First races of ANC series decided

A fun couple of days with mixed weather conditions made for interesting results in the first two races of the Snowboard Cross Australian New Zealand Cup at Mt Hotham last week.

Day one saw cloudy conditions but a fast track for qualifications and the first race of the Cup.

Cam Bolton (AUS) was the stand out making the fastest qualification time, going on to win the men’s race ahead of his fellow countrymen Adam Lambert and Alex Pullin in second and third.

Georgia Baff was unbeatable with the fastest qualification time, going on to take first place.

She was followed by Michaela Davis-Meehan and SSA Emerging Talent Scholarship recipient, Tina Taylor in second and third.

Day two featured one of the best days of the season for Mt Hotham, with great visibility and 10cms of snowfall overnight.

However, conditions were too soft for racing and the event was delayed an hour while the events team did a great job reshaping the course and hard packing the gates for faster racing.

Close calls made for some awesome photo finishes in the heats, though two-time world champion Alex Pullin came up trumps to win ahead of Adam Lambert in second and Matt Thomas in third in the men’s.

In the women’s, Georgia Baff again reigned supreme, though Michaela Davis-Meehan bombed out at the start and Emily Boyce took second and Tina Taylor again in third.

Overall, a really great couple of days set the tone for snowboard cross ahead of races three and four at Mt Hotham in August, followed by the first World Cup events for the 2017-18 season in Argentina in September.

Full results can be checked here.

--- contributed by SSA ---