June 21, 2006 – David Vazquez (Maxxis-MSC) won his 4th National Championship this past weekend, winning the Downhill Spanish title in Bilbao, and also picking up a handy silver medal in the 4X as well, beating many pre-race favourites.

The track used for the Downhill Championship was brand new for the event and the organizers had done a lot of work on it, with plenty of man-made obstacles like big berms, jumps and a big bridge to cross. The weekend started with the 4X race on the Saturday afternoon, and despite not really thinking he had a chance due to not riding his 4X bike in a couple of months, the 27-year-old Vazquez was encouraged by qualifying 2nd.

“I didn’t feel like racing 4X because I didn’t feel super confident after not riding my 4X bike for a while since I’ve been doing DH racing. In the races, I won all my heats until the final, but then I met the fastest guys like Pascual Canals, Chus Castellanos and (2005 World Champs semi finalist) Rafael Alvarez. I tried my best in the final but I came 2nd, very near to Rafael.”

The Downhill track was fun for the riders to practice on but when it came to race time it soon became clear just how much pedalling was needed for a good result. The track was short, which is common in Spain these days, at around 2m 30secs. Vazquez was the only rider to go under 2mins 30secs all day and took a well deserved win.

“In the first run all the times were very close. I got first with 2.30 followed by Oscar Saiz who was really close to me, so I knew I had to push very hard for the win in the second race. I did so and for once I had no mistakes and all went as I wanted. I improved my time by 4 seconds and was super happy with my run and to win with authority, a good margin. Thanks so much to my team Maxxis-MSC and my sponsors like Oakley and 661 who have stuck by me during this tough early part of the season,” said a clearly elated Vazquez.

Vazquez’s win was a 2.26 with Oscar Saiz in 2nd on a 2.30 followed by Ivan Oulego, Jorge Aguin and Pascual Canals all on 2.31.

Team 23 Degrees rider Ruben Garcia also took silver in the Junior Downhill.