9th best in the world for Leader

Zack Leader has finished 9th in the 2018 Gravity Bike World Championship on what was his debut race on the world stage. The 19-year-old qualified 9th after taking 3 seconds off his time between Q1 and Q2 on the Saturday, but was sadly eliminated from the competition in the Quarter Final race on Sunday by 16-year-old Italian rider, Luca Lusini.

Leader struggled all weekend but still maintains that it was the "greatest experience of my life and one I'll never forget". After being taken out in a finish line incident on Friday's practice day, Leader suffered major front wheel damage which meant he was forced to revert to the skinny front wheel/tyre combination, as oppose to the thicker front tyre he was running before the incident. This meant that although he would now have an increased top speed on the opening fast section, he'd now struggle through the tight and twisty sections as he would no longer be able to attain high lean angles.

"Even without the incident on Friday, I would have probably struggled anyway due to the level of competition. Those guys were something else! They were on a whole different level and I couldn't push to try match that level on the setup that I had. I've learn so much about my bike and myself by entering this race this year and now I know what I need to do in order to achieve higher positions in next year's race".

Team mate and team manager of Zack, Brett Phillips, took the win in Teolo, making him the 2018 Gravity Bike World Champion and now a three time World champ.