X-Trail Altay Expedition
Team Seagate Leading in China
Press Release / 06.06.2017
The elite New Zealand adventure racing Team Seagate are currently leading the ALTAY XTRAIL EXPEDITION RACE in China, which is round 6 of the Adventure Racing World Series. Unfortunately it is in a direct clash with another round of the World Series in France which is happening simultaneously, Seagate won the French round in 2016 but this season opted to take part in Chinese race.
The 2017 World Rankings were recently announced with Team Seagate retaining the number one world ranking for the 3rd consecutive year. The table is calculated by adding a teams top four results in the previous 2-years, incredibly, Seagate only have three results that count towards the rankings, but having won back to back World Championships which enables the squad to remain world number one.
The team are without regular team captain Nathan Fa’avae who is stepping back from the sport and also underwent knee surgery at the start of May. Stu Lynch has stepped into the team captains role.
The team in China consists of Stu Lynch, Chris Forne, Joanna Williams and the new member is Bob McLachlan, a seasoned outdoor adventurer, racer and friend.
Fa’avae says of his replacement “I suggested to the team to invite Bob, he’s super strong overall, but especially in the paddling, which I felt the team could use. He has also raced regularly with Jo so it made sense there to, with Chris and Stu navigating, Bob’s skill set complimented the team really well”
Right now the team are leading the field through stage 5 of 9. It is expected to be a fast course due the nature of the terrain, with the winning teams expected to take 2.5 days. At this stage Seagate are progressing trough the course smoothly and the pre race favourites are earning that prediction.
The 600km course consists of:
- leg 1 3km run
- leg 2 25km kayak
- leg 3 12km raft
- leg 4 49km trek
- leg 5 201km mountain bike
- leg 6 15km kayak
- leg 7 40km trek
- leg 8 55km kayaking
- leg 9 106km mountain biking
- leg 10 1km run
Behind them is a cluster of teams with respectable world rankings, eager to perform well. Sweden, Estonia and Spain are currently in a line up in the chase. There are a number of up and coming Kiwi teams in the mix also. It appears the strong navigating teams are carrying an advantage through the race so far, with reports that some of the maps have not been updated for 60-years.
Fa’avae commented “The team went into the race relaxed and confident. Seagate teams have always been competitive and this team is no different. While winning in China is important for the team, their main goal is to get systems in place for the World Champs in August, in the US. As a team continually improving is important, it’s about staying ahead of the competition. I believe the team is stronger than 2016 and they’ll be in a very good mindset going into Worlds in a just a matter of weeks really, a win in China will given them extra confidence”.
http://live.arworldseries.com/xtrail17/
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