In Review: SSE Grand Prix Series 2011

With the Pendle GP event missing from the calendar the Snowsport England Grand Prix series reverted to a 5 race format in 2011. Indeed with three indoor events and two outdoors the series reflected the general trend amongst the summer alpine race community towards the indoor racing surface.

The first event hosted by ERSA at the ever impressive Norfolk Ski Centre produced a feast of top racing with a number of new names and faces looking to challenge the group of established GP contenders. Experience prevailed however at old faces Andrew Watson and Charlotte Gould proved too good for their rivals, despite a series of notable challenges. Hannah Bozier, Alex Bullock and Alice Hales all looked capable of challenging at the halfway stage but a sublime 2nd run from Gould and DNF’s from Hales and Bullock proved decisive. The male race followed a similar pattern with a number of old names and faces dominating. Tom Hales, Davis Hatcher and Dan Curtis all got their GP campaigns up to impressive starts but Watson proved too good, sneaking just inside his Cardiff team mate Hales for the win.

The series then moved north for its second event with Silksworth’s immense hill providing the racers with a contoured and somewhat windswept challenge. Again Charlotte Gould was to be found looking to place herself in and around the winners enclosure but had to settle for 2nd as her Telford team mate Alexandra Bullock dominated proceedings to ease to her maiden GP overall win. Inevitably Alice Hales also forced herself into contention in 3rd, just denying Emma Peters the opportunity to complete an overall 1-2-3 for the Telford team. The male race was blown wide open by 1st run failures for Andrew Watson and Michael Molloy and in the end it was David Hatcher who capitalised, blending raw speed with consistency to take the win just ahead of Daniel Curtis and Andrew Davies.

With the outdoor events now completed the series returned back south and relocated into the oldest indoor venue on the race calendar in Milton Keynes. In the ladies race the series found its third different winner of the season as Caroline Powell produced the decisive moment of the race with a fine second run that proved too good for runner up Charlotte Gould. Francesca Lee’s stunning 2nd run proved enough for the Ravens athlete to claim 3rd with Florence Bell and Megan Jenkins completing the top 5. In the male event James Greenwood proved far too strong and quick for his opponents, and whilst Matt Thompson proved able to match Greenwood’s 2nd run time you couldn’t help but feel it was a little too late as the knockout blow had already been landed. Andrew DuPlessis flew the flag for the multi surface athletes in 3rd with James Knock & Elliot Simpson following suit to complete the top 5.

For the penultimate challenge of the series Manchester’s magnificent Chill Factor played host. Again the indoor only athletes were certainly looking to make hay upon the surface which they are most comfortable on and they again most certainly achieved this, not least Sega Fairweather who impressively marked her return to GP action by dominating the event and easing to victory with more than a second to spare. Indeed with runner up Beth Widdup, Caroline Powell and Megan Jenkins all placing in the overall top 5, only Charlotte Gould proved able to mount any kind of serious challenge from the field of active outdoor contenders. The male event also followed a similar pattern with Gerard Flahive and Andrew Davies flying the outdoor challenge but finishing well shy of James Greenwood’s impressive winning mark and Eliya Rubin-Beelaert’s second placed time.

Hemel’s rather plush and spectator friendly indoor facility played host to the final event and Charlotte Gould added a bit of symmetry to proceedings by adding victory in the final event to the one achieved at the first race of the series. Indeed only Gould denied a rampaging pack of impressive children 2 girls with the foursome of Megan Jenkins, Yasmin Cooper, Emma Peters and Francesca Lee completing a somewhat youthful top 5. In the male event Calum Henderson’s fantastic 2nd run denied James Greenwood and hat trick of overall wins and an indoor clean sweep, who in turn pushed Matt Thompson into 3rd. Andrew DuPlessis again impressed with a 4th place and home racer James Grant completed the top 5.

In the overall standings Charlotte Gould dominated the series, top five placing in each event on top of racking up two overall victories proved far too consistent for her rivals. Francesca Lee also proved a model of consistency, amassing impressive results at each event whilst a solitary mistake at Milton Keynes cost Emma Peters the chance to improve on 3rd. Andrew Davies was rewarded for a season of consistent finishes with overall victory in the male series. James Greenwood’s impressive indoor performances were enough to earn him 2nd overall with David Hatcher placed 3rd.

In the Categories Telford racer Grace Williams claimed 1st in children 1 with Megan Riley 2nd & 3rd respectively. Ravens’ Francesca Lee proved too good for the rest of chi 2 however both Emma Peters and Megan Jenkins pushed her hard. In the junior categories Telford racer Ellen Brown claimed 1st in jun 1 with team mate Alex Bullock & Sophie Ogden in 2nd & 3rd. Charlotte Gould added to Telford honours in jun 2, also edging team mate Charlotte Shrimpton and Caroline Powell into 2nd & 3rd. Loughborough’s Jemima Barnes took the honours in the senior category ahead of Emily Goddard and Rachel Bill whilst Hemel’s Kerry Turnock won the masters event in front of Vivien Hanson & Judy Read.

The two early wins from Pendle’s Declan Huppach allowed him to control the destiny of the chi 1 title with Kristofer Berglindarson and Finlay Davis completing the podium. In the older children’s category Telford’s Jordan Fellows pocketed the chi 2 overall crown followed by Robert Poth and Nicholas Phelps. Chris Yates made it 5 overall Telford GP winners with the Jun 1 overall with team mate Ashley Breese pushing him close in 2nd. Overall third place was shared between Max Baggio, Barney Lewis and James Sieber. Andrew Davies ensured Cardiff representation on the winners rostrum with success in jun 2 in front of Matt Thompson and James Grant whilst Aldershot racer James Greenwood captured the senior title ahead of David Hatcher and Andrew DuPlessis. It was a Ravens 1-2 in the Masters category as Claude Farron squeezed out Andrew Hjort with Rob Hales claiming 3rd.

This summer brings the SSE GP series to close as we look forward to the GBR race series in 2012.