Team Abarth Riders Michael O'Brien And John Holbrook Take Eastern And Central Championship Titles

This weekend saw the Eastern and Central Championships at Aston Hill Bike Park near Tring, the local riding spot for Team Abarth MTB. Using the now infamous 423 track, as created by Team Abarth's own John Holbrook in 2009, the stage was set for a great race! With a few last minute changes thrown into the mix, and dry weather for both Saturday and Sunday morning practise, both Michael and John were feeling confident about posting some strong results. Unfortunately for most of the competitiors though, the weather had it's own ideas, and come 11.30am, the rain started to fall. First a little, and then alot. Michael put in a run in semi dry conditions, but with parts of the track like an ice rink, and others more like a sandpit, judging the grip was not easy. About 30 seconds into Michael's run, he was caught out by one of the wet sections, and took a spill onto the floor. With the weather worsening, his first run, which placed him 5th in Juniors (but Eastern and Central Champ due to geography) stood. 

By the time it got to John's run, it had ben raining solidly for nearly 2 hours, and the track resembled more of an alpine river than a mountain bike track. Armed with a set of spikes and what turned out to be not enough tear off's, John posted the fastest elite time (despite riding almost blind for the majority of the track). Come 2nd runs, the track had started to dry, getting sticky, but still very wet. With a 1.5 second lead from the first run, John was keen to extend this, but unfortunately came off the track not far after where Michael had fallen foul. On arrival at the bottom, Madison Saracen World Cup regular Harry Molloy had managed to pip John by just 0.3 seconds to take the win, with no other rider improving. Again due to geography, John was still Eastern and Central champ, and a well deserved second place in the combined expert elite category wrapped up a great weekend for Team Abarth!