WORLD CUP ROUND 2 – LA BRESSE (FRA)
A tough week-end for the Subaru Mountainbike pro team ended well with a solid performance from Damien Spagnolo.The Team was faced with a two rider shortage, Fabien, still suffering from his knee injury, was there to support his team and offer some important advice to Damien and Florent was unable to attend due to his educational commitments leaving only Damien to represent the team. Damien felt the pressure during Friday’s training and was not feeling very confident on the track but he managed to focus his attentions on improving his lines and riding skills to finish the day with a smile on his face. The track was new so it was continuously changing and it was difficult to know which lines would be the fastest come race day.
Sunday was hot and sunny for the morning’s training and Damien was feeling confident he could knock 3 or 4 seconds of his qualifying time, unfortunately for him and about 15 other riders, there was a short rain storm before his start. The rain came at the worst moment causing chaos under the start tent whilst mechanics rushed to change to wet tyres. Damien decided to do the same but unfortunately the storm did not last long enough to warrant the use of spikes, after a good top section Damien had a few scary moments in the rocky parts of the track, this caused him to loose focus a little and make 2 big errors.?The times were exceptionally close and with only 5 seconds separating the podium from 40th place there was no room for mistakes.?Damien was very disappointed with his run finishing 42nd, however he was able to console himself that he had improved his time by 4 seconds from the qualifying with a much deteriorated track.
Final results:
1. Steve Peat 2:07.14
2. Sam Hill 2:08.41
3. Mick Hannah 2:09.00
4. Brendan Fairclough 2:09.99
5. Gee Atherton 2:11.15
42. Damien Spagnolo 2:15.55
