World Cup 2018 - Fort William, Scotland
In the western Scottish highlands lies the town of Fort William, an area known for whisky, its love for downhill racing, and for having one of the longest, roughest, and most-storied tracks on the World Cup.
Before the first bike hit the Highlands dirt, the news started to fly. The Syndicate’s prototype V10 lit up the Internet, Greg announced that he would be out of the race due to injury and, with the seven-time Fort William winner out of the lineup, speculation flew about who was going to take the lead. The young guns of the Syndicate would have to step up.
Qualifiers were met with afternoon showers and fresh rain on the track. Luca and Loris adapted to the changing conditions, kept it fast and smooth, and finished 1st and 3rd. Only five seconds separated the top ten riders at the end of qualis which, along with a huge question mark on the weather, meant it was still anybody’s race.
Fortunately the skies would clear and Saturday’s rain would actually improve the track conditions for Sunday’s showdown. With a crew spectating at Fort William and live watch parties in the Santa Cruz factory showroom and The Hub in Pisgah, NC anticipation was building as everyone hoped for fast, clean runs from the boys and their prototype V10s.
Loris put together an impressive run but a slight dab in the new woods section would slow him down just enough to keep him off the top step. He would finish second on the day, his best elite result to date. The quickest man in qualifying and last out of the gate in finals, Luca would put down a lightning fast first split (up by a second) before falling victim to a flat tire. He would pick his way down the hill to 59th place, but remains 6th in the overall standings.
| Final Results | ||
| Loris Vergier - 2nd | Luca Shaw - 59th (Mechanical) | Greg Minnaar - DNS (Injury) |
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Peaty would like to officially welcome you to Fort William.
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Joe, Loris, Luca, Greg, and Peaty's moustache. Track walk is a family affair.
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The fastest man in qualifiers. Second place at the World Cup season opener in Losinj was just the taste #Dinoshaw needed. He was hungry for more.
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When you're only a second from the lead in qualifiers, it lights a fire. Loris on the hunt.
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Twice the chainlove goes a long way when you're dodging boulders in Scotland.
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Kiran MacKinnon (58th place; 28th qualifying): Santa Cruz Engineering tech, the man to beat on the Pro GRT right now, and one hell of a Napolean Dynamite impersonator.
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Hard to pass up an opportunity to toss a bike sideways on a World Cup track. Sam Dale (26th) took a break from the EWS to jump back in the mix at his local World Cup.
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Gotta get up to get down. 10 and 2 plates making their way to finals.
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Makin' shapes even with a flat
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Old dog on hand to keep the pups' heads up.
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Consistency, focus, and a well-timed tripod kept Loris on track for the second step.
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Nothing to do here but tuck it and huck it.
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2nd place at Fort William moves Loris into 2nd in overall, and just 4 points out of first!
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Reserve DH protos laced to the toughest hubs in the business—ready to roll to Leogang in a little less than a week. Yewww!
- In case you missed it, the first 2018 episode of THE SYNDICATE dropped recently. Watch it on Youtube >
