Fort William is one of most demanding courses on the circuit

Halo British Downhill Series race director Simon Paton has praised the performances of two Manx riders at Fort William last weekend.

Tom Skillicorn and Russell Sansom lined up to compete against some of the fastest riders in the world on the fearsome orange-graded course.

Paton told BBC Isle of Man: "It is great to see the Manx riders holding their own against the very best.

"This course is an acid test of a downhill rider and they were quick."

The 2.80 km Scottish course is widely regarded as one of the most physically demanding tracks on the World Cup circuit.

Sansom completed his run in six minutes, 26 seconds to finish 17th out of 34 in the Masters class.

The course must be four or five times longer than the Isle of Man courses they are used to, so they should be really pleased with their performances Simon Paton

Meanwhile, Manx champion Skillicorn recorded a time of 5 minutes, 53 seconds to finish 18th out of 50 in the Seniors.

Sansom added: "It was an amazing event to be involved in. Obviously it was a very long and technical course but I'm pretty happy with my time."

Both riders will return to England for round three of the series to be held at Llangollen in Wales on 27 June.

Chris Kovarik took the overall Elite class victory with Dan Atherton second and Ben Reid completing the podium.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version