May 30, 2006 (Fort William, Scotland) – Tracy Moseley (GBR, Kona-Les Gets) used her home turf and home crowd advantage to pound out the fastest run in the women’s World Cup downhill, while Samuel Hill (AUS, Monster-Iron Horse-Mad Catz) proved he was fastest when it really mattered to take the men’s win in the final.

Conditions were stormy and riders had to deal with being buffeted around while descending the challenging 2.5 kilometre course. Moseley her lines dialed, winning the semi-final by over 10 seconds, then bettering her time in the final to take the victory by 7.58 seconds. Much to the delight of the fans, fellow Brit Rachel Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) took second place after finishing eighth in the semi. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Iron Horse) was third, also a significant improvement over her seventh-place semi.

Canada was represented by a large women’s contingent in the downhill. Claire Buchar (CAN, Specialized-Rock Shox) was top Canuck with a 14-place run. Brook Baker (CAN, Giro-Beastgear-Sombrio) was 22nd and Katrina Strand (CAN, Scott-Marzocchi) finished 26th. Danika Schroeter (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) felt positive when she qualified eighth in the semi and was feeling great during the final until she suffered a hearbreaking flat, according to Team Cove Bikes manager, Gabe Fox. She finished 29th. Micayla Gatto (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) was 33rd in the semi and did not qualify for the final.

Moseley leads the series with 463 points. Jonnier is second with 365 points and Atherton holds third with 320 points. Canadians Buchar, Schroeter, Strand and Baker are in 12th, 16th, 24th and 30th, respectively.

Hill was second in the semi-final, but squeezed out the extra speed he needed to take the win in the final. Cédric Gracia (FRA, Commencal) bettered his sixth position in the semi considerably, moving up to second in the final to take silver. Greg Minnaar (RSA, G-Cross-Honda), who had the fastest semi-final time, was quicker in the final, but not quick enough. The South African had to settle for third place.

Five Canadian men raced in the event, with two qualifying for the final. Andrew Mitchell (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) finished 65th after a crash and Tyler Morland (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) was 73rd. Morland had finished 49th in the semi, but crashed in the final. In the semi-final, Jamie Biluk (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) placed 90th, Kevin Bartkowski (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) was 91st and Derrick Chambers (CAN) was 126th.

Hill took over the series lead with 352 points. Steve Peat (GBR, Santa Cruz Syndicate) is in second place with 330 points and Gracia is in third with 292 points.

Results

Final

1. Tracy Moseley (GBR, Kona-Les Gets) 5:12.05
2. Rachel Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) at 7.58
3. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Iron Horse) 8.89
4. Helen Gaskell (GBR, Halfords Bikehut) 10.52
5. Céline Gros (FRA, Alvarez Racing) 13.08
6. Emmeline Ragot (FRA, Qbikes) 16.03
6. Kathleen Pruitt (USA, Luna Women’s Team) 16.03
8. Marielle Saner (SUI, Team Bikepark.Ch-TUI) 16.95
9. Fionn Griffiths (GBR, Norco) 18.30
10. Mio Suemasa (JPN, Team OKAWA) 23.49

14. Claire Buchar (CAN, Specialized-Rock Shox) 39.38
22. Brook Baker (CAN, Giro-Beastgear-Sombrio) 53.67
26. Katrina Strand (CAN, Scott-Marzocchi) 59.78
29. Danika Schroeter (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 1:21.95

Semi

1. Tracy Moseley (GBR, Kona-Les Gets) 5:15.52
2. Helen Gaskell (GBR, Halfords Bikehut) at 10.52
3. Emmeline Ragot (FRA, Qbikes) 11.35
4. Céline Gros (FRA, Alvarez Racing) 13.31
5. Rachel Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) 14.75
6. Kathleen Pruitt (USA, Luna Women’s Team) 20.16
7. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Iron Horse) 20.46
8. Danika Schroeter (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 21.67
9. Mio Suemasa (JPN, Team OKAWA) 26.35
10. Bernardita Pizarro (CHI) 28.72

15. Claire Buchar (CAN, Specialized-Rock Shox) 37.12
21. Brook Baker (CAN, Giro-Beastgear-Sombrio) 51.90
28. Katrina Strand (CAN, Scott-Marzocchi) 1:08.63
33. Micayla Gatto (CAN, Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) 1:28.16

Overall after two events

1. Tracy Moseley (GBR, Kona-Les Gets) 463 points
2. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Iron Horse) 365
3. Rachel Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) 320
4. Céline Gros (FRA, Alvarez Racing) 277
5. Emmeline Ragot (FRA, Qbikes) 277

12. Claire Buchar (CAN, Specialized-Rock Shox) 134
16. Danika Schroeter (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 103
24. Katrina Strand (CAN, Scott-Marzocchi) 43
30. Brook Baker (CAN, Giro-Beastgear-Sombrio) 34

Men

Final

1. Samuel Hill (AUS, Monster-Iron Horse-Mad Catz) 4:25.33
2. Cédric Gracia (FRA, Commencal) at 1.26
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA, G-Cross-Honda) 2.31
4. Steve Peat (GBR, Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2.35
5. Gee Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) 2.44
6. Marc Beaumont (GBR, MBUK-Santa Cruz) 3.87
7. Fabien Barel (FRA, Kona-Les Gets) 4.40
8. Nathan Rennie (AUS, Santa Cruz Syndicate) 5.58
9. Matti Lehikoinen (FIN, G-Cross-Honda) 7.01
10. Mickael Pascal (FRA, Qbikes) 9.84

65. Andrew Mitchell (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 32.55
73. Tyler Morland (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 39.48

Semi

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA, G-Cross-Honda) 4:28.30
2. Samuel Hill (AUS, Monster-Iron Horse-Mad Catz) at 0.74
3. Fabien Barel (FRA, Kona-Les Gets) 1.22
4. Steve Peat (GBR, Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2.11
5. Gee Atherton (GBR, Animal-Giant) 2.58
6. Cédric Gracia (FRA, Commencal) 2.97
7. Marc Beaumont (GBR, MBUK-Santa Cruz) 3.46
8. Dan Stanbridge (GBR, Mojo Suspension) 5.73
9. Michael Hannah (AUS, Cannondale-The Cut) 6.53
10. Brendan Fairclough (GBR, Orange) 6.76

49. Tyler Morland (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 23.27
62. Andrew Mitchell (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 25.78
90. Jamie Biluk (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 32.86
91. Kevin Bartkowski (CAN, Team Cove Bikes) 32.91
126. Derrick Chambers (CAN) 44.40

Overall after two events

1. Samuel Hill (AUS, Monster-Iron Horse-Mad Catz) 352 points
2. Steve Peat (GBR, Santa Cruz Syndicate) 330
3. Cédric Gracia (FRA, Commencal) 292
4. Michael Hannah (AUS, Cannondale-The Cut) 274
5. Nathan Rennie (AUS, Santa Cruz Syndicate) 266