<b>Troy Brosnan fought hard all weekend and earned himself the 2014 Australian National Downhill championship victory. Patience and confidence paid off.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Troy's making sure his bike was dialed after it fell of the back of the uplift trailer just before seeding. Not a great way to take on your National Champs, but he made it work.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Super dusty chutes littered the track the whole way down. Connor's secret for a 2nd place finish? Just let 'er run.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Jack Moir finally got to put his new Bergamont Straightline to a race-paced test this weekend. 3rd for Jack and he says the bike is "sick aye."</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Jack Moir's Bergamont. It's always good to see the birth of a new World Cup team and it's even better that we'll see Jack at all the World Cups with this team.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>1st place for Tracey Hannah, demolishing the women's field in both seeding and her finals run. 35-seconds over 2nd place is just crazy. #keepthatsleeve</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Andrew Crimmins shook off his crash in seeding yesterday to take the win in U19 by nearly 7-seconds. We are going to enjoy watching this kid race the World Cup.<br />
</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Remy Morton took the U17 National title by nearly 17-seconds. Not a bad present for the 16-year old on his birthday.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>The XC pits and gun show are over that way Grubby...</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Mick Hannah took 5th today. What he thought was a quick off-the-bike ended up being a time-sucking tangle with a tree. </b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>If Mick Hannah looks like he's dropping like it's hot, that's because he is dropping and it's hot out there.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Mick Hannah, like most people, loved the track here in Bright. A couple of fast open sections like this were full of blown-out, dusty goodness.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>A blown tyre and tube, and a subsequent OTB for Steve Sloots. The lucky man walked away several minutes later.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
<b>Blown out, dusty corner after blown out, dusty corner saw most of the riders in the know running mud or semi-mud tires for racing. That's if they were prepared enough to have them.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Dave McMillian has been improving all series. With guys like Mick and Jack back for this race, however, the podium becomes just that little bit more crowded. 6th for Dave meant he was just off the box.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>U19 rider, Jackson Davis, pushed pretty hard and crash in seeding which meant he was well down the pack for his race run. He had to deal with the dust and passing riders which doesn't make it easy. 4th for Jacko on the steeper stuff.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Will Rischbieth was looking on it and super pinned all weekend. Unfortunately, he came unstuck during his race run, a very common occurrence.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Josh Button was another looking to upset the top contenders with crazy inside lines just like this one. 16th on the day wasn't a dream run, but was still respectable.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Uber legend, Ricky Boyer, tearing it up and throwing the dust.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>More inside lines. Troy Brosnan keeps well away from the dusty sink holes to his right.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Jared Graves has been making XC cool again. The man is a machine, plain and simple. 2nd in the XCO and 1st in the XCE.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Blake Nielsen smashed his collar bone in Leogang at the 4X World Champs. A pretty hefty G-out in his race run today just may have pulled the screws out. Ouch. Off to the doc's again for this battler.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Tim Eaton dropping into the top of the Bright "Mystic" track.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Lindsay Klein is another old school ex-Global Racing Aussie to swing his leg over a DH bike every now and then. Oh, he posts up, too, with a top 20.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Graeme Mudd slides himself into the top 10. The racing was pretty tight at that end of the field with 9-12 all finishing within .5 seconds of each other.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Mick is stoked and feeling good for the first World Cup in South Africa, just a few weeks away.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Troy Brosnan, eyes on the prize.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Connor Fearon making the most of it. Smashing runs with the sun on your back and caked dust in your nostrils. It was safe to say everyone enjoyed riding this weekend.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Will Rischy, trying to see if this tree's bark is worse than its bite.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Tracey Hannah is looking really good for some solid results this year. Can a good result in South Africa kick of her season with a bang? 35-seconds over her local competition indicates she's on the right pace.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Aiden Varley had a fair bit of pressure on himself this weekend. His home track and a green and gold jersey up for grabs. 2nd in the U19 class was one off his desired result, but proof his future looks plenty Bright. (pun intended).</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>2nd place for Connor Fearon just 2.24-seconds off the winning pace. Connor seems to have new found speed and confidence that he can take with him into the World Cup season.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Randopholous coaching and shredding the DH bike like a bos.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Rhys Atkinson was one of the many unable to put together a decent run. At least he looks rad sending it into the finish area. That's worth some time off the clock, isn't it?</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Boost! Like most of the riders, Troy had a ton of fun on the National Champs track.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Troy had a challenge in deciding how hard to push. Too hard and mistakes would be made on a blown out track. Too soft and it wouldn't be enough. Just right and he would walk away with another green and gold jersey and a flag on his sleeve for the World Cup.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Australian DH National Champ, Tracey Hannah, on top of the world.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Troy was pretty happy with the win this weekend. With most of the big hitters out to play, it has to be satisfying to take the victory.</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith
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<b>Your 2014 Australian Nationals podium from left to right - Todd Madsen (4), Connor Fearon (2), Troy Brosnan (1), Jack Moir (3) and Mick Hannah (5).</b> -Tim Bardsley-Smith - THANKS TO TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH FOR ATTACKING THE DUSTY DH COURSES OF AUSTRALIA THIS SEASON. The slideshows have been incredible!
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The National Championship dust has settled over Bright, Australia, and Troy Brosnan and Tracey Hannah have come out on top to wear the coveted sleeve for the rest of the season. Fastest qualifier, Mick Hannah, slid out and became tangled in a tree and some course tape, which put a big dent in an otherwise solid run. Enjoy the dust-filled race report, photos and slideshow from Tim Bardsley-Smith.
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