Patrick Laffey steps up to Devinci Unior Factory Racing
Vancouver Island set to take on downhill 2020 downhill World Cup calendar with new team
Patrick Laffey is joining the big leagues. The 18-year-old Vancouver Island rider is the latest Canadian junior to move up to a factory team for the coming World Cup season. Laffey will be riding with Devinci Unior Factory Racing in 2020.
The upgrade to Factory Team support comes after a standout 2019 season for Laffey, and the Canadian squad of junior downhill racers in general.
At his first World Cup appearance in Fort William, Scotland, Laffey finished third. He landed two more World Cup podiums over the course of the season. Those results put the young Canadian fifth overall in the 2019 standings.
Laffey’s upgrade to Devinci Unior Factory Racing isn’t the only big move for the Canadian downhill squad. Earlier in January, Seth Sherlock announced he would be riding on Intense Factory Racing.
The Comox Valley downhill racer is the latest in a growing wave of riders to emerge from the small group of towns on Vancouver Island, across disciplines. Downhill, enduro, cross country, cyclocross and even a few road racers with Rally Cycling have all stormed out of the Courtenay-Comox-Cumberland triangle to find success on the international stage.
Patrick Laffey: Unior Devinci Factory RacingÂ
From Devinci Unior Factory Racing:
“The young Vancouverite surprised many last year during his first races in the World Cup. The 18-year-old Laffey joins the UDFR with an impressive track record: three Junior Top-5s in five World Cups, good for fifth place in the overall ranking of the Series”
Video : Scott Secco
