Innerleithen: Ms Mondraker team, sponsored by Marzocchi, dominates the overall rankings after the third race of iXS European Cup
One week after the World Cup in Fort William it was the second big downhill spectacle in Scotland.
June 17th - One week after the World Cup in Fort William it was the second big downhill spectacle in Scotland. Only the weather wasn't up for any racing this weekend, and as a consequence this stop will make history as the wettest race this season. The course was modified exclusively for this race, and was still well ridable despite the wet conditions. Local hero and current British Champion Ruaridh Cunningham (GBR - Alpine Bikes Racing) showed off all his qualities and secured the last starting place in the finals in Saturday's seeding run.
Mud tyres were first choice again on Sunday, although it stopped raining for the finals. After his crash on Saturday Brook MacDonald hit the course a bit earlier and finished faster than anybody in the seeding run on the day before. He could make himself comfortable for quite a while, and it almost looked like he will stay in the lead until the end. Robin Wallner (SWE - Team Are Bike Park Sweden) was the first one to come very close, but didn't beat his time in the end. The next one to miss the fastest time by only 5 tenths of a second was Lewis Buchanan (GBR - Chain Reaction Cycles). Markus Pekoll (AUT - MS Mondraker Team), one who can cope very well with conditions like those in Innerleithen, was next to beat the fastest time. Finishing with the second fastest time in the seeding run he showed on Saturday that he was ready to attack again after his problems in the last races. But he too couldn't beat MacDonald's time and missed the podium. The last one to finish was Cunningham, and it was pretty clear when he hit the final berms on the muddy meadow that he is going for the win. He finished in 3:02.056 min with more than 3 seconds ahead of MacDonald and took the win, so in the end it was Cunnigham first, MacDonald second, Buchanan third, followed by Wallner and Pekoll. The MS Mondraker Team managed to take all three spots in the overall rankings, with MacDonald first, Damien Spagnolo (FRA) second and Pekoll with only one point difference at three.








