Brook MacDonald 'Robbed' Of World Cup Podium, Neko On Target

The hot dusty conditions on the super steep track in Val Di Sole saw Brook MacDonald on target for a 4th place result until a crash in the last sector of his run saw those hopes slip away. Meanwhile Neko Mulally who doesn't see this track as one of his strengths, was very pleased to take his 2nd best career result and be on target for the second half of the season.

Earlier in the day Greg Williamson, fresh off his break out ride in Fort William, was sending it down the hill in absolute style, getting green lights all the way from split to split, only to have the front wheel wash out in the corner made infamous by Sam Hill in 2008.

"I was really enjoying myself in the run, especially the last sector and I don't know, my hand slipped alittle and the next thing i know I was surfing the ground. I'm happy with my speed but just disappointed not to convert it into big points today".

George Brannigan was 6 tenths up on the first split, but was suffering all week to get the right suspension set up for this track and ultimately crashed, but will be racing between now and the next World Cup to get his set up where he needs it.

Neko was the third rider from the team to tackle the course and despite the temptation to push much harder, rode a smart race to arrive incident free at the line in 4th place, which was ultimately good enough for 15th, and has moved from 24th to 16th overall.

Brook was aiming for his first top 5 on this track in 5 years, and was well and truly on target the cross the line in 2nd but a loss of the front wheel and damage to his bike resulted in a 24th spot, and a 3rd place overall in the World Cup.

"About half way through my run I was havign trouble seeign and concentrating. My reaction time was suffering. This schedule here was pretty stupid, almost dangerous. It was 7 hours between my last parctice run and the race run and the day was just too long. The UCI need to get this sorted, you can't be off the track for so long betwen practice and a flat out race run. Having said that, I'm sitting top 3 before the summer break and I'll be keen to chase the podium again in Andorra next month".

TWR Team Scores Podium and Top 10 At World Cup Opener in Fort William

Trek World Racing opened its World Cup account in Fort William today with a 2nd place for Brook MacDonald and a 10th place for rookie pro, Greg Williamson, and solid positions for both Neko Mulally and George Brannigan. The team, now in its fifth season, has helped Trek rack up an impressive 34 World Cup podiums for the Session bike since 2009.

The Scottish Highlands served sunshine all week and a track that was dusty and not easy to read, and despite the threat of rain, the clouds held off in front of what must have been a record World Cup crowd at the Fort. First rider to come down for Trek World Racing was Scotland's Greg Williamson who turned 21 this weekend and had his whole family in attendance. Crossing the line after a fast bottom sector Greg took the hotseat by a massive 3.5secs and was to stay there for close to 25 minutes before eventually taking a career best 10th place.

Next up for the team was George Brannigan (NZL) who's on the road the recovery from major knee surgery and today achieved his goal with a solid qualifier and final, now ranked 31st in the World Cup going to Round 2. Neko Mulally was next and after scoring a point in the quali's yesterday was set for a top 15 today until a small error in the forest section put him back to 25th. The pace is there and his favorite tracks are yet to come.

Finally it was Brook 'Bulldog' MacDonald who qualified 6th fastest and was down at 13th place at the first split in his race run, but he dug deep in the lower section to take the fastest time and move into the hotseat. Only local favourite Gee Atherton who rode a great race, could finish ahead of the Kiwi.

Brook said: "I'm so happy. This is my best result at Fort William and only my 5th career podium so far. To do this at my first World Cup for my new team is very special, couldn't be happier".

Greg said: "I suffered from nerves pretty bad yesterday in my quali and today I was so chilled I nearly missed my start! To get my first ever top 10 in a World Cup, in my home country, I'm speechless".

Finishing top 10 is one of the criteria for Greg to be selected for the British team to the World Championships. Spots on that team are hard fought for and the 7 riders will be named after Round 3. Trek World Racing finished 3rd today in the team ranking and showed it is super competitive and ready for the rest of the World Cup season.

The team will now head straight to Val di Sole in Italy for Round 2 of the World Cup next weekend.

