EVENT: MTB CARNIVAL 2015 AND
OCBC NATIONAL XCO AND DH CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE WHO'S WHO IN XCO, DOWNHILL AND MTB MARATHON FOR 2015!
IT'S THE CARNIVAL!
The MTB Carnival 2015 was a little different from previous years'. It had evolved. Along with the usual marathon race, it also co-hosted the National Championship XCO and Downhill races. With 3 races all happening on the same day, this year's MTB Carnival had a lot more action going on. Bikezilla soaked in the action-packed Sunday and came back with some inference. We also have the race results all condensed into one page. Read on for our views and race results.
The daybreak at Lor Asrama felt the same when our car drove in to unload our supplies. It was going to be a long day ahead, so we loaded ourselves with lots of food and drinks, some tools, bikes and cameras. The tents for the racers were erected at the same spots as last year. The time keeper used the same shed for their work and the starting point for the race was also where we last remembered it to be. It seemed like we were going to repeat what we did at last year's MTB Carnival. Bikezilla had the privilege to be a media partner for the day's event as well as a chance to mingle in some marathon race action.
EVOLUTION OF A EVENT
This is the 9th Edition of the MTB Carnival. A lot had changed since its early days. 3 years ago, it started using Lor Asrama as the venue. And for the first 2 years, the marathon race route was similar with an addition for timed Enduro sections in the second year. Besides that, the route remained largely unchanged for the first 2 years at Lor Asrama. But the race route and terms evolved this year.Instead of the previous 8-hour marathon, it is now changed to a 6-hour race. There are a lot more single track sections and the race route felt completely new. In fact, under the searing sun and vast landscape of Lor Asrama, the race route felt tougher than the previous year to many. The Fox Hole Run section was used for the National Championship Downhill race, and that too was a very well-designed race course.
As the time drew near for the downhill practice and race, the downhill racers and supporters moved en masse for Fox Hole Run. And that left the marathoners and XCO riders at the Team Area.
To those who visited the event during the afternoon, it looked like this year's carnival had a smaller turnout, but it was not really the case. But then, there were a marked difference in the number of participants for the marathon race. Many of the riders had to give up the marathon race in exchange for the National Championships. But some riders did make time for both the National Championship XCO and Downhill as they were held at different times.
In our opinion, we felt that holding the National Championship races on the same day as the marathon did drew away some participation from both sides. It would have been more challenging should they be held on different days.
And being the greedy minds that we are, splitting up the National Championship races and the marathon would also mean more events for us to go to.
DID WE HAD FUN?
All said, everybody still had tremendous fun! The XCO/marathon race route and downhill course was well designed. The addition of more singe track was a brilliant move. The venue has so much memories from regular/repeat racers. And MTB Carnival had became an informal annual meet-up for the MTB community. The retailer booths was (in our opinion) more interesting from previous year's with demo bikes from some booths and a rock & sand strip for bike testing – coutesy of Specialized and Tay Cycle. The event wrapped nicely with a group of happy winners. Congrats to all the winners at the races! We look forward to seeing all of you (and those who has not joined before) to join in the MTB Carnival 2016. Meantime, stay cool with some ice-cold herbal tea and start training for the next carnival!
EVENT PHOTOS
For the full collection of photos, check out this 3 parts: MTB Carnival 1, MTB Carnival 2, MTB Carnival 3
(ED: We post almost all the photos in our photo gallery so that all riders have a chance to find their shots. While some shots may not be as good as we wanted it to be, it's the moments that counts. Do check out our photographers' pick from the lot in imagery soon)
RACE RESULTS AT A GLANCE
XCO – Mens Juniors
FIRST: SURAPOLCHAI BANGTHONG
SECOND: MR. NOPPARAT PHIROMRIT
THIRD: MUHD AIDIL
XCO – Mens Masters
FIRST: BRIAN JOHNSEN
SECOND: TAN YEOW CHUNG
THIRD: NG KIM KWEE
XCO – Mens Open
FIRST: TIM WILKINS
SECOND: MOHD RAZIF
THIRD: MUN YONG LIANG
XCO – Womens Open
FIRST: YI LIN PHANG
SECOND: MARIE PETTERSSON
THIRD: GAN CHEA HUI
XCO – Youth
FIRST: EDMOND CHEW HAO WEN
SECOND: ABU HUDZAIFAH BIN MASNAWI
THIRD: RYAN CHUA
XCO – Mens Super Masters
FIRST: JESPER AHLSTROEM
SECOND: PAUL CUMMINGS
THIRD: FREDERIC SCHAAF
DH – Mens Open
FIRST: TAN HONG CHUN
SECOND: IRVIN TAN
RYAN MATTHEW PEREIRA-CLARKE
DH – Womens Open
FIRST: NUR NASTHASIA NADIAH
SECOND: GAN CHEA HUI
THIRD: CHUA SEOW HUAY JESSLYN
DH – Mens Super Master
FIRST: NURHAKIM HUDRI
SECOND: MOHD GHAZALI BIN MOHD SELEM
DH – Mens Master
FIRST: HERMAN ARSEK
SECOND: WEE CHONG YAW
THIRD: TAN SOON SOON
DH – Mens Junior
FIRST: MUHAMMAD RASUL BIN ABU BAKAR
SECOND: MOHAMAD SHADIQAPUTRA BIN MOHAM SAHR
THIRD: MUHD ROZAINI BIN JAILANI
DH – Youth
FIRST: SYAZWAN MOHAMMAD
SECOND: RAZZAQ LATIF
THIRD: ZZADNAFF ABDUL QUSYAIRI BIN A MANAF
XCO – Fat Bikes Open
FIRST: LEE W AI HOONG
SECOND: TAN SOON TIANG
THIRD: AMRIL ROSMAN BIN PUNARI
MARATHON – Mens Solo
FIRST: RANDOLF ANDINO
SECOND: MUHAMMAD HAIRUL NAZW A BIN DOL
THIRD: PHILIP ROUTLEY
MARATHON – Womens Solo
FIRST: LUI LAI HAN DENNEX
SECOND: PRUDENCE RADISH ROBERTS
THIRD: CHAN TSE CHI GRACE
MARATHON – Men Duo
FIRST: MELVIN TIMOTHY KOH-KENNY NG
SECOND: QUENTIN CHEHAB-FELIX AUSTIN
THIRD: LOH SUR YONG STEPHEN-TOMAS MARTIN
MARATHON – Mixed Duo
FIRST: JASON YEO-CHEONG SU LIN ANGELA
SECOND: SIVANESAN S/O GANABATHY-FOO YAN CI
THIRD: MARIA GRACHELLE ALCANTARA-KRISTOFFER ALLAN BACCAY
MARATHON – Mens Quad
FIRST: MOHAMAD NAZRI MAN-MUHAMMAD FADLY-YUSUF MISRON-RICHARD DANKIN SENERES
SECOND: WILCO STAVENUITER-DESMOND SEETOH DAH MUN-KEITH CHRISTOPHER GOLDFINCH-ANG CHEAA YEENG
THIRD: MICHAEL GEOFFREY WOOD-DAVID GLENISTER-MATTHEW JOHN NUNN-LUCAS ANDREW STEWART
MARATHON – Mixed Quad
FIRST: ZHANG TINGJUN-CHIN MUN LEONG-HUANG JIA HAN-TEE CHEE HAN
SECOND: BOEDI ARJANTO-SUBAKTI WANGSANEGARA-INTAN YULI FRANSISCA-ERWIN KOE
THIRD: NICK HO-TAN XIN YI-YANG SIHUI-TAN XUE LING SERENE
Race results by Dirtraction