Peaty Second at NPS #2, Rennie slams a tree
Monday, May 28th, 2007Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Steve Peat placed second in the downhill in the second round of the British National Series race in Ae Forest, Scotland today amidst a well attended international field of riders. Gee Atherton takes the win. See more, and the video inside as well.
Sunday May 27, 2007
Ae Forest, Scotland
The NPS Series is becoming a hot stop for the top world cup racers to keep their skills honed between world cup rounds, and this race included Nathan Rennie, Greg Minnaar, Julien Camellini and all the top British downhillers.
Syndicate’s Nathan Rennie’s race ended with a severe impact with a tree, injuring his shoulder. He had a sixth place qualifying run on Saturday with a cruising run and was amped to do well in the final today. He had a mechanical out of the gate and was pushing hard to overcome ground. He was making up time until the impact which left him stunned and laying track side for some minutes. His shoulder took the brunt of the impact and appears that it may have a slight separation. He will know more in a few days upon further examination. Rennie says, “I’m hoping that I’ve only aggravated a previous injury, but it may be that the AC joint and ligaments have been pulled for a bit of a separation. I think it might just be a week or so to lay off it and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to race at Champery in two weeks.”
The race itself was very successful, resembling a mini-world cup, but in a more relaxed atmosphere. The weather was rainy, then dry, more rain and drying, but all the top guys had the same track conditions. Peat describes the track as, “Fast, physical and technical, a 2 minute 12 second track. I was second place qualifier yesterday behind Gee. Today my race got off to a slow start, taking me awhile to get into it, then I made a few mistakes in the technical section costing me the win.”
In the junior category, Peaty protege Josh Bryceland took the win and his time was 4th overall, and impressively ahead of Greg Minnaar.
Up next is the invitational downhill event Wheels of Speed in Willingen, Germany, with a good chance that Rennie will be a spectator. Then on to the UCI World Cup Downhill in Champery, Switzerland with high hopes that Rennie will be able to compete.
Previous Coverage
