April 22nd, 2008
~ Sea Otter Classic 2008 has been a huge success for Fionn and
Griffiths Racing! Coming into the season opener Fionn felt fit and
ready to prove it. The Sea Otter tracks are renowned for being pedally
and putting your off-season training to the test.
So how did Fionn shape up? It was a double podium weekend for our British rider taking 3rd in the Dual Slalom and 2nd in the DH!
The
weekend started with the weather finally cooperating for riders,
showing some sun and keeping the temperatures to a reasonable level for
all those hanging in the pits. DH practice was smooth and enjoyable
Thursday and Friday with Fionn enjoying her new Norco Six, which would
prove to be the perfect bike for the Sea Otter DH. In past years Fionn
has struggled with bike choice between her 4X and her Team DH, but the
Six eliminated those questions! She was ripping it up all week with a
smile on her face.
Racing
started Saturday with Dual Slalom. With Sabrina Jonnier, Anneke
Beerten, Melissa Buhl, Mio Suemasa and Rachel Atherton all on course
(just to name a few) Fionn had to set the pace straight away. She came
out and qualified hard, putting herself 4th fastest. Racing was tough.
Her draw was Leanna Gerrard and with some fast pedal action Fionn was
able to advance. Kathy Pruitt was ready for Fee next round and pushed
her hard to the line every time, but with long time friend Tara Llanes
watching Fee at the bottom, she dug a little deeper and took Kathy on
both courses.
Next
round was Sabrina Jonnier. The current World Champion has won the Sea
Otter dual 4 years running and would prove to be too much for Fionn,
narrowly knocking her out in both heats and sending Fionn into the
small final where she would face UK rival Rachel Atherton. Rachel is a
fast, powerful rider out of the UK and Fionn had her work cut out for
her.
First
heat was a close call with Rachel just edging Fionn out for the lead.
However the final heat was a mix-match of sprints and errors which left
the girls battling for the lead right to the bottom. Fionn was able to
edge Rach out just enough to make up the differential and take the
bronze medal for the day.
Results:
Sabrina Jonnier - 1st
Melissa Buhl - 2nd
Fionn Griffiths - 3rd
Rachel Atherton - 4th
DH
was just as exciting with all the ladies pushing their legs and lungs
to the limit. However it would prove to be Melissa Buhl's legendary
sprint that would set the bar for the Ladies DH. Melissa took the win
by just over a second with Fionn busting a lung right behind her.
Results:
Melissa Buhl - 1st
Fionn Griffiths - 2nd
Sabrina Jonnier - 3rd
Racheal Atherton - 4th
All
in all the weekend was a HUGE success. We are now on our way to the UK
to prep for this next weekend's UK National Series race. Thanks to all
our sponsors for the help getting Fionn and myself ready for racing.
A special thanks to Kevin Haviland from Norco for all his help wrenching!
| 
