Tag Archives: downhill

Kicking off the World Cup Season in Pietermaritzburg

The First world cup came early this year with Pietermaritzburg South Africa hosting the season opener March 15-18th. The 2012 race season showcases some of the stiffest competition ever on the circuit and the South African course is designed to separate the strong from the week. Equipped with stiffer suspension, light-weight parts and dropper posts the racers would surely have to pedal their way to a victory. There would be no coasting here.

Heading down to the first race of the season was more Norco DH Athletes than you could shake a stick at. Even with Ben Reid out with illness the lot included Jill Kintner, Bryn Atkinson, Dan Stanbridge, Duncan Riffle, Olie Burton, Ludovic May and Isak Leivsson.
With 7 athletes racing on the 2012 Norco Aurum this was a great test for the work put in by Norco engineering and the Dirt Norco Race Team.

Qualification Round

In qualifying Jill Kintner was able to come in for 5th spot for the women. This placed her in a great fighting position for a podium spot in the finals. In the men’s elite category a whopping 134 racers came out to compete. In his first world cup back since injury Jill’s partner Bryn Atkinson qualified competitively in 18th place. Shortly behind was Dirt Norco’s Duncan Riffle in 37th and Oliver Burton in 48th. Super-D specialist Ludovic may and Norwegian rider Isak Levisson squeaked through to the finals in 74th and 75 spots. Unfortunately Dirt Norco’s Dan Stanbridge flatted and missed qualification for the main event.

Finals

After a further day of practice the finals came around. With enough moisture to keep the dust down, the track was fast, hot and punishing. It was clear far ahead of time that fitness would be a major consideration in winning the season’s opener.

In the women’s race, Jill faltered slightly in the top section before fighting through and gaining time back down the course. Jill climbed up one spot from qualifying finishing on the podium in 4th spot. In the men’s field, competition is even tighter. The fight for top 50 seems nearly as competitive as the fight for top 5. Bryn took a quick start before bogging down in the pedally bits and finished as the Norco top male in 24th position. Oliver Burton had by far his best race to date in an extremely impressive 27th spot. The newest addition to the Norco roster is Dirt’s Duncan Riffle who finished his first race on the Aurum in 37th place; 3/10ths of a second behind was Norwegian rider Isak Leivsson. Ludovic May finished in 68th position.

4. Jill Kintner (USA) Team Norco International 8.492

24. Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International 0:10.657
27. Oliver Burton (Gbr) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing 0:11.178
36. Duncan Riffle (USA) Dirt Norco Race Team 0:13.211
37. Isak Leivsson (Nor) Norco Bicycles 0:13.491
68. Ludovic May (Sui) Norco Factory Team

The 2012 Norco Team is the largest it has been and has more talented riders than ever before. The first World Cup is out of the way and we have a bit of a wait before Italy’s Val Di Sole kicking off on June 2nd. In the meantime, you can stay in tune with the latest racing in the British National Series and the upcoming Sea Otter Classic.

Pietermaritzburg DH Results are in

The early start to the 2012 World Cup season kicked off in Pietermaritzburg South Africa this weekend and had the greatest number of Norco DH racers ever on a World Cup track. The SA course is more varied than anywhere else with some steep techy bits, massive tables and a lung-busting pedaling section. This is a rare event where dropper posts are outfitted on the majority of the race rigs.

Starting off with the women Jill Kintner took to the track racing against last year’s champ Emmeline Ragot and the latest threat Tracey Hannah with her return to competition. After a speed sucking bobble in the top section Jill lost a few spots and fought to catch up. Jill finished in style with a leg up on the podium in 4th place. This was the first Norco World Cup podium of the year. Congratulations Jill on a great run and a fantastic result.

The men’s race was a stacked field of the world’s best. Additionally, being the first race of the season everyone had something to prove before the 11 week wait until race #2. Following Aaron Gwin’s record 2011, Danny Hart’s World Championship, Greg Minnaar’s hometown advantage and Michael Hannah’s return – the results for the race were both unpredictable and amazingly close. The top three for the race came in as Greg Minnaar, Aaron Gwin, and Michael Hannah.

