Last year, they proved to be one of the strongest national teams. The women made many, if not all of, the Supercross mains and Brian Kirkham came on strong at the end of the year with a great ride in Frejus. We expect big things from them next year and through the Olympics," said Toby Henderson, VSI's founding partner. VSI is the parent company of Intense BMX, Sinz and THE.
The sponsorship covers Elite High Performance riders Rachel Bracken, Lauren Reynolds, Brian Kirkham and new addition, Caroline Buchanan.
As it did last year, VSI will provide support in the form of product, including frames, components and accessories from Intense BMX, SINZ Elite and SINZ and helmets, padding and clothing from THE Products. Each member of the team will ride custom painted Intense BMX Podium frames.
"I rode the new bike at the local BMX track in Alabama and did some sprints on it. It feels awesome. I noticed that it's super stiff, more responsive than my Ti frame and acceleration was noticeably better. I am excited to race it," Buchanan said a few days after she got her new Podium frame and Sinz Elite Carbon forks.
In 2010, the young Australian riders showed they have the skills and speed to compete with the world's best BMX racers. Buchanan is currently ranked fifth by the UCI, while Reynolds and Bracken ended the year ranked ten and eleven, respectively. Kirkham moved up from 27 in 2009 to 19th last year. The team is currently ranked third in the world behind Latvia and the United States.
"Toby and VSI have been a great support in my cycling career and now having them continue this into our National Elite HP BMX Program is an exciting time. This gives our riders the confidence and opportunity to use the products they want to use to help them be competitive on the international circuit," said former World Champion Wade Bootes, who is head coach of the Cycling Australia/BMX Australia BMX High Performance Program.
The Elite HP riders will compete in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and the United States with a focus on the UCI Supercross World Cup Series and World Championships in 2011.
The addition of the Australian program sponsorship further bolsters VSI's commitment to supporting the world's best BMX racers. VSI, through Intense BMX, Speed Bicycles, THE, Sinz Elite, Sinz and ITS, sponsors the UCI Supercross Series, World Championships and 2012 London Olympic Games, the USA Cycling Junior Development Camps and the ABA.
In addition to these organizations and events, the company also supports the Factory Intense and Factory Speed Teams, Rennen/Intense, Intense/Spinnz, J&R Racing, Delux Racing, SE Racing, the S&M Team, Intense Europe, Team Little Dudes Racing, Atomlab and more