IrishDH - The Home of Irish Downhill

White Horse Wood in Co. Waterford was the setting for the final round of the Irish DH NPS for 2007 and after round 6 in Coolaveely in the very north of Ireland it was the deep south that played host to an exciting climax to the season. The course, built by local rider Tom Power lived up to all the expectations and was not for the faint hearted with berms, bomb holes, rock gardens, rollers and gnarly root sections challenging all the riders including the Elites. “Scary” and “savage” were the views of some of the riders but did it stop them…no! This season end event attracted 119 riders from all over Ireland and it was good to see a decent contingent from the North just as it was good to see the support from Southern riders at the previous round in Coolaveely.

Tom Power obviously put a lot of hard work into the course and the now standard 2 day event was a resounding success with medical cover, Marshalls, portaloos and catering facilities complimenting the live timing system provided by NACC to make it an event to remember and one of the few races this year to avoid the rain. The only down side was the amount of litter that was left behind by riders and spectators and it was sad to see the owner of the land (Margaret) having to lift litter herself. Fortunately there were still some riders and spectators about when the dust had settled after the prize giving and they gave her a hand but lets hope that the disregard that some riders and spectators have for litter and rubbish doesn’t threaten the future of the race at White Horse.

Gavin Carroll has to be one to watch out for the future and he continued his dominance of this category with another win and a time of 1.46.511 that would have placed him 2 nd in the U16s and 5 th in juniors. The consistent Robert Duggan (Killarney DH) and improving Dan Sheridan took 2 nd and 3 rd places respectively.

Irish U16 Champion David Graham (Banbridge CC) and Greg Callaghan have been the two outstanding riders in this class all year with David usually coming out on top. On a very tricky course it was Greg who set the early pace with a very respectable 1.49.325 on his first run compared to David who recorded a 1.54.660. Not to be outdone David pulled out all the stops and whilst Greg couldn’t improve on his first run time David improved with a 1.43.673 to take the win and the NPS title. David Kelly, Paul McGrady and Marc Potts finished 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th with only 2 seconds separating them.

The ladies event was between Irish Champion Maeve Baxter on and Natalie Jedda with Maeve coming out on top with a time of 2.36.944 to add the NPS title to her Irish Championship win in July at Rostrevor. Hopefully some of the other girls – Michelle, Aoife, Abagail and Joanne will be back on the scene more regularly next season.

Carl “Banana Man” Young took his third win of the season with a 2.24.534 and the NPS title to go along with it. Michael White (CRC) was his closest rival in 2 nd place with the “evergreen” trio of Peter Popham, Tom Sheridan and Tom Clogher filling the 3 rd to 5 th positions.

Colin O'Leary took the win with a second run time of 1.59.917. Barry Hamilton and battled it out for second and third place with times within a fraction of a second of 2.05.147 and 2.05.512.

Ben Mullen took the win ahead of Bobby St ledger with a second run time of 1.44.936. Bobby also registered a faster time in his second run, but 1.48.675 wasn't fast enough to beat Ben. Third place went to Aliastair Maxwell who registered hs best result of the season, just missing out on second place with a time of 1.48.988.

An unusually small field saw Masters Champion Michael Cowan (CRC) continue his domination of this category with another win to complete a clean sweep of victories. Michael’s time of 1.51.876 was nearly 5 seconds faster than his team mate Ian McIntyre with Killarney’s Denis O’Shea making the podium in 3 rd place. Rumour has it that Mr. Cowan will not have it all his own way next year with the arrival of a few of this years Elites into the Maters class.

This has been one of the most hotly contested categories this year with Irish champion Ewan Doherty (Breathe/Eze Fitness) and championship runner up Jason Murphy (Killarney DH) vying for the overall NPS title and in the process they have both set fasted times of the day at races this year. Ewan set the pace in both race runs with his first run time of 1.38.054 winning the day and this was also the 2 nd fasted time of the day overall which earned him a few euros in the process. Jason’s first run time of 1.44.424 gave him third spot and second in the NPS title race. Stepping onto the podium for the first time was Jonny McKee (Banbridge CC) whose 1.43.716 saw him claim 2 nd place on his first competitive outing on his new Morewood. Anyone who knows Jonny knows just how hard he pushes and he’ll be a threat next year on a bike that obviously suits him. Andrew Godfrey was unlucky to miss a podium place as he was narrowly pipped by Jason by less than 200ths of a second and Colin Franklin was a welcome returnee in 5 th after his recent injury problems.

Andrew Godfrey

Jason Murphy

Johnny McKee

Kevin O'Leary

Although Ger Wolfe (Epic) claimed the NPS title with his 7 th place it was his younger bro Dan (Epic) who took the win, the fasted time of the day on 1.36.910 and the euro prize money on offer. Dan looked to be going all out on his second run with course designer and local rider Tom Power breathing down his neck in second but a bad crash towards the bottom of the track put paid to any chances of improving his time. Tom’s first run time of 1.38.277 was good enough to keep him in 2 nd place with Jamie “ Turkey ” McCullough getting his first podium for some time with a 1.41.539. Wallace Erwin and Gareth McKee filled the 4 th and 5 th positions respectively. For two of the Elites it was the end of one era and the start of another with Dale McMullan (CRC) and Alan Clogher (TC Racing) riding their last races as Elites before moving to the Masters next year to give Michael a run for his money. Although neither rider made the podium in their swansong race Dale still managed to take 3 rd place in the NPS and took a win in an earlier round…..not bad for an old bike mechanic. Looking at the standard of the riders already in the Masters it won’t be any easier there. In another 10 years Alan can look forward to being in the same category as his Dad - Tom……only 10 years Alan!

There were a number of crashes and fallers both in practice and during the race and whilst this adds to the spectacle no one wants to see anyone seriously hurt. There were fallers in every category and probably more in the Elites than any other one but most seemed to recover and hopefully there was no serious injuries. One rider who unfortunately didn’t make it to race day was Vet rider Stephen Graham who took a tumble on Saturday during practice and ended up in hospital for few nights with a broken wrist and some bruising to his ribs. We all wish him well and a speedy recovery. It was also good to see one of Ireland ’s World Championships heroes, Greg O’Keefe back on his feet again without crutches and although not yet fit enough to race it was good to see him making a good recovery. Greg’s big bro Rory was on hand to help Tom with the prize giving and he used the opportunity to award the prizes for the Clashnacrona race which weren’t handed out on the day due to time constraints.

So, a big thank you to Tom Power and all those who helped him put on one of the best events of the year and a very big thank you to Margaret and Richard, who own the land, for allowing the race to take place and in a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable venues – so lets not blow it by leaving the venue like a tip head! With a provisional race list drawn up for next year all I can say is roll on 2008!