Benny Power puts Legend on the Podium in Australia

I raced the final round of the Queensland State DH Series 2009 in Townsville North Queensland Australia on Sunday just gone and after a weekend of dramas including broken World Cup forks, broken rear hub axle and seized rear Code brakes I managed to win the Under 19 Men category. Dad & I travelled 3,000km to compete in this event and as a result of the win I have been crowned Queensland State Series Winner Under 19 Men 2009 with 1 x 1st and 3 x 3rd raced over 4 rounds at different tracks throughout Queensland.

The pressure was on after all the breakages and Dad was working overtime in the Pits rebuilding my bike several times. On my final practice run I managed to crash and busted up my forearm but Dad then played nurse and got me back on the bike for my qualifying run which I won by almost 12 seconds. I had a clean race run and won by 8.5 seconds in very tough conditions because the track is 3km long, very loose, steep, dusty and extremely technical. My race time was 5m 34sec which would have placed me 4th in Elite. The Legend is just that, a bloody Legend and just super cool to ride - bring on the Australian National Series later this year because I can't wait to race this baby amongst the band of Santa Cruz V10's, Specialized, Morewood, Ironhorse and other popular bikes competing.

A Legend (Banshee) In Sunny Queensland - Australia

Hey Guy's,

My new Legend arrived recently and has been built by master bike constructor, Darren Bowman of Brisbane Boutique Bikes. Whilst the bike has not been raced as yet (next weekend in round 3 Sunshine Series at Toowoomba) I have put it through it's paces at Clear Mountain Brisbane riding with Rhys Willemse and Tamryn Murrell and it performed way beyond my expectations!! The ride is awesome with the Legend's geometry, so much so that smashing berms and hitting big drops is like riding a cushion airbag and the steering is more precise than I expected. The rear end sticks to the ground like s**t to a blanket and just gives you so much confidence to go harder and faster - bring on the races!! I have attached a couple of photos of me and the bike in action at Clear Mountain.

Benny Power - Brisbane Australia

Benny Power - Brisbane Australia

Queensland Sunshine Series Round 1 - Downhill 2009 - Kenilworth

Hey Guys,

Well, our 2009 Queensland State Series (Sunshine Series) commenced last weekend and round 1 was conducted at Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Track conditions were very dry, dusty and loose which lead to numerous stacks and carnage. I have decided to up the ante' and race Under 19 Junior Men this season in an attempt to improve my riding. During my qualifying run I caught the rider in front and despite much abuse hurled at him he failed to give way and subsequently crashed right in front of me in Carnage Canyon. This resulted in me crashing over the top of him and losing precious seconds but I still managed to qualify 3rd last!!

Onto the race run and I was getting real nervous sitting up the top of the mountain for 1.5 hours due to problems with the timing devices!! Anyway I got underway and had a great run down on the Banshee Scythe and ended up on the podium in 3rd place - a good start to Under 19's.

Next month (April) we head to round 2 which is to be held on my home track at Illinbah where I hope to gain a small advantage because I love the track with all its roots and rocks!!! Until then, safe riding.

cheers,

Benny

Aussie Nationals Rd 5 - Hobart

Well guy's, the Aussie National Series Round 5 has been run and won which winds up the series for 2008/09. It is a long way to travel from Brisbane Queensland to Hobart Tasmania even by air but Dad & I got there on Thursday afternoon last week in time to walk the track which runs off the side of Mount Wellington.









I am racing one of the 2 Banshee Scythe's painted in World team colour red & white. The series has been a mixed one for me as I crashed in round 1 at Adelaide South Australia but still placed 15th, then onto Illinbah Queensland for round 2 where I placed 3rd but suffered a grade 2 tear of the calf muscle which put me out for 8 weeks. I missed round 3 and headed into round 4 at Mount Buller Victoria (close to the bad fires) very much lacking fitness but managed to finish 7th which had me placed 10th overall leading into the final round last Sunday. Practice at round 5 Hobart was going great until late Saturday afternoon when I suffered a severe mechanical and it seemed I was unable to race the next day. Many frantic phone calls and my good mate & Banshee racer, Ryan Hunt offered me his Legend to race in the Under 17 men division. I managed to get 2 practice runs in on Sunday morning whilst swapping number plates with Ryan so that he could get some practice runs and his seeding run in. I then went up for my race run and whilst I was very conscious of not wanting to damage Ryans bike I placed 5th which placed me into outright 6th for the series - I am as happy as a pig in sh*t and cannot wait until next weekend when our State Rounds (Sunshine Series) commences. My sponsor, Darren Bowman (Brisbane Boutique Bikes) is building up his own Banshee Scythe for me to ride until mine is fixed (thanks Darren - you are a champion!!)


On a final note, it was a great National Series and I met some awesome guy's out there riding Banshee Legends such as Ryan Hunt and Ben Nylen and I hope I can return the favours to these guys in years to come when they have a problem.




cheers all,

Benny Power