This weekend, on Saturday, July 1st, it finally begins! After April’s »test event« at Golovec trails we are starting the 20chocolate Downhill Cup, the Slovenian downhill series, at Petzen, Austria.
The first DH Peca race will be held on a freshly built track in MTB Zone Bikepark Petzen. The race will also be a part of auner Austrian Gravity Series, therefore we are continuing the partnership with the Austrian series which started with joint events at Kope. This will be this year’s round two of the Austrian series. The first round was held in Bikepark Königsberg where the Slovenian Jan Cimperman (MTB Trbovlje) won in men’s elite category.
The new track
The new track was built by former downhill racer and enduro pioneer Peter Mlinar who is now a mamber of Petzen bike park crew. It is roughly 2000 m long with a vertical descent of 300 m. It includes newly built forest sections, fast grassy parts on ski slopes and a section of the EWS trail. Don’t let that confuse you, it’s a real downhill track, requiring a real downhill bike. The finish is at Emmi’s Mosthütte, about a 20 min (1.4 km) hike from Petzen gondola base station and parking where the race office will also be set.
Nothing tells more about the track than the video recorder by Austrian rider Nico Ofner the past weekend. It was the first chance to ride the track. The track will again be open for riding on Friday June 30. Then on Saturday the offical training will be held until 1 pm, followed by the seeding run starting at 2 pm and the final run at 4.30.
The registration is open until Thursday night.
A week and a day later, on Sunday July 9, the second race of 20chocolate Downhill Cup will be held at Soriška planina. The DH Sor’ca is also this year’s Slovenian National Championships race.