The 2011 UCI Men's Downhill world champion Danny Hart will race this year’s RHL Weston Beach Race on October 9-11.
Danny who is ranked 7th in this year’s UCI world championship has had a solid year so far after racing to victory in the 2015 British Cycling National Mountain Bike Downhill Championships in Llangollen - the big question is, can the Redcar based MTB downhill ace ride a motocross bike?
Dan we know you can ride a MTB but can you ride a motocross? “I have always ridden motocross, I ride every winter with a good group of lads from up north, so yeah I would say I can hold my own on a MX bike, I have been riding MX for longer than I have DH.”
Obviously balance is all part of riding on two wheels, do you find a difference between the two disciplines? “The thing with downhill is you have to be good at choosing lines because you cannot just get straight back up to speed on a MTB because you have no engine, whereas on a MX bike if you mess one corner up it isn't as big of a deal because you just twist the throttle and get back on it again.”
If you’ve never seen Danny ride then you need to watch Danny Hart's 2011 World Championship Winning Downhill Run at Champery and watched by over 3m fans - incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYgAX6D43Q
Your season so far has been pretty solid, British champion again, how is the worlds and the rest going for you this year? “Well the season has just ended for the World Cups, and I ended up 7th overall which is decent as I missed 1 of the 7 rounds with an injury. Winning the national champs was great, I have not done that since I was a kid, so it was good to do it again.”
Will you put in a few extra sessions in the sand before Weston? “Yeah my girlfriend’s parents live in Belgium, so I will hopefully go over there for some sand riding!”
Fitness shouldn’t be an issue, what sort of training off the bike will you do in the build up to the race? “Riding the bike a lot, I don't think you can beat it, I can't wait to be on the bike, I haven't ridden all summer and can't wait to get back on my MX bike.”
Danny its awesome that you’re racing this RHL Weston Beach, see you on the beach on October 9-11.
Follow Danny as he prepares for this year’s RHL Weston Beach Race on his social media sites.
Instagram https://instagram.com/dannyhart1 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dannyhartfanpage Twitter https://twitter.com/DannyHart1