And it all begins!

Hi Everyone,

Team KBR Zerode has had a solid start to the New Zealand National Downhill Series over the first two rounds held in Queenstown and Dunedin.

Queenstown kicked off the series on the 8th and 9th of January with a brand new track set near the Remarkables Ski Area challenging everyone with its high speed and loose dusty track.

It didn't take long for all of the team to get up to speed and this was evident after qualifying with Junior rider Lawrence Cawte sitting in 4th and Reuben Olorenshaw and Kieran Bennett sitting in 8th and 13th respectively in the Elite class.

The loose and changing track unfortunately took its toll in race runs with both Lawrence and Reuben having crashes and losing a lot of time in the blown out dusty corners. Kieran managed to improve on seeding and made his way into 7th place less than a second from making the podium!

Round two in Dunedin proved to be a better more technical track with a great mixture of rocks, roots and very technical off camber sections, all of this mixed with pouring rain made for an extremely difficult race that showed who could handle the ever changing conditions.

After a very wet practice day, race day turned out fine and the track even began to dry out thanks to the wind and sun which lead to some very fast seeding times being run, once again to team came out strong with Reuben seeding 3rd in Elite and Kieran in 7th after a mid run crash, Lawrence unfortunately could't make it to Dunedin due to work commitments.

With the rain starting up again before race runs began it was really time for the riders who can handle the changing conditions to shine and Kieran showed he had the track dialled putting together a solid run and finishing up in 3rd place even after two mid run stops! Reuben nearly made it a double podium for the team putting together another solid ride and finishing up in 6th just fractions of a second away from 5th!

This weekend the team heads to Methven for Round three of the series which is the final round of the South Island Cup before we head to Nelson for the National Championships over the 28th and 29th of January.

Thanks to all of you who have made the team possible for 2012!

The beginning

Everything needs to have a beginning so what better way than by introducing the Zerode Factory Race team!

Its been a dream of mine (Kieran Bennett) for a couple of years to put together a team and when I started riding for Zerode this year it all sort of fell into place, so after countless emails and phone calls it is all starting to come together and I decided it was time to tell the world.

For 2012 the team will consist of three riders with myself taking on the duty of team manager along with still racing in the Elite class, Reuben Olorenshaw will also be stepping up into the Elite class after dominating the U19 class in 2011 and finishing up the year with a solid 8th at the World Championships and finally Lawrence Cawte from Rotorua will be joining the team and making the move into the U19 class for the National Series.

The teams first race together will be the first round of the New Zealand National Downhill Series on the 8th and 9th of January, in the mean time keep an eye out for a sneak peek into the team in the December issue of New Zealand Mountain Biker Magazine and on here for race reports, videos, photos and other bits and pieces from races as we build up to a massive 2012 season!