Now in its second year, the series aims to foster the development and growth of competitive downhill racing — the first two races, held last month, were at Dunedin’s Signal Hill and Mt Hutt, both graded 5 and 6 tracks.
This weekend riders will take on the Cardrona Mountain Bike Park before they head to Coronet Peak next Saturday.
Both events are hosted by the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club (QTMBC), which will benefit from proceeds of the volunteer-run races — last year the club received $4831 from the series.
Race director Wayne Boatwright says there’s a lot of mountain biking talent in the South Island, "but to succeed in downhill racing, you need opportunities to hone your race craft".
"It’s simple — the more you race, the more experience you gain."
And Coronet, in particular, will provide them with plenty of that, he says, noting it offers a "superb" Grade 5 track that’s "incredibly fast".
"Our event will give riders a chance to practise under race conditions before more significant events in the season."
They include a round of the National MTBNZ series and the Oceania MTB Champs, both being held at Coronet, the latter bringing the world’s best mountain bikers to New Zealand for the first time in five years.
Boatwright says while competition’s been friendly in the Southern DH series, supported by Mountain Bike Otago, Gravity Canterbury and QTMBC, competition in the under-15 and U17 male categories has been "fiercely contested".
Registrations for this Sunday’s Race 3, at Cardrona, close at 5pm on Saturday — racing’s scheduled all day Sunday.
The cutoff for registrations for the final race, at Coronet Peak next Saturday, is December 20 at 5pm, with racing on all day December 21.
The minimum age for competitors is 13, as of December 31, 2024.
Registrations are via Webscorer — there’ll be no on-the-day entries.
