Santa Cruz Syndicate racer Greg Minnaar headlines the downhill and dual slalom winning both gravity events at the Sea Otter Classic this weekend. Sharing the love with Greg on the downhill podium were teammates Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie placing 4th and 5th respectively, with Chris Kovarik 2nd and Justin Leov 3rd.
Minnaar was on the top blocks in the dual slalom with Steve Peat 2nd, Andrew Neethling 3rd and Kirt Voreis 4th. Minnaar’s double wins this weekend show that he has made a seamless transition to the Syndicate squad and seems to be getting on quite well on his new Santa Cruz bikes.
DUAL SLALOM:
Minnaar surprised himself with his double victories. In the dual slalom he and Peat worked their way through the rounds to meet up in the final guaranteeing 1st and 2nd for the Syndicate.
Minnaar said, "It was great to be in the final with Steve. I was very relaxed having a friend next to me. From that aspect it was pretty cool. I wasn't concerned with crashing or anything knowing the Syndicate had the top two positions regardless of which of us won. I was very happy to win the event. I haven't raced here since 2003, so I'm stoked to be back."
Peat said, "I was happy to make it to the finals. It was a great day for the Syndicate to have two in the final. My Blur 4X was hooking up good. I had tough rounds with EC, Houseman, Voreis, Lopes and then Greg. I had to dig in deep on every round. By finals time my legs were absolutely spent, I had nothing, Greg got lucky!"
DOWNHILL:
The Syndicate racers impressed even themselves on Sunday in the downhill. With Greg picking up another win he had this to say, "At first I never expected to double up. You always race to win, but I didn't expect it, especially in the downhill. I manage to nail all my lines in the final, which I was pretty happy about. Thanks to all the staff and mechanics, and it being the first race of the season it was hectic with new bikes being built and all, and the mechanics did a great job."
Next up for the Syndicate the downhill crew goes to Europe for the World Championship test event, first World Cup and Lisbon Downtown.
DOWNHILL TOP TEN:
GREG MINNAAR: 2:11.2
CHRIS KOVARIK: 2:12.0
JUSTIN LEOV: 2:12.1
STEVE PEAT: 2:13.0
NATHAN RENNIE: 2:13.4
JARED RANDO: 2:13.7
DAN ATHERTON: 2:13.9
JURGEN BENEKE: 2:14.1
ANDREW NEETHLING: 2:14.3
AARON GWIN: 2:14.4