Bryn Atkinson marked his return to racing with an impressive 24th place with Team Norco International. Close behind was UK rider Oliver Burton in 27th. The latest addition to the Norco family is Duncan Riffle racing on the Dirt Norco Race Team. Duncan marked his first race upon the Aurum with 36th spot. The fourth male athlete in Pietermaritzburg was Super-D specialist Ludovic May on the Norco Factory Team who came in 68th place.One additional rider worth mentioning is Isak Leivsson. Isak races for Racing Depot and Norco Bicycles out of Norway and he placed an extremely quick 37th place nipping at the heals of Duncan Riffle.

Congrats to all the racers that participated and Pietermaritzburg. Next up is the Sea Otter Classic in April. See you there!

Getting Dirty with the 2012 Norco Aurum

The development of the 2012 Norco Aurum is pretty closely tied to Dirt Magazine through riders Ben Reid, Dan Stanbridge and the newest team addition Duncan Riffle. With the input of Ben and Dan and an arduous development process the result of this partnership is an all new breed of Norco downhill bikes – The Norco Aurum. Given the tie between Norco, the team and Dirt Magazine it is only fitting that the gear team at Dirt review the Aurum to give their 2 cents in the matter.

After a rigorous testing process, this is what they had to say. Want do download the article? Here is the PDF

A Recap from the Australian National Championships

Adelaide, South Australia, Feb 26,2012 – Leaving the nice mild temperatures and comfort of home in the Blue Mountains, Bryn and I set off on a little road trip for the Aussie National Mountain Bike Championships in Adelaide… South Australia is know to be ridiculously hot, so we rented a big 6 passenger motor-home to battle the heat. Temperatures were between 37-40 degrees Celsius (about 100F), so our air conditioned rig was much needed relief throughout the week.

With the World Cup Downhill season only a few weeks away, this race was perfect to get a feel for competition against one the most talented country in our sport. With Names Like Sam Hill, Troy Brosnan, Chris Kovarik, Bryn Atkinson, Jared Graves, Rhys Willemse, Mitch Delfs, Tracey Hannah, etc, there was some serious depth to the elite fields. Juniors in OZ are on the radar as well, with times that place on elite podiums by the winner of under 19 male- Connor Fearon.

With four days of practice on a fairly basic course, race day was all about squeezing every bit of speed out of the track, staying hydrated, and keeping good traction on the loose skatey soil.

This course flowed along the ridge line up top exposing riders to wind, then dropped into a couple steep rocky shoots, followed by a little wooded section in the middle, a rock garden, then into some man made switchbacks and jumps. I thought it was fun to ride.

Spectators were pretty set up as well with a live camera feed of nearly the entire run of each rider. 3 minute intervals, 2 minute course. Big-screens always makes a great viewing event for the fans!! Another highlight was the wildlife in the trees, not every day you can stop on the side of a track, look up and see Koalas 2 feet from you munching on gum leaves:)


Back to racing:

Seeding was on the Saturday afternoon, 39 degrees out, filthy hot, I laid down a pretty strong run and came second by only .8 off Tracy Hannah who is a former World Cup winner. Primed for the final, I was making up time in a really solid race run when I got a rear flat towards the bottom of the run. Tracey took the win, and I still managed 2nd sliding all around, 8 seconds off.



Bryn’s final run was solid, it looked smooth and fast watching from the jumbo-tron. Clocking in more confidence and experienced race runs vs. World’s best downhillers, Bryn adds another podium to his collection for 5th place here. Just a small mistake in the rock garden cost him those fractions of time. I have video footage of the top 6, coming soon…

Troy Brosnan won the Elite Men’s title of Aussie Champ with what looked like a flawless run. Sam Hill finished 2nd to his teammate, while Rhys Willemse took 3rd, Chris Kovarik 4th, Bryn, Jared Graves 6th, Delfs 7th, Bryn’s little bro- Rhys Atkinson for 8th.

Leaving this race with 2 podiums and some good test time on our Aurum’s, we’re both looking forward to getting the World Cup season started off strong in South Africa.

Thanks again to all our sponsors!!!! We got a lot of people coming by to check out our bikes. big thanks to Norco Australia (Advanced Traders) for helping us out with the motor home! Best pit zone ever. On the way home, We drove along The great Ocean Road which is a sight not to be missed. Australian Coast line is beautiful. Glad we could combine a little life experience with business.