Brook MacDonald On The Podium At British DH Round 3

Trek World Racing took advantage of the close proximity of the 3rd round of the British Downhill Series here in Innerleithen, Scotland, to next week's all important opening round of the UCI World Cup in Fort William, to get the riders up to speed and iron out any remaining preparations. The weather was unseasonably warm and extremely sunny making the narrow, rooty and repetitive track fast, and hard to learn.

Local riders took the lion's share of the podium with Brook MacDonald the only non-UK rider taking a spot, finishing in 4th place ahead of many of the World Cup's top international riders. Practice runs took up to 2 hours a time due to the large number of riders and the relatively slow uplift system, so learning the track wasn't made easy.

Greg Williamson took a solid 13th place but was a little disappointed after taking the hot seat, not to stay there longer. He was kicked out by Nick Beer (SUI) but was still happy overall with what felt like a top 20 world class ride. Neko Mulally and George Brannigan were both on their first visit to this technical track and used it simply as a way to clean out the cobwebs from long travel and be ready for the big race next week.

Brook said: "This track is so narrow with trees lining nearly the entire route and you really have to watch your handlebars and keep it tidy. It's not an easy track if you haven't ridden it much, but I was happy with my lower half of the race run and met thegoal of podium this weekend. All good."

Greg said: "I'm happy with that, and even though it wasn't the perfect run, it was good enough to get me close to the top ten in what was a pretty stacked field."

The team heads to Fort William tomorrow and is looking forward to getting the World Cup series started with the classic course at Nevis Range.

Brook and Neko Make It Trek World Racing 1-2 at Pro GRT

Team mates Brook MacDonald and Neko Mulally made it a 1-2 on the podium for the 4th round of the Pro Gravity Tour at Mountain Creek, New Jersey. After qualifying fastest the day before, Neko had to settle for the backseat on race day, but was only 0.83sec behind his World Cup winning training partner. Brook didn't qualify as strongly but put in a great run on Sunday race day.

Brook said: "I'm really stoked to take the win today here at Mountain Creek. The short track made for some really close racing. A big thanks to our mechanics and also Neko's family for taking care of me over here on the East Coast!"

Neko said: "I was happy with my quali and wanted to do a similar sort of run to keep myself at the top of the results sheet on Sunday. I had a solid run and it's always good to be so close to the Bulldog! A nice 1-2 for the team".

Results:

1. Brook MacDonald (NZL) - 2mins 12.98secs
2. Neko Mulally (USA) - 2mins 13.81secs
3. Logan Bingelly (USA) - 2min 14.23secs

The next race for Brook and Neko will be this weekend for Round 5 of the Pro GRT in Plattekill, New York.

Brook MacDonald Takes The Win In Duryea, Neko 2nd

Last year Neko raced and won in Duryea, a local race which he was very proud to support and to help elevate in the national media. This year he went a step further by bringing his new team-mate and World Cup race winner, Brook MacDonald to the event.

For both riders, it was a lot of fun, The weather could not have been better and the atmosphere was really cool finishing in Reading's city park in the downtown area. The event marked the Gravity East season opener, and the guys have two more big East Coast races coming up, in Mountain Creek and Plattekill before starting their European race campaign.

Lots of spectators and and lot of Neko's supporters and friends came out to watch which made it even more difficult for Neko to accept his race run with a big crash, after some much local expectation of a repeat from 2012. Nevertheless he was proud to stand on the podium, not only with his team-mate, but his brother Logan as well, who took 3rd.

Neko said: "I was definitely disappointed to crash on my home track with all my friends and family watching. I take these pre-season races as an opportunity to find my limits and try new things. Crashing today helps me ride better tomorrow and build up to the start of the World Cup season. I was really stoked to make it a Trek sweep and see my little brother join Brook and I on the podium. I really enjoyed the weekend."

Brook said: "I had a lot of fun racing a more 'low key', low stress event. The relaxed atmosphere made it fun and I really appreciate the help from Ray from Trek's Race Department who kept our Session runnign sweetly all weekend!"

Results:

1. Brook MacDonald (NZL) - 2m 57secs
2. Neko Mulally (USA) - 3m 02secs
3. Logan Mulally (USA) - 3m 03secs

Thanks to Matt Delorme for the photos.