Jason English gearing up for World's with JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour win
More than 350 racers participated in this year’s JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour endurance mountain bike race at Dargle Farm near Windsor on the weekend. The reigning 24 Hour Solo World Champion Jason English from Port Macquarie claimed the elite men’s win at the Rocky Trail Entertainment event for the fifth time in a row and National 24 Hour Solo Champion Liz Smith from Wollongong won the women’s elite category.
With 25 completed laps on the 10 km track across bush trails and lush farmland, the mighty Jason English won the Elite Men’s category ahead of Andrew Lloyd on 24 laps from Newcastle and Benjy Morris from the Central Coast who finished on 23 laps. Two promising young racers claimed fourth and fifth place – Max Richardson from Erina and Michael Schmitt from Dee Why crossed the line with 21 laps completed.
“This was a hard race, Lloydy [Andrew Lloyd] was giving it to me again – we’ve had a few good battles throughout the year and I have a feeling that it’s going to continue leading into the 24H World Championships later in the year”, said a relaxed Jason English as he picked up his fifth consecutive win at the JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour endurance race. “Endurance racing and especially 24-hour racing is something that you really have to practice and this event was a great way to train for it.”
English calls for Australian elite mountain bikers to gear up for World’s
English added that he would love to see for Australians to claim the top five positions at the 24 Hour Solo World Championship event held in Canberra in early October this year and said that the next ideal race to get used to the terrain at the Stromlo Forest Park would be Rocky Trail’s seven-hour SHIMANO Mountain Bike Grand Prix in September. “This is the year to really show the international racers how strong we Australian endurance riders are – it feels like our local racers have been gearing up so it will be very challenging also for me to claim a top podium position there.”
Liz Smith from Wollongong will be one of the most promising elite females to answer that call. The 33-year old exercise physio therapist and reigning 24-hour Solo National Champion repeated her JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour win from two years ago and completed 20 laps ahead of Frankie Sanders from Thornbury (VIC) and Sophie Clement from Canberra (ACT), forming a first-time tri-state female podium at the event. Unfortunately, one of the favourites and last year’s winner, Jessica Douglas, had to withdraw from the event due to illness earlier last week.
Phil Welch from Fairlight (NSW) was able to claim the free Crocodile Trophy entry as winner of the Solo Master category and the overall race win and line honours were taken out by a team of junior racers who had been racing together with the hosting Western Sydney MTB Club. They decided to take on the prestigious Team of Four classification and Luke Brame (Glenbrook NSW), Tom Green (Hornsby, Michael Potter and Callum Carson completed 27 laps together for their Phantom Focus Racing team.