South African Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and American Melissa Buhl (KHS) won the second round of the 2008 Jeep 48Straight mountain bike series, held Saturday at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. The two took wins under dark skies and rain, which muddied the racecourse.

Formerly known as the Jeep King of the Mountain Series, the newly titled 48Straight events pit the world’s premier gravity mountain bike racers in a dual slalom/mountain cross hybrid event. Riders race each other twice, with the rider with the fastest combined time advancing to the next round.

The Utah event was the second of three 20087 stops, which combined awards $100,000 in cash prizes.

Minnaar, the recently crowned UCI World Cup champion in downhill, defeated gravity great Eric Carter (Mongoose) in the finals. The victory came after the South African disposed of freeride specialist Cameron McCaul, Coloradan Petr Hanek and his Santa Cruz Syndicate teammate Steve Peat.

“This year I have had great success in dual slalom competitions, having already won two of them,” said Minnaar. “I really wanted to win this one, and I pushed hard. When you add up the three World Cup wins and the overall World Cup Championship, plus three dual slalom wins, this has been a solid year for sure.”

Buhl, the recently crowned UCI world champion in Four Cross, came to the Utah event having missed the Jeep 48Straight opener, held August 8 at the Diablo Freeride park in Vernon, New Jersey. Americans Cody Warren and Kathy Pruitt took victories at that event.

Buhl, who hails from Chandler, Arizona, was virtually unmatched in Utah, sweeping her preliminary rounds against Coloradans Lisa Myklak and Tammy Donohugh. The Arizonan handily defeated Brit Fionn Griffiths (Norco) in the finals to earn her first victory on the Jeep series.

“I came into Utah feeling really confident, focusing on my own race and making all of the jumps I needed to make,” said Buhl. “The weather definitely impacted everyone’s plan, and I had to race just a bit more conservative at times than I normally would.“

The only mountain bike race in the United States to be aired on television, CBS will show the Utah round of the series on October 12.

The Jeep series heads to San Luis, Obispo on October 24 for its final event at the Madonna Inn.

2008 Jeep 48Straight
September 20, 2008
Park City, Utah


Men
1. Greg Minnaar (SA), Santa Cruz Syndicate
2. Eric Carter, Mongoose
3. Petr Hanak, Yeti-Fox

Women
1. Melissa Buhl, KHS
2. Fionn Griffiths (GB), Norco
3. Kathy Pruitt, Jamis