Brosnan and Hannah in the lead as downhill action heads to Stromlo

The Real Insurance MTBA National Series continues this weekend with downhill action in Round 3 of the Gravity Cup in the ACT.

The Cup will be held at Stromlo Forest Park from February 3-5, with the cycling venue now a part of Australian mountain bike legend after hosting the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2009.

Troy Brosnan (SA), the 2010 and 2011 Junior World Downhill Champion, stepped up to Elite from the juniors at the start of this season in December at Thredbo. With a confident first in Thredbo followed by a jaw-dropping 5.35 seconds win from the field in Mt Buller, Brosnan already carries a significant points lead in the season.

Happy to be racing well with "the big boys in Elite", Brosnan is feels his form shows good signs for his overseas preparations, "This is a really good lead up to the world cups," he said.

Sam Hill (WA), triple Elite World Champion, will also be racing and is making progress on his return from injury in 2011 and is currently sitting in second place in the season behind Brosnan. Local rider Ben Cory (ACT) sits in fourth place and will be hoping to have another strong performance on his home track.

In the women's field, Tracey Hannah (QLD), the 2006 Junior Women's Downhill World Champion, will continue her extraordinary return to the sport. Hannah is undefeated in seeding and race runs in her return national season, and goes into the Stromlo round as the unquestionable favourite, with a good result another strong step toward her world championship aspirations.

The Four Cross Cup, the spectator-friendly discipline where riders compete on a short challenging course in 4-rider heats, will also head to Stromlo for a double-header this weekend after successful rounds in Kurrajong and Ebenezer (NSW) last weekend.

Event hosts the Canberra Off-Road Cyclists (CORC) are excited to again be hosting the rounds of the season over the coming two weekends, with the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup taking place (Feb 10-12) on the weekend following the Gravity Cup.

For this weekend's Gravity Cup action, riders and spectators alike should look forward to a newly renovated downhill course including a brand new starting third of the track, with the ACT Government continuing to provide massive support to the iconic venue.

Downhill Seeding takes place on Saturday with Group B at 11:30am and Group A (including Elite and U/19) at 3:30pm. Racing on Sunday is at 11am for Group B and 3pm for Group A. The Four-Cross Cup double-header rounds will take place at 4:30pm on both Friday and Saturday. Note:  On-site camping ($50 for the weekend) is available - contact Jeff Hughes (0427 885 112).

The full schedule & all race information is available www.nationalseries.com.au