Isaac Pucci wins Gorrick Spring Series Round 1

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BY: Ben Thomas

Published: 12th February, 2014

Gorrick Spring Series Round 1 – 9th February 2014

Sunday the 9th of February saw the first round of the Gorrick Spring Series held at Gorrick's original venue Crowthorne Wood. This would be the first time where the whole team would race together. Cold dry weather greeted the racers but the course was still wet due to the rain over the past few weeks. The organisers did a great job though as always putting together a fun rideable course and working hard to clean up the trails as best as possible.

The team led from the start stringing out the small but quality elite field with team manager Ben on the front setting a decent pace. Isaac matched Ben’s pace, then Sam and Tim were just a short distance behind. The gap increased quickly over the rest of the field with Ben and Isaac working well together.

Over the next few laps Sam and Tim maintained their 3rd and 4th places whilst Ben and Isaac began to ramp up the pace for the final lap. A quick overtake by Isaac on a rider from a different category gave the youngster a few seconds gap through the feed zone. Whilst Ben overtook the rider, grabbed a bottle and a USN Vooma gel Isaac was making his move.



Isaac, “Ben hesitated to pass the lapped rider but I quickly nipped through and got a couple of seconds on Ben and this was my chance. I had a good 4 seconds on Ben coming out of the feed zone and had to absolutely bury myself for another sub 18minutes of pain to secure the win. I became very emotional towards the end of the last lap before crossing the line. This was the first proper thrashing on my new Scott Scott Scale 900 RC race bike which weighs in about 3lbs lighter than last years bike, really excited about racing this bike for the rest of the season.”

Sam, “After a quality week of high intensity training I was looking forward to racing with the team and also picking up my new Scott race bike. I was curious to try the new Rotor rings we’ll be racing this year, its amazing how quickly you adapt and start to feel the benefits. The course at Gorrick was flat and made up of mostly fun twisting single track with the odd steep hill thrown in. My race went well despite not being able to keep up with pace at the start set by my two team mates Isaac and Ben. I kept pushing though and matched the lap times of the lead 2 during the middle few laps. The USN Cytopower Energy drink kept me fuelled each lap. I finished 3rd and can be happy with how my preparations for the season are coming along.”

Tim, “The pace was quick but the first race of the season is always a shock, especially when you’ve just spent 2 weeks training in the sun and 20 degrees centigrade! The legs felt pretty good but just lacked that extra bit of top end. This weekend was my first time on the new team Scott Spark 900 RC race bike, can’t wait to race this bike a the endurance events later on in the year, it’s a rocket ship! Really happy to have raced today especially with the team doing so well.”

It was a successful day for Scott Bikes sponsored athletes with Isaac winning the men’s elite race and Mel Alexander winning the women’s elite race. The team crossed the line wrapping up the next 3 places in the men’s race with Ben in second, Sam third, and Tim fourth.

Next up for the team Ben and Sam will be racing the Cyprus Sunshine Cup 4 day stage race starting 27th of February. Tim and Isaac will compete next at round 2 of the Gorrick Spring Series on the 2nd of March.

Thanks to John from Vermont Images for handing up USN bottle and gels. Thanks the team’s sponsors for all their support.


Follow the team on facebook and see full photo album from the race
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Trax-Vauxhall-Motors-Cycling-Team/330790256947713

Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team Rider Roster.
Ben Thomas, Isaac Pucci, Sam Stean, Tim Dunford