Fred Swan?s first-place finish in the veterans? division took him another step closer on his quest to overhaul points leader Paulo Medeiros in Sunday?s fifth race of the Conrad?s Mountain Bike Series at Fort Scaur.

With Tim Palmer unable to make the start line due to a viral infection, it was a battle between Swan and Medeiros for honours with Swan crossing the line in 53 minutes and 35 seconds ? one minute and 40 seconds in front for his second victory in a row.

Despite a torrential downpour some three quarters of the way into the race, competitors? spirits were not dampened with Ian Fox and Edwin Jordan fighting all the way to the finish for third spot with the former edging out his rival by a mere 13 seconds.

In the open category it was once again Garth Thomson who took line honours, two minutes ahead of defending series champion Dave Padega in a time of 71.44.

Grant Goudge, despite having switched to riding high-speed motorcycles for the previous two weeks whilst on vacation, put in another solid performance to finish in third place in 77:15.

Matthew Godfrey managed to hold off Conner Burns to take the fourth spot in a time of 87.50 with Burns taking fifth, just over a minute behind.

In the highly competitive novices category, Mark Hatherly edged out David McComas to take the win in a time of 47.37, just a minute ahead of McComas, with Travis Cooper having to settle for the third spot in a time of 51.03.

Charles Dunstan showed that he has adapted well to the sport by finishing in fourth place, comfortably ahead of fifth-placed Jeff Amaral.

Ricky Sousa jr. closed the gap on points leader Tim Fox with a dominating race over six long laps that saw him finish almost nine minutes ahead of his rival in the 15-16 year-old boys division.

Mark Smith continued to dominate the boys? 13-14 year-olds, taking first place in a time of 51:23. Alex Godfrey suffered mechanical failure and recorded a DNF.

Nathan Amaral claimed honours, unchallenged, in the 11-12 boys while Mark Godfrey had his hands full with the improving Neil Dante Wilson pushing him all the way to the line. Godfrey did, however, hold on to finish in a time of 24.01, just 20 seconds ahead of Wilson.

In the ladies? division, Kim McMullen completed eight laps of the long open course to record a fast time of 78.53 which would have placed her fourth in the men?s open category.

Sarah Jordan showed great improvement, finishing eight laps of the short course in 38:54 to take the female novices? division.

Elizabeth Jordan, at only eight-years-old competed over four short laps to finish in a creditable time of 19.13.

The next mountain bike action takes place this Sunday when competitors will be vying for the coveted King of the Downhill title.

Racers will complete two runs of the nerve racking downhill course at Hog Bay Park to determine the champion. The first run starts at 9 a.m. Riders are required to register by 8.45am.

For further details on the Mountain Bike Race Series visit www.bermudabicycle.org.