Luke Meier-Smith (Australia) and Jenna Hastings (New Zealand) claimed the elite wins at the second downhill round of the Oceania Mountain Bike Continental Series, held as part of Crankworx Christchurch in New Zealand.

Malik Boatwright (New Zealand) and Indy Deavoll (New Zealand) claimed the under 19 races.

Heavy rain early in the week didn’t stop exciting performance with the trail builders expertly preparing the trails for racing.

The upper part of the course forced riders to fly over exposed rock and off-camber slabs, while the lower part offered dry, fast and deceptively simple run to the finish.

A persistent headwind meant riders had another challenge to race on the lower part of the course.

Downhill Rankings after Round 2

Elite Men
1 Luke MEIER-SMITH (AUS) 4:23.888
2 Lachlan STEVENS-MCNAB (NZL) 4:26.979
3 Finnley ILES (CAN) 4:30.942

Meier Smith was in a league of his own stopping the clock, three seconds faster than his closest rival Lachlan Stevens-McNab (New Zealand) with Canada’s Finnley Iles a further two seconds back.

Oli Clark continues to lead the series on 108 points, following a win in the opening round and 12th here.

Elite Women
1 Jenna HASTINGS (NZL) 5:16.021
2 Eliana HULSEBOSCH (NZL) 5:18.547
3 Sian A’HERN (AUS) 5:27.400

2022 junior world champion Hastings produced a stellar ride to stop the clock in 5mins 16.021secs to take the win ahead of multiple junior world championship medallist Ellie Hulsebosch (New Zealand). Sian A’hern completed the podium in third.

A fifth place finish sees Kate Hastings (New Zealand) sit on 130 points with a dominant 33-point lead at the half way point.

Junior Men
1 Malik BOATWRIGHT (NZL) 4:33.835
2 Felix GRIFFITHS (GBR) 4:44.428
3 Jonty WILLIAMSON (NZL) 4:47.859

A dominant win by Boatwright by over 10 seconds has seen him rocket to the top of the series standings on 30 points. Second went to Felix Griffiths (Great Britain) with Jonty Williamson (New Zealand) in third.

Junior Women
1 Indy DEAVOLL (NZL) 5:27.575
2 Ursula SUMMERS (NZL) 5:33.177
3 Kiera VLAAR (NZL) 5:41.687

Deavoll turned second in the opening round to the win in Christchurch by over five seconds. With two rounds down she sits at the top of the series standings on 55 points. Second went to Ursula Summers (New Zealand) with round one winner Kiera Vlaar (New Zealand) in third.