buller.