Last weekend , the Chaingang hosted round 2 of the Victorian state DH series at Yackandandah.
Summer arrived early this year , only a month ago we were worried about the state of the race paddock. After a cool and wet winter just like the good old days , we were worried the paddock would not be able to take the amount of cars and people without becoming a boggy slippery mess. But with this years short spring (what spring ?) the rain stopped , temps hit the 30s and miraculously the paddock dried out to perfection. Phew , crisis over !

Once again , Chaingang member Simon allowed the VDHS circus to invade his property and they came in record numbers. 298 riders rolled up to a fast and drifty track on Saturday which ended up very loose and blown out by race time on Sunday.

The track started 20m further up the hill this time , requiring only one pedal out of the gate to get up to a good speed and into the drifty , whooped first corner. A new line evolved at the first rock garden , but it claimed a few victims. Many hit the ground trying to get a clean run through what appeared to be a fairly straightforward line , the reward being a very nice exit into the next section. It was more difficult than it appeared though and as the weekend progressed the track got more blown out and that desirable line claimed more victims. Thankfully the paramedics only had to call the ambulance twice and the interruptions were kept to a minimum.

Locals generally fared pretty well at Yack. Jared Lockley won sport class by 0.2 of a second ! Lake Lucas just missed out on a top ten but did his bit to help clear the track by collecting a bunch of bunting on his way down. Thanks Jake.

In veterans , MC Juzzy cruised down to 14th place before manning the microphone for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks Juz. Mark Sullivan had a few moments before coming to a complete halt at Maribor with a major rock garden induced mechanical.

In Masters , Albury riders Peter Cranage finished 2nd and Dean McIvor came in 6th place.

Expert class saw 45 entries and tough competition. Glenn Fairweather from Wodonga placed 4th , Calvin Mckinley 9th and Yack local Tom Riella in 17th place.

In Under 19s Jake Hunter came home 6th and Ryan Humphris right behind him in 7th. Aden Wyber took the win comfortably in this class.

Under 17s , Dean Lucas got points for 2nd place , once again behind James Carter.

In elite women Leonie Picton dominated as usual , Katelyn Humphris snuck onto the podium in 3rd. Shelly Kamevaar couldn't compete in the finals unfortunately. Her old school Bianchi frame decided it would take no more and during qualifying , failed in a major way at the step down. RIP Bianchi !

Elite men hit the track for the finals. Albury rider Dean White put down an impressive qualifier placing 4th fastest but could only manage 12th in the final. Hunty snuck in front of him in 11th but it was the Panozzo brothers that showed they aren't done yet. Joel in 3rd and Liam 2nd place behind current NSW state champion Rhys Atkinson. These three were in a league of their own putting a big gap on the rest of the field. Just as well the Panozzos came to race because Rhys would have won by 15 seconds !

Rhys has done a few runs at Yack in the past and has really found some pace recently , but you've got to hand it to Joel and Liam. Having never seen the track before , they only needed a few runs on saturday and Sunday morning to get the track sorted before demonstrating the depth of their talent with solid podium finishes.

Overall , feedback from the event was positive. The event was a stretch of resources and manpower for our little club and we couldn't have even considered hosting it without the help of many other individuals and clubs. It was a fantastic group effort and we thank everyone that helped out.

Round 3 of the VDHS will be hosted by team Mt. Beauty on the 6th and 7th of February 2010.

Thanks to Ben Sykes for the awesome photo of "Maribor" rock garden at Yack.