DH Pal Arinsal – Andorra
Day for the history books! Reece took P2 on the elite man race in Andorra, a result that only confirmed the fantastic form and style he was showing all weekend.
To top it up for AON Racing Hattie took 9th, while Stan was 12th.
There is so much to talk about the race week in Andorra, but all of our attention will go to the last day on the downhill course. With three riders in, and only Henry missed to qualify, we’re heading towards a great day. Hattie and Stan are on the short list of just three riders in their respective categories to qualify for every single round this season, but it kind of felt that it was Reece who had the most speed this weekend.
It turned out, that only Jordan Williams can get to the finish line faster this time around. Reece’s final run was pure speed and dedication, with more aggression than ever before in that last two season. When he took the lead with some of the A-list guys already on the hot seat and beating them all, Reece knew it’s going to be a very good day. After that rider after rider failed to beat his time, eventually leading to the second step on the podium. This is best result ever for AON, and a next big step forward after Monika took third last year in Val di Sole.
Hattie’s and Stan’s run were not as clean, but still worthy of great praise. The consistency and the racing they are showing is absolutely amazing.
Reece Wilson: “Coming into this weekend I felt it was time to start pushing myself more. I feel I’ve not being doing the bike or my natural talent any justice by riding too tight and “safe”. From run one I knew I had good speed. My race run was everything I had today and half expected to still be on the edge of a top-10. It definitely didn’t feel like 2nd place speed! It’s a huge positive step forward to have that sort of speed and control on a track as tricky as that.”
Stan Nisbet: “Pretty solid weekend for me, I felt like I was riding good in practice and quali. Race run was a mess struggle with fatigue and didn’t really find any flow. Happy to keep my position in the overall standings.”
Results DH – qualies / finals / overall:
Hattie – 9th / 9th / 6th
Reece – 14th / 2nd / 19th
Stan (juniors) – 8th / 12th / 5th
Henry – did not qualify for the finals
Team rankings – 8th team od the day / 12th overall
Photos: Grega Stopar