PHOTOS BY: Tim Bardsley-Smith and Jill Kintner

WORDS BY: Jill Kintner

FULL RESULTS HERE: http://www.castech.com.au

We’d like to thank the following companies for their support:
Red Bull, NORCO Bicycles, Crank Brothers, Fox Racing Shox, Shimano, Renthal, Maxxis, 5.10, e*13, Dakine, Oakley, Fi:z’ik, Cane Creek, Motorex, Stan’s Tubeless, Alpinestars, Tld, Park Tool, Cti, and eSoles.

Team Norco International is a Satellite Downhill mountain bike race team consisting of 2 elite riders- Bryn Atkinson and Jill kintner. Founded in 2012, the aim of the program is to Dominate races Worldwide.

facebook.com/teamnorcointernational
www.jillkintner.com

Jill and Bryn’s First Race of the Season


While we are bogged down with the Winter doldrums in much of Canada it is sunny and hot on the other side of the world. Team Norco International’s Jill Kintner and Bryn Atkinson call Australia their winter home where they can better train year round. Plus, some pre-World Cup racing is possible in the Australia Nationals Series.

This past weekend was round two of the race season where Jill and Bryn were able to race their Norco Aurums for the first time. This was also Bryn’s first race back after injury last year. On the dry, loose and scorching hot track Jill flatted in qualifying but came back in the race run to finish 2nd behind Tracy Hannah. Bryn was seen as a bit of a wildcard coming into the race as he had not posted any results in nearly a year. He won this event in 2011 though so expectations were high. Bryn qualified in third place and raced consistently to finish third behind Troy Brosnan and Sam Hill.

Congrats to both Jill and Bryn on a fantastic first race of the season. The Australia DH Championships are coming up on Feb. 22 so watch for the duo to be in their best form and post some blazing fast times.

Check out this recap video from the race.

Introducing World Cup Rider Olie Burton

Olie Burton is a solo competitor on the World Cup circuit. As a privateer he has been making his own way to the races and fighting his way up through the ranks. This coming year he will be riding a Norco Aurum in all his racing endeavors. Olie is still on his own program riding for sponsors such as Kore, One Industries, 661, Adidas and Action Cameras but this year he has the power of the Aurum on his side.

In 2011 Olie injured his finger and was forced off the bike for three months. Disappointed,  he struggled coming back and missed qualifying at a few of the World Cup rounds. As 2011 progressed he recovered and came back to finish in an impressive 68th and 66th at Mont Saint Anne and Windham and 62nd at the world cup finals in Val Di Sole. These results were a great step forward and he is looking to improve upon them in 2012.

Some other highlights from this past year have been 4th place at the Nissan European Cup in La Bresse, France and winning the overall Elite title for the Pearce Cycles race series. The Pearce Cycles series was a specific goal Olie had set for 2011 and hopes to continue through 2012.

Everyone at Norco would like to wish Olie a warm welcome to the team and offer the best support we can over the coming year. Here is to a great 2012! If you would like to send a message, you can connect with Olie on his facebook page.

Here is a video from the past year of Olie, looking forward to seeing an Aurum going even faster.

Norco Aurum Reviewed on The North Shore

NSMB knows what a bike needs to be in order to take on some of the roughest terrain in the world. They put this knowledge to the test in a recent review of the 2012 Norco Aurum in the heart of Vancouver’s North Shore. Have a read through this review and let us know what you think. How do you think the Aurum will do this year on the world cup circuit. There will be as many as 10 sponsored Norco riders on the Aurum in 2012 so keep an eye out for this bike out on the trail and race course in the year to come. (Rider names to come in the new year)

So far I am blown away with the performance of the Aurum, especially in its first year of production. Its evident that Norco have done their homework on this one. Something tells me the Dirt Norco Team had some input for the design and engineering team. The Aurum feels like a concept bike with all its features, except you can own one for as low as $3550. I’m Glad to see a local company as influential as Norco back in the gravity game in a big way.  Stay tuned for part 2 of the Aurum Review with visuals from Derek Dix and Matt Dennison.

 
Read the full review here

Tuned for Gravity – The Aurum Reviewed

Decline Magazine has just released their full review of the 2012 Norco Aurum. This is the first ever full review for the all new 2012 platform. With features like A.R.T. Suspension, Gravity Tune, Post-Mount, Tapered Head Tube and more – what is not to like? If you don’t believe us, have a read through the Full Review. If you like what you read, head to your local newsstand and pick up a copy of Decline Magazine for yourself.

hate jpgs? 2012_01_Decline_Aurum