racing

Crankworx Cairns '22

Australian Yeti / Shimano EP Racing Team rider, Mick Hannah pulled out all the stops this past weekend at Crankworx: Cairns, competing in the Whip-Off, Pump Track, and taking first in the Dual Slalom, and third in Downhill. “I wanted to do as much as I could at my home race”, said Hannah.

Crankworx Cairns Downhill

Seated third behind Troy Brosnan and Connor Fearon, and it was the same 1,2,3 for the final. I was hoping to win for sure. I made a couple of little mistakes but not sure it would have made enough of a difference. Troy was riding fast. But I am glad I made the podium; I would have been really sad to miss out on that here in Cairns.

Crankworx Dual Slalom Cairns

The Dual Slalom and the Downhill are the two events I knew I could do well at. I’ve got the SB140 set up really well for Dual Slalom too after doing a few races on it.
Mick Hannah

The Dual Slalom was really high speed and had no breaking. It was quite technical because of how fast and dialed the berms were. You could hit them kind of at an unlimited speed. They also threw a wall ride in the middle that added a lot of technicality to the course. Then at the end of the course, the last turn was just a flat gravely turn that you really had to slow down for - so you go from as fast as you can not breaking and getting your timing right to hitting the last turn really patiently right before the finish which drew out a lot of mistakes made for some good racing.

Bas and I had really good first runs, and I finished with a half-second gap which was more than enough. The left course for me was faster than the right, so I knew I just needed to be close to Bas in the second run. When I came out of the last turn, I was within range, and then Bas dabbed a foot. I knew I had him covered after I had executed that corner as I wanted to; with good drive coming out, I was able to coast to the finish. It was a nice way to finish the week in front of the home crowd.
Mick Hannah

It was really awesome to be back in Australia, and in our hometown and getting to race the Crankworx festival here. The support was amazing, and I'm really looking forward to it here next May.