Events: '08 Bromont WC DH Results.

Scariest moment of the race for me was seeing Fionn Griffiths slip a pedal whilst flat out and headed my way. Colin Meagher

In the men's qualifying, the big boys were still looking less than smooth. It was qualifying, so no one was really taking chances; course conditions just meant survival. Greg Minnaar was first, making two bobbles that I saw. Nothing major, but he just didn't look that "on it". Sam Hill was next and ghosted over the same section with nary a wiggle of his tires--must have had magic Maxxis tires… Bottom line? Pretty much no one got a clean run except Sam, and even he conceded that his run wasn't mint. Top qualifiers were Sam Hill in 2:46.79, followed by Steve Peat and then Fabien Barel both about a half second back, and then Gee Atherton and Greg Minnaar.

Finals:
For the women's final the ladies came through the upper section of the track, immediately below the big drop pretty damn pinned. In short, it was game time and the ladies were giving it 100 percent for the win. Rider after rider rattled through that notch immediately above me and barely got out unscathed. Eventual winner Rachel Atherton almost clipped a tree just below me, but sorted herself out quickly and kept it pinned enough to stop the clock at 3:14.35. The rest of the podium was rounded out by Sabrina Jonnier (+2.29), Tracy Moseley (+3.33), top qualifier Emmeline Ragot (+3.80), and Florian Pugin (+10.91).

In the men's final, things got going with the roar of distant thunder threatening to shut the lifts down, so there was a bit of a rush to get up top. Which was good, ‘cause the brief rain during the women's finals added just the right amount of lubrication to make things a bit dicier on the open sections of the track. More than a few riders ate some dirt--I don't think anyone had a mistake-free run. Times dropped the way times do until Sam Hill, the last rider down, punched the clock at 2:42.14--almost 4.5 seconds faster than his qualifying time. And 2.70 seconds faster than Greg Minnaar's second. Steve Peat took third, followed by Gee Atherton and Marc Beaumont.

"It’s not really fun unless you take some chances, you know?"; Sam Hill commenting on his winning run. Colin Meagher