The Winners Edge Mountain Biking Championships were held at Ferry Reach Park.
In the opening race of the day, Karen Smith scooped the Open Female Title ahead of Ali Watlington and Laurie Orchard. Gabriella Arnold continued her streak to take her 13th consecutive National Championship Title in the Junior Female race with Tristan Narraway in second and Victoia Davis in third.
In one of the most anticipated races of the season pitting Matthew Oliveira against Robin Horsfield, Horsfield suffered two flats in the course of the day, denying the spectators the anticipated battle. Oliveira took the title but was pressed in the opening laps by Daniel Oatley, the eventual second place finisher. Christian Oatley rounded out the Junior Male podium.
Before the Open Male race there was a non-championship race for juniors. The small field was led in by Conor White, followed by Samual Walsh and Eusabio King-Mills. Manning Smith was the sole participant Under 12 and he put up a strong fight against much older competitors.
The final race of the day was comprised of a field of 27 men looking to take the crown. Without defending champion Neil de Ste Croix in the race and as we reported Dominique Mayho racing overseas this weekend it was up for grabs, though most were expecting Mark Hatherley to be the main man. As anticipated, Hatherley made the early move, taking Brian Steinhoff with him and the two of them quickly gained a sizable gap on the rest of the field. Further back, Grant Goudge overcame a bottle neck delay at the first technical section, progressively moving up into third place. As the race moved towards the last two laps Hatherley's seat became loose and Steinhoff took advantage of the delay, getting a gap which he would not relinquish. Steinhoff rolled in to take the National Title with Hatherley second and Goudge third.
Making the prize presentations at the end of the morning was Sport Minister Wayne Scott.
