High-flying Davis soars to double win in Herm

MATT DAVIS was unstoppable in Herm. In round two of the Holeshot Downhill Mountain-bike Series, Davis relegated defending champion Antony Renouf into second place and then added victory in the first of the three-race Oxbow duel series.

In stark contrast to the rain and mud of the previous event, clear blue skies and blazing sunshine were the order of the day.

Using part of the descent that the Island Games riders faced last year, combined with some extra jumps and drops put in by the organisers, riders were given an hour-and-a-half of practice to familiarise themselves with the more technical aspects of the course.

Timed runs started soon after the last boat of the morning arrived, giving a couple of latecomers mere minutes to get to grips with their route down the hill.

With the previous round having been held in very wet and slippery conditions, it was anybody's guess as to who was the favourite, several of the younger riders impressing the crowd of spectators over the final jump.

However, it was not to be their day as Davis again proved the quickest, taking the win in 38.65sec., 0.32sec. ahead of defending champ-ion Renouf, with Jason Le Page in third.

The only consolation for these two was that there was less than half-a-second covering all three. An impressive display of riding took Tom Sherwill into fourth overall and gave him first junior spot ahead of Jack Sunderland.

After a short break, riders were offered the chance to compete in the first of a three-race duel series.

With two going head-to-head down the same course and the event being run on a knockout basis, this offered the chance of some fast and exciting racing for both competitors and spectators.

On a route that included several tight corners, a 12ft 'bombhole' and a jump to the finish, 32 lined up to do battle.

After six tightly-contested rounds, the final pitched the morning's downhill winner, Davis, against junior Sherwill.

The younger rider was just edged from victory by a determined Davis, who was rightly pleased with his day's work.

Both the next downhill and duel events take place in the woods and fields of Fauxquets Valley on 13 June, with practice starting at 9am.