Kiara Downhill Domination 2012

Happy April fools everyone, I am sure everyone was quite happy that the Kiara race wasn't a joke with riders turning up from far and wide. A total of 136 participants took part, one of the bigger races we have had in Malaysia to date. FRM, (FreeRide Malaysia) the race organisers and trail builders, really out did themselves this time, a great combination of high speed sections, some nice steep technical sections and just a tad of pedaling to mix it up. Really shows the progression of trail building in Malaysia over the past few years.


With the large amount of riders present, most of race day was spent waiting around. Elites only came down for their final run at close to 5pm. Its the only real critique of an otherwise great race, we really need to start using 30 second intervals for seeding and finals. Makes the sport far better for spectators too.
It did rain over the past few days but it decided to stay dry today with beautiful blue skies welcoming in the month of april. Conditions were pretty much perfect in seeding run, just damp enough to keep the dust down and gives the tires something to dig into. Aaron seeding in 6th with a 3.12, I seeded in 3rd with a 3.08, rizal got a bit unlucky and crashed at the entrance to Bunians. Hong Chun put in an amazing run and seeded first in Elite with a time of 2.59.
With the blue skies and a gentle wind the track dried out further, leaving it pretty much bone dry. Watching the rest of the field coming down it was obvious that it was getting really slippery on the track from the amount of people crossing the line with soiled kit. Rizal too crossed the line with a frown, torn up his pretty new jersey. Just not his day today, crashed at the same place during seeding and warned us about the slippery conditions. He swears there is a stump hiding somewhere there out to get him. Me and Aaron were both pushing to go faster in the finals, Aaron unfortunately caught out on the slippery corners on the bottom of the track. I managed to hit all my lines and pushed hard on the pedaling bits, managed to go 11 seconds faster in the final. I was quite happy with my time, but was kicked out of the hot seat by the next rider down, beating me by 0.3 seconds. No surprise from Hong Chun, he put out an amazing run and went 2 seconds faster than his seeding time, getting a 2.57. It was nice to see a tight elite field, 1.7 seconds separating the top 3.
Back to the drawing board for me and trying to grow some legs again.

-Adam
Fakawi Team Blog

Indonesian National Series (UKDI) round 1

It was the first race of 2012 that we did as a team with Rizal being able to join us last minute. Check out the video below for what we did to his bike! The track at sebex this year was the same as the one used for SEA games last year and shared the same bottom section as last year's APDC track too. It was a pretty tame track, no big drops or jumps, all the risky lines were taped off, word from the organisers is that they didn't want people to start the first race of the season by getting big injuries. There is no two ways about this track, you have to be fit and powerful, its one of those tracks where you have loads of fun in practice but loath it when it comes to racing. Due to the gentle gradient of the track, quick times require a lot of pedaling.

As usual, Aaron, Ian and me were the only 3 riders in elite category on flat pedals. No surprise there as the Indonesian riders have some power in their legs and aren't shy to use it. Practice for me and Ian was pretty relaxed as we knew the track quite well from SEA games last year, nothing really changed since then. We both knew that we just had to let it all hang out and embrace the pain in our legs when it comes time for finals. Aaron and Rizal were getting as much practice as they could and managed to do 8 runs on friday.

Saturday was qualifying with a short morning practice from 6.30 till 8am, we managed to get to the track early enough to put in two practice runs. The track was wet from yesterdays rain but I knew it would be bone dry again in the evening. Rizal in master b expert would have a slightly damp track but not enough to warrant a tire change. With 220 odd riders at the race and 1 minute intervals being used it was a really long wait, probably the worse part of racing that you never really get used to. Everyone had a pretty good seeding run except Aaron who decided to get a bit intimate with a tree. Rizal qualified in 5th and as looking to improve, as usual it was no surprise that all 3 of us in elite were near the bottom. Popo putting in a solid time of 2.20, Ian was the closest with a 2.35. All of us were looking to at least hit the 2.30 mark come race day.

After getting back to our accommodation it decided to rain pretty hard for a couple of hours, we were all dreading a wet track as it would just make the pedaling worse. Mud guards went on and we took out wet tires along for race day just in case. Luckily the weather gods smiled and gave us blue skies all day, the track was only muddy in one small section which dried out for the Elites again. Rizal dug deep and managed to go a few seconds faster, earning him 3rd place. Aaron got a bit unlucky and slid out on one of the corners, otherwise would have been set for a good time. Ian managed to go faster and shockingly pedalled hard, respect as he is the only person i know who hates pedaling more than i do. I too dug deep and managed to go 5 seconds faster. On paper our results don't seem that impressive, but we are right in the mid pack in elite category. Which in indonesia means quite a lot to us with sebex being one of the more pedaly tracks around. A significant difference from last year when we were no where close to even the mid pack elite riders, yet this time 4 seconds faster would have put us on the podium. There is a lot more work to be done but it doesn't seem impossible any more.

