Tina Smrdel and Luka Berginc the first DH Peca/Petzen winners

Austria and at least a little bit Slovenia as well have a new downhill race. The first Downhill Peca/Petzen race united the Slovenian 20chocolate Downhill Cup with the auner Austrian Gravity Series.

The organizers from MTB Koroška joined forced with the MTB Zone Petzen trail crew headed by the former downhill and enduro racer Peter Mlinar and built a new downhill track. It is about 2000 m long with a drop of approximately 300 vertical meters. In unites some freshly built forest sections, fast grassy sections on ski slopes and a section on the EWS trail.

The winners of round one of 20chocolate Downhill Cup and round two of auner Austrian Gravity Series are Slovenians: Tina Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) in women’s and Luka Berginc (DH Visit Pohorje) in men’s race.

161 rider from 8 countries zip-tied their number plates to their bikes, the list of starters and finishers in the final run was notably shorter due to heavy conditions.

In the rain the timetable of the single day event was cut short since the organizers agreed with the commissaires to leave out the seeding run. So the final run start list was prepared by just reversing the seeding run start list-with lowest number at the end of the list. The final started at 2 pm.

The track held up well in wet conditions, just some steep and rooted sections ruined the day for some.

Tina Smrdel challenged by U17 girls

In women’s (elite + junior) category the closest rival to Tina Smrdel, the reigning enduro National champions and SloEnduro leader, was Katarina Primožič (BATT) who returned to racing after three seasons of absence. Steffanie Grossmann (Wednesday Riders), a Namibian living in Austria, finished third.

The racing was much tighter in women’s overall category with some fast U17 women on course. The Austrian Rosa Zierl (MTB & Downhill Verein Tirol), the former U15 European champion, was just .96 slower than Smrdel, and the Hungarian Abigel Halmai (Osmos Gravity Team) just 1.75 behind Smrdel.

Tina Smrdel:

»I didn’t expect such an outcome with the U17 girls, I just wanted a fast run for myself. The track was a bit tricky in some parts because of the conditions, but I managed to solve everything and set the fastest time.«

Berginc in a class of his own

Luka Berginc, the 2022 iXS European Cup champion, is knocking on the World Cup door. But after a recent wrist injury he decided to skip Val di Sole and come to Petzen. His main rivals were obvious: Jan Cimperman (MTB Trbovlje), the winner of auner 2023 Austrian Gravity Series round 1 in Bikepark Königsberg, 2022 Slovenia Cup champion and Berginc’s national team mate; Valentin Rohrmoser (Bike Club Schladming Dachstein), 2022 auner Austrian Gravity Series champion and 2nd placed from Königsberg; and Nico Ofner (Radlager Racing Division), the 3rd placed in Königsberg.

Rohrmoser fell behind and finished in 10th place in elite men. Ofner was leading with number 5 plate when Berginc, number 2, improved his time by 6.78. Luka’s time of 2:39.95 remained the fastest even with number 1 Jan Cimperman across the line. Cimperman finished .62 behind Ofner after winning in Königsberg in the end of May he had to settle for third this time.

Luka Berginc:

»I find the track at Peca very good and interesting. It has slow and fast sections, some old school ski slopes, it’s really cool. I didn’t surprise myself with a time under 2 minutes, 40 seconds. If there were more fast riders at the start it would be clear that it can be improved by 5, 6, even 7 seconds. I was riding conservatively, nothing wild, I don’t want to hurt the wrist again.«

»My wrist is not ready for Val di Sole, the track there is rougher with more compressions. It was tough enough here. I’ll be back for the World Cup in the second part of the season.«

»We go for the national titles next weekend. Too bad Jure (Žabjek) is injured, so it should be mostly Žak (Gomilšček), Jan (Cimperman) and myself. It should be interesting, the track at Soriška planina is the best, and the crowd and the atmosphere should also be there.«

The fast U17 Kalinšek and other category winners

The Austrian Christoph Scheffczyk (DH Team Tirol) won in men’s junior (U19) category in front of two Slovenians, Maj Babačič (Calcit Bike Team) in second and Lars Kovačič (ŠD Supersnurf) in third place.

But the winner in men’s U17 category was faster than all the juniors. Slovenian rider Ažbe Kalinšek (Wolf Racing Team by Wheelbase) registered the second fastest time of the day. The Austrian Mo Berka (Sportunion Hinterbrühl) took second and Slovenian Lovro Kojzek (KK Ravne) third in his category. With 39 riders this was also the largest category. The female U17 winner Rosa Zierl is already mentioned above.

Slovenian Tilen Ferk (BATT) won in men’s amateur category while the Austrians kept the wins at home in masters: Jakob Eisner in master 1 and Michael Bader (Velochicks / Trittmeister) in master 2.

In the style of SloEnduro series Jakob Praček (Kamplc Racing Team) stepped on top of the podium in under 15 boys, Anton Zierl (MTB & Downhillverein Tirol) was second and Svit Kunaver Smolkovič (MTB klub Kranj Scott Team) third. Lynn Maria Berger (SCM Pinzgabikers) was the only U15 girl on course.

U13, the youngest category of the series, had a special track at the bottom on the mountain. Gal Novak (KD Rajd) was the fastest of the category.

Soriška planina next and right away!

The riders will have just enough time to clean and lube their bikes and wash and dry their gear. This weekend 20chocolate Downhill Cup stops at Soriška planina for round two. Organized by Soriška planina resort and MTB Železniki club the DH Sor’ca race will be held for the eight time. For third year in a row this will also be the Slovenian Downhill National Championships race.

The 1650 m track from Lajnar mountain with 280 m of vertical drop is a classic by now, yet with some changes every year. The Soriška planina resort with the finish area by the parking lot and the Brunarica (Log house) restaurant next to it is a venue where everyone likes to return.

Luka Berginc, the winner of Peca, is a two times winner at Soriška planina (2017 and 2021). Last year Žak Gomilšček took the title here. This year Jure Žabjek is injured so the all-time ranking of men’s elite National Champions remains unchanged with three riders with four titles each: apart from Žabjek these are Miran Vauh and Janez Grašič. The 6 times National Champion Monika Hrastnik will also be at the start. With some riders injured we are hoping for some SloEnduro riders to show up as well.