The third and final round of the Marin Winter Series got underway on the 11 February, and by all accounts ended what has been an overwhelmingly popular series. The final round certainly tested rider’s wet weather skills: torrential rain through the night ensured a thoroughly damp and muddy course. Not enough to keep the riders away though, with over 400 in attendance.

The formats very simple, riders can choose from either a two of four hour race, or there’s the fun if that all sounds too serious. Whyte sponsored Luke Smith rode into second place overall, here’s his take on the final round:

“After not finishing a local club ride last Sunday due to illness I was a little concerned over my fitness for the race at Thetford. It was raining throughout the night and when we awoke Sunday morning it was no different: it was a virtual flood. This left the course in a bit of state to say the least.

“The race got underway at a good pace and a group of around eight riders formed a breakaway pack. After a couple of laps we were down to just five riders, then another dropped off the pace and we were down to just four.

“The mud infested course made the racing tough and gradually all the riders had dropped off without any major attacks. Unfortunately for me the eventual winner managed to escape in exactly the same way, when we were making our way through some back markers. He managed to form a bit of a gap and this was enough – faced with the quagmire conditions of the course – to stay ahead despite my best efforts to catch him.

“Marin rider Billy Whenman and I managed to ride together for the next few laps until Billy started to suffer slightly from cramp. Sadly, he was subsequently caught and overtaken by the eventual third placed rider who also caught me on my final lap.

“I had slowed slightly to avoid going out for another lap but I was confident I still had some strength in me for a sprint finish. I rode with him (Whenman) to the finish area where we gave the crowd a dramatic sprint finish and – thankfully – I had the strength in me to hold him at bay.

“Second place was a sufficient result to take the overall series win – which I am extremely pleased with. Hopefully it’s a good indication of things to come for the forthcoming season!

“Big thanks for everyone’s support during the series. All the Whyte Racing team lads are ace.”

Not content with just hearing from the sharp end of the race, we sent along our own Chris Smith to carve through the mud. Here’s his report aboard a Marin Attack Trail borrowed from our friends at ATB Sales:

“The course was very different to the last one on the other side of the road. The wet weather had made even the Thetford mud sticky and draggy. This made the whole race feel like it was going uphill. Still I had fun sliding around on the roots and there were still some flowing bits of singletrack in-between the superglue mud. There were less people this time but the racing was still fast and furious at the front, and for us mere mortals slower and stickier.

“The mud seemed to get stickier as the course dried, but this might have just been my tired legs. The race felt like the first half was predominantly downhill and the second half predominantly uphill. In fact, I never knew Thetford could be made to feel so hilly. Top marks to the guys for making use of all the natural terrain. I especially liked the magic carpet and landing lights singletrack (cracking names too!).

“There seemed to be a lot of people suffering from the inclement conditions under tyre, but I have to say it was another very smoothly ran race by the race organisers, and most people seemed to finish with a smile as well as a lot of mud on their face.

“Personally, my race went a lot better than my preparation. The Marin attack Trail was faultless, and I finished 4th in the Fun race. Next time I may even make the podium!

Full results and details of future races www.thetfordmtbracing.com