Hannah’s share final Crankworx Rotorua podium
Mick and Tracey both win final downhill race in New Zealand
The podium for the final event of Crankworx Rotorua was a family affair. Mick Hannah stood next to his sister Tracey Hannah on the top step, having both won the Rotorua Downhill.
“We’re stoked,” said Mick Hannah. “This is the biggest race we’ve won together.”
“I feel like we’re the Crankworx family riders,” added Tracey Hannah. That applies not just today. Hannah has won the season-long Crankworx Downhill title five straight years, starting in 2015. Together with her brother, Mick, the siblings have dozens of Crankworx World Tour podiums.
On Sunday, Hannah says she was helped out by a more relaxed racing schedule than some of her competition. “I didn’t do any other events so I saved myself for this one,” she said after the race. Still, her dominant winning margin of 24.38 seconds shows more speed than just fresh legs.
Hannah’s setting up for a speedy season
Hannah is coming off her first World Cup overall title in 2019 and, if Rotorua is any indication, is looking fast for 2020.
“It’s huge to start off with this race and do well. It kind of boosts you on into the next few races,” Hannah said of her early-season win. “I’m super excited and definitely a good confidence boost. It shows that I did the right thing in the offseason.”
Her brother, Mick, was also happy with how Sunday’s win sets up his year.
“This is an amazing start to the season,” added Mick, “It’s a huge confidence booster for me. And it’s good to see Tracey’s work paying off. She’s been working hard this off-season. We’ve done a lot of runs together this off-season and it’s good to see it wasn’t a waste.”
Hannah beat Sam Blenkinsop by 1.41 seconds, clocking a winning time of 3:00.16.
“My race run was good,” said Mick. “I felt like it was actually kind of, not a slow run, but definitely conservative. But I was able to execute all of my lines really well. This track was really hard to do a clean run on so I think that was exactly what was needed today.”
Canadians in the hunt, and hunting crowns
While there were no Canadians on the podium in the Rotorua DH, their results in the final race helped boost them up the season-long contest to become Crankworx royalty. With his 22nd place, Bas van Steenbergen moves into the early lead for King of Crankworx.
“I’m super stoked. At the start of the week I didn’t feel all that confident or all that good,” said the Canadian, whose notched a second-place finish in the 100% Dual Slalom in New Zealand. “I was kind of questioning myself, so I didn’t quite expect to come out of here with the lead, which is obviously awesome. It sets me up good for the rest of the season.”
On the women’s side, Vaea Verbeeck finished fifth. The result helps keep her in touch with Jill Kintner, who currently leads the Queen of Crankworx competition.
Georgia Astle was sixth and Casey Brown ninth, adding two more Canadian top-10 results in the Rotorua DH.
On the men’s side, World Cup racer Mark Wallace rode out a flat rear tire to finish 33rd. Sky Nunn-Sarvis finished just behind van Steenbergen, placing 25th.
