Propain Factory Racing 2020 | Training Camp – Lousa, Portuga
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The Propain Factory Racing jumps into 2020 season with the first Training Camp in Lousa. It’s time for the mechanics to unbox brand new race bikes and first time for riders to get the suspension dialed in and find the best setup of the bikes. It’ also the perfect time for the two new additions to the team: New Zealand’s George Brannigan and Australia’s Luke Meier-Smith, who join Henry Kerr and Luke Williamson to get up to speed:
Both Luke Williamson and Luke Meier-Smith are back for second year Junior, as Henry and George are ready to race in Men Elite field.
Luke Meier – Smith – the talented Australian scored the podiums last year and look forward to be back in there this season – “I am super excited for the season ahead! Team camp went really well with the bike feeling super dialled and ready for World Cup round one in Portugal! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of Propain Factory Racing this year as a second year junior, with their support and knowledge it’s going to be an awesome season!”
Luke Williamson – „Testing went pretty rough for me, felt ill for the most part and had a lot stupid crashes so it was difficult to get consistent runs in on the clock. On the flip side we managed to make some changes that have hopefully got the bike a bit better dialled in before the first race of the season. Before Lousã I’ll be racing the Portugal Cup in Tarouca which I’m pretty excited about. Should be nice to get a race in and see where I’m at prior to the first World Cup.”
George Brannigan – “The Propain team camp was awesome, I haven’t actually ever done a camp like this where we got so much testing done to dial in the bikes. Everyone on the team is cool too and so enthusiastic being all young which is really refreshing. I’m stoked how things are shaping up for the season ahead!”
Henry Kerr – „The team camp was a great opportunity to push my limits against the clock and test some new products some team sponsors have brought out. We all get along well in the team and I feel I have come so far from where I was this time last year so I hope the results will agree in a months time.”
Ben Reid – “Big shout out to all our sponsors for getting the new product out to us at such an early stage. Without those guys pulling together it wouldn’t have been possible for us to get out here with time to spare before the season kicks off. With being on the same bike for a few seasons already and not many changes to our spec it really allowed us to work on the fine details and was a great chance for the full team to meet up and get to hang out while we had some exciting new products to test from our sponsors. We received a new Tyre from Vee just days before we set off that I’d been working on with them in the off season, some tuned Rock Shox dampers and rear shocks from Markus Klausmann as well as the usual crown offset options and playing around with reach and rear axle positions etc. With one adjustment affecting the other as you can imagine there are many options to setting up the bikes and getting each individual rider feeling comfortable. Our first day on the hill was just a mess about and right away everyone felt pretty happy with their set ups but once we started timing the next day it was great to see the guys were open to trying stuff they wouldn’t normally or didn’t think would be faster and by the end of 4 straight days pushing hard against the clock I feel happy that everyone came away more committed to a set up they know will get them down the hill faster. Truly stoked with the team this year, guys are all really fun to work with and committed to going fast.. What more can a manager ask for! BR”
We’ll be back in Lousa in a month time, for the first World Cup of 2020. Let it roll!
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Supported by:
Propain Bikes
Sixpack Racing
RS Farbroller
Vee Tire Co
Stans No Tubes
RockShox/SRAM
Leatt
Crosscamp
video by: Kuba Gzela
