This past weekend saw the latest Downhill World Cup go down in Switzerland, and despite having some of the most ruthless conditions this year, Unit athletes Chris Kovarik and Claire Buchar scored some great results. Claire with a 7th and Chris a 9th. Check out Chris' blog from the event below...

This weekend I was in Switzerland/Champery for the 4th round of the downhill mtb World Cup, the weekend was going to be a tough one for everyone as we all know the track is the steepest, gnarliest on the circuit and plus it usually thunderstorms in the afternoon just to make it worse.

My practice started off well on thursday as the track was dry and it was easy to get a feel of the bike, on a track like this you barely have to take a pedal stroke because its so gravity fed so it was cool rolling the whole track and then hitting the high speed doubles at the finish.

Friday was qualifying and sure enough the rain came down and it was on and off all day just to keep the track slippery as hell. Practice went well, i was loving the muddy conditions, i got my lines down and i was running full spike tyres with low pressures to get as much grip as i could in the thick mud. During my run i hit a turn only to get halfway around it to find it had been blown out so my front wheel slid down off the edge and i went over the bars, i crawled back up and got on my bike with a hand full of mud and managed to qualify 27th.

Saturday race day i was pumped and ready to conquer the beast of a mountain, that had a number of riders helicoptered off the track with broken bones, cuts and concussions. The track was still a mudfest as it had rained all night and at one stage during practice it was like riding a river down the track. On my second practice run that morning i hit one of the big doubles at the bottom of the course, i slid up the take-off and was whipped out but landed too sideways and got high sided off the bike at high speed, i was a train wreck wrapped in course tape and mud. I got to the pits to discover i had a 2 inch gash in my shin to the bone and a corked calf muscle, i got it cleaned up by the medics, went back to the pits and geared up for the final.

I got to the top of the mountain a little earlier to give my leg a good warm up on the wind trainer so it wasnt so stiff before my run. All was good i took off out of the start gate and rode pretty solid start to finish not stalling and without many mistakes or coming off the bike. In the end i finished 9th on the day and was pumped to finally get a top 10 which is my first this year, i'm hoping my leg heals up before next weeks world cup race in Italy / Val Di Dol which is another crazy track!

My team also won team of the day, making the most points out of all the riders so we all got to stand on the podium and spray a little champagne!

Later!

• By Allan H

---

We took a camera along to the final round of the MX Nationals at Coolum and snapped a few sweet shots, even though the weather was absolutely dismal. Enjoy! All pics by Simon Makker

Cool Air Kawasaki's Billy MacKenzie (#211), Todd Waters (#47) and 2010 Pro Open champ Jay Marmont (#1) fight for holeshot honours during one of the four back-to-back 15-minute motos.



Unit rider and local Sunny Coast hero Ford Dale gets in some autograph practice just before he went out and dominated the Pro Lites class.



The step-down double after the straight-away is one big mutha! Tye Simmonds (#42) overtakes a rival by heading to the stratosphere.



The final round of the national motocross always brings industry icons and legends out of the woodwork. V8 Supercars god Craig Lowndes catches up with mutli-time Australian enduro hardman Brad "Wonka" Williscroft after the Vets moto.



The Under-19 class has gone from a support act to a high-profile series in just a few short years. Check the media scrum around the podium after Josh Cachia wrapped up the title at Coolum.



Jay Marmont was at his smooth, consistent best on his way to winning his third Pro Open title in three years.



Scotland's Cool Air Kawasaki rider Billy MacKenzie ponders what could have been after losing the title fight to Marmont by just 13 points. Billy did his best by winning the round Overall, but it wasn't quite enough.



The rapid-fire 15-minute motos meant for some super-tight racing in the Pro Open class.



CDR Rockstar Yamaha's Cheyne Boyd always has time for the fans.

• By Simon M

---

Dane Searls skipped the Dew Tour this year and headed over to Germany for the big jump contest 'Big In Bavaria'. With the lure of big jumps and big prize money, Dane couldn't refuse the offer, and ended up coming home with first place, $12,000 cash and a 30L keg of Bavarian beer!

Dane is now back in Sydney with a week off, before tripping make up to the Gold Coast, where he will be putting the final touches on his personal mega jumps. We can't wait to see him ride those things!

For more details on 'Big In Bavaria', you can read the full story now at FATBMX.COM

• By Allan H

---