Drew Carters produced a sensational final ride to take the Scottish National title in a dramatic conclusion to the senior open event.
The opening run saw the leading four riders incredible tightly bunched. Drew Carters, Charlie Maciver, Sam Stenhouse and Joe Connell all separated by under a second following their first runs.
The rain, which had held off all day, started spitting as the final riders came down the track providing that extra bit of moisture to settle on the trail.
Callum Mcbain went provisionally quickest – blowing away Stenhouse’s opening run lead with a 2:50.321. Dan Parfitt followed suit, as did the first run leader Stenhouse, improving on his first run with a time of 2:50.062.
The penultimate man to go Charlie McIver flew down the track, bettering Stenhouse by just 32 thousandths and looked to have won the title. There would however be a twist in the tale, with Drew Carters in his distinctive all red kit flying down the Glencoe track, taking the win by 0.231 seconds – breaking the 2:50 mark with a 2:49.799.
Jess Stone was the fastest woman of the day with her second run time of 3:15.546 enough to take the senior female title. Kamila Sliwinska won the Masters 30 title, with SDA stalwart Shona McKinnon claiming the Masters 40+ title.
Monty Palmer won an incredibly tight Junior Open race. Second after his first run, behind Law Robertson, Palmer improved markedly with a 2:53.855 to take the title, bettering Robertson’s excellent ride of 2:53.033 while Ben Wyvis’ Sam Maclean claimed bronze.
Tay Titan Jessica Wipat won the Junior Female title from Hollie Alderson in second.
Rosie McLaughlin (SteamPunk) became youth champion with a fantastic effort of 3:23.441, improving on her second run, with Deeside Thistle’s Niamh Martin and Esme Carruthers rounding out the podium. Molly Sell (Deeside Thistle) impressed massively riding up in the juvenile categories to take the win – and nearly match the Youth winning time. Izzy Blackman (Wolfpax) and Eilidh Whyte were second and third.
An always exciting Youth Open Championship was won by Caleb Rigg his first run time of 2:53.378. Rigg set down the marker, and Millar Davidson came closest with 2:53.605 with Ruari Younie taking the bronze medal. Harry Roxburgh won the Juvenile open from Deeside Thistle’s Oliver Brookes and Lewis Barr (Tay Titans)
The tightest race of the day was separated by nine thousandths of a second. Calum Ross claimed the Masters 30 title with a second run time of 3:01.901 besting Euan Thomson’s (Scottish Downhill Association) first run time of 3:01:910 by a whisker. David Houston (Studio Velo) taking the bronze medal.
John Young showed the Masters 40+ how it’s done. The Masters 50 rider schooled many of the younger riders to take an excellent victory, Andrew Lochhead (Royal Air Force CA) and Gavin Robertson finishing in second and third.
A massive thank you to all the team at the Scottish Downhill Association and Glencoe Mountain Resort for organising a fantastic event. The final round of the SDA Series takes place at Nevis Range, Fort William on 12-13 September. Find out more about that here.