Jayden Fraser wins WA Gravity Enduro round six at Yaburara trail in Karratha

More than 100 racers from around the State were in Karratha for round six of the WA Gravity Enduro mountain bike race.

The race took place over seven mostly downhill time stages with 130 registered racers plus their families and friends in attendance, most travelling from Perth and the South West.

The course was held at the Yaburara Heritage Trail from July 9-10 as the riders battled it out to see who was the fastest.

In the men’s full enduro race category, Jayden Fraser proved too strong for the field, winning with a time of 13:1.51, 11 seconds clear of Denmark’s Kaiden Godden. Jamie Wood rounded out the top three on 14:41.63.

Lucy Hill won the women’s full enduro with a time of 17:19.24.

In the men’s 19-29 category, Elijah Haensel came out on top of Karratha’s Toby Muller and William Gethin. Karratha’s Murray Fitzgerald won in the men’s 30-39 category.

Local rider Venne Kurilowski won the women’s 19-39 age category with a time of 15:33.87, more than three minutes clear of Dunsborough’s Jamie-Lee James.

WA Gravity Enduro director Steve Janiec said it had been a long journey to bring the Enduro event to Karratha.

“We tried to get to Karratha back in 2020 and obviously COVID hit so we had to kind of scrap that,” he said.

“We tried again in 2021 and that was the only week that Mark McGowan called a State lockdown so that put it on the shelf again, and then finally, third time lucky.”

Janiec said the race was only possible after getting acknowledgement and approval from local Indigenous custodians, including the Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation.

“We’ve tied together a lot of a lot of landowners, which the the hills behind us crossover, so we had to get all their acknowledgement and consent before we got racing under way,” he said.

Janiec said the Karratha course offered an unique challenge because of the rocks on the tracks.

“It’s very unforgiving. It’s quite a demanding fitness course,” he said.

“Not only on the racing stages themselves, but also the long transitions between stages,” he said.

Janiec said bringing the competition to Karratha gave local riders the chance to test themselves against the best in the State.