Right now the team is back in kl, everyone preparing for the Kiara KDD race this weekend. Stoked to have back to back race weekends, its how it should be! As simple and fun as the kiara track is to ride, it is going to be a challenging track to race on as you really have to keep it on edge the whole way down. Its going to be a great weekend of riding and racing!

Adam.
Visit our Team blog

Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge 2011

Last big race of the season, Fakawi-Banshee goes to Indonesia for the Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge racing alongside World cup riders, Sam Hill, Troy Brosnan, Shaun O'connor and Mitch Delfs.

another video of the team riders' antics..



http://www.FakawiTribe.com

Working at The Office

My team rider and I skipped work this morning to go slog at The Office: the latest addition to Bukit Kiara's extensive mountainbike trails.. located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city.

Enjoy the video.
More videos on our brand new FakawiTribe website...

Banshee AMOK Downhill Race 2011

Every year on Keith Scott's birthday, the Banshee fanboys here in Malaysia run amok.
This year's Banshee AMOK (Absolute Madness Of Kiara) Downhill race was held at the Kiara downhill track- the same track as our last Banshee KIARA RAGE 2010 race.

The race marks the final round of our local 2011 Malaysian DH Super Series.

We had close to 90 eager racers from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, NZ and Australia racing this year.

Our Fakawi Banshee Team had a pretty good race season, with our rider Adam winning the overall series winner (on points) in this race.



Big shout out to Banshee Bikes for sponsoring the prizes in our little AMOK race!
Enjoy the video and pictures!
Race website: BANSHEE AMOK

Banshee AMOK Downhill Race 2011 from Fakawi | Banshee on Vimeo.

The 17th Asian Mountainbike Championships, 2011, in Suzhou

Team Fakawi Banshee rider Adam putting the Legend mkII through its paces at the 2011 (UCI) Asian Continental MTB (DH) Championships at Suzhou, China.

Race results: CyclingNews.com

Rolling down a hill

Fakawi Banshee team rider, Adam on his Legend MK II testing out his DIY POV helmetcam in Cilegon, Bandung DH track.

2011 Malaysian Downhill Super Series- Round 2

Huge racing weekend over here in Putrajaya Malaysia yesterday. About 160 over riders converged here for Round 2 of our national DH series.

Our Elite rider, Adam, came third in Elite Men's behind Tan Hong Chun (Singapore) and winner Daniel Sprague (australia).

Team rider Aaron clinched 2nd in the Men's Expert category.

Here are pics of Banshee riders in action...


More Photos here on FakawiTribe.com

Adam wins top spot - Malaysian DH Super Series 2011- Round 1

Fakawi Banshee team rider Adam Ahmed who won the top elite spot in MDHSS Race#1 at Tokun, Penang. Fellow team member Aim fauzi finished a good 4th also in elite category despite a flat tire! Our junior rider Aaron chan clocked a good time to take 3rd in the expert category. Unlucky Rizal (Expert) busted his knee on the final run.. will be out of action for some time.

Race results and pictures HERE

Banshee Riders Podium at Penang DH Challenge 2010

While our Elite riders busy battling it out in Korea in today's Asian Continental Championships (DH), our team members who stayed behind were busy racing in the Penang Downhill Challenge, the 4th race in our Malaysian DH Super Series.

Our Banshee riders dominated the Expert Category podium with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finish.

MDHSS#4 | Penang DH Challenge 2010 from MDH on Vimeo.

Malaysian Downhill Super Series #4

Penang DH Challenge 2010- "the King of Erskine"



26th September, Mt Erskine, Penang, Malaysia



http://www.FakawiTribe.com

Banshee Kiara Rage..the video

Banshee Kiara Rage 2010

Pic by Keng Mun

Pic by Jay MacNeil

Teams Banshee Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as well as all the regional rippers had a blast at our race last weekend!
Jay was present to give away the Banshee Wildcard to Men's Elite category winner, Aim who won the race in a nail-biting final run in the monsoon rain!

1. Aim Fauzi (ROAM Racing Division) 4:01.027
2. Adam Ahmad Faroze (Fakawi Banshee) 4:03.300
3. Ian Krempl (unsprung Rollick) 4:12.271
4. JR Stanly Jalip (Fakawi Banshee) 4:14.865
5. Pornomo (United Bike Kencana Freeride Junkie Clothing) 4:18.012

more pics and results here BANSHEE KIARA RAGE 2010!

Jay got to satisfy his craving for local curry dishes in the end...