Four races, 574 teams and more than 1,200 endurance racers throughout the events – Rocky Trail’s popular 4 and 8 hour SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix racing series this year also hosted a bike shop racing competition. Supported by JetBlack Cycling, an additional ranking had been added and riders could nominate a bike shop to claim their points.
GSC Gordon Street Cycles from Port Macquarie collected most points and took home the first JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy.
Rocky Trail launched the JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy in March with the first round of its SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix, with the aim to challenge local bike shops to proof their racing pedigree.
Said Martin from Rocky Trail, “With the Bike Shop Trophy we want to create more awareness for mountain biking and the great talent and resources at local bike shops in NSW and ACT, as we like to support businesses, which support us and our riders.”
Racers were asked to wear their bike shop’s racing outfits and enter their team names accordingly to add to the promotional value for their nominated store. With naming rights and major sponsor SHIMANO Australia already confirmed for the 2012 season, organiser Rocky Trail took riders to some of the most loved endurance racing trails in NSW and ACT. The racing series kicked off in March with the first ever race at Sydney’s newest MTB trail – at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan.
With a sold out venue at Mt Annan, the series then headed north to Awaba MTB Park near Gosford in July with another record attendance and a massive solo field. The third round was hosted at the exclusive Dargle Farm property in August and the final round summoned enthusiastic endurance racers to Canberra and its MTB mecca, Stromlo Forest Park.
GSC Gordon Street Cycles Port Macquarie wins
Racers at the SHIMANO MTB GP series had been able to nominate a bike shop to claim their series points in the additional ranking to determine the “fastest bike shop”. The JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy went to GSC Gordon Street Cycle in Port Macquarie with 6668 points while The Bike Shed Mortdale finished second with 6540 points. Third place went to Bike Minded from the Blue
Mountains on 2793 points.
“The JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy created a real buzz in our store”, said Lloyd Newell from Gordon Street Cycles. “I received a lot of phone calls this week and customers kept coming in and asking about the final result of the ranking. We had our locals, Belinda Porter and also [24H Solo World Champion] Jason English riding for the shop throughout the SHIMANO MTB GP series and with 12 riders racing for us at Stromlo we’re stoked that we won the trophy!”
It was a combination of sheer riding force and racing skills with many riders that had nominated GSC throughout the series as their store of choice, also finishing high up in the rankings. There were two silver podium positions at Stromlo in valuable Solo-categories, which are awarded the highest series points. GSC Chicks Gweneth Newell and Emily Pitt scored high points for their third rank at the Stromlo race in the Female Team 2 category, as did U30 24 H Solo World Champion Belinda Porter with a third place in the Elite Female solo classification. Several more solo racers, including Lloyd Newell himself, Greg Porter, Scott Pomroy and Sue Tripney, finished high up in the ranks of the final round of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix and secured the JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy title for Port Macquarie and GSC.
It was a tight battle with The Bike Shed Mortdale until the end, who had “recruited” the entire Bernard Racing team, including Elite Male Team 2 series winners Ondrej Slezak and Michal Kafka, to ride under their banner, as well as quite a number of solo racers, such as second in the GP4 series overall, Thomas Lau and third in the Singlespeed category of the series, Nigel Tunnell-Jones.
The reward for GSC Gordon Street Cycles will not only be the official JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy for display in their shop, but also a feast of Schnitzels, which will be cooked by the Austrian-born organisers at their shop in Port Macquarie.
After the great success and overwhelming participation of riders and stores, Rocky Trail confirmed to bring back the JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy again with the 2012 SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix Racing Series.
GSC Gordon Street Cycles from Port Macquarie collected most points and took home the first JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy.
Rocky Trail launched the JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy in March with the first round of its SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix, with the aim to challenge local bike shops to proof their racing pedigree.
Said Martin from Rocky Trail, “With the Bike Shop Trophy we want to create more awareness for mountain biking and the great talent and resources at local bike shops in NSW and ACT, as we like to support businesses, which support us and our riders.”
Racers were asked to wear their bike shop’s racing outfits and enter their team names accordingly to add to the promotional value for their nominated store. With naming rights and major sponsor SHIMANO Australia already confirmed for the 2012 season, organiser Rocky Trail took riders to some of the most loved endurance racing trails in NSW and ACT. The racing series kicked off in March with the first ever race at Sydney’s newest MTB trail – at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan.
With a sold out venue at Mt Annan, the series then headed north to Awaba MTB Park near Gosford in July with another record attendance and a massive solo field. The third round was hosted at the exclusive Dargle Farm property in August and the final round summoned enthusiastic endurance racers to Canberra and its MTB mecca, Stromlo Forest Park.
GSC Gordon Street Cycles Port Macquarie wins
Racers at the SHIMANO MTB GP series had been able to nominate a bike shop to claim their series points in the additional ranking to determine the “fastest bike shop”. The JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy went to GSC Gordon Street Cycle in Port Macquarie with 6668 points while The Bike Shed Mortdale finished second with 6540 points. Third place went to Bike Minded from the Blue
Mountains on 2793 points.
“The JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy created a real buzz in our store”, said Lloyd Newell from Gordon Street Cycles. “I received a lot of phone calls this week and customers kept coming in and asking about the final result of the ranking. We had our locals, Belinda Porter and also [24H Solo World Champion] Jason English riding for the shop throughout the SHIMANO MTB GP series and with 12 riders racing for us at Stromlo we’re stoked that we won the trophy!”
It was a combination of sheer riding force and racing skills with many riders that had nominated GSC throughout the series as their store of choice, also finishing high up in the rankings. There were two silver podium positions at Stromlo in valuable Solo-categories, which are awarded the highest series points. GSC Chicks Gweneth Newell and Emily Pitt scored high points for their third rank at the Stromlo race in the Female Team 2 category, as did U30 24 H Solo World Champion Belinda Porter with a third place in the Elite Female solo classification. Several more solo racers, including Lloyd Newell himself, Greg Porter, Scott Pomroy and Sue Tripney, finished high up in the ranks of the final round of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix and secured the JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy title for Port Macquarie and GSC.
It was a tight battle with The Bike Shed Mortdale until the end, who had “recruited” the entire Bernard Racing team, including Elite Male Team 2 series winners Ondrej Slezak and Michal Kafka, to ride under their banner, as well as quite a number of solo racers, such as second in the GP4 series overall, Thomas Lau and third in the Singlespeed category of the series, Nigel Tunnell-Jones.
The reward for GSC Gordon Street Cycles will not only be the official JetBlack Bike Shop Trophy for display in their shop, but also a feast of Schnitzels, which will be cooked by the Austrian-born organisers at their shop in Port Macquarie.
After the great success and overwhelming participation of riders and stores, Rocky Trail confirmed to bring back the JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy again with the 2012 SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix Racing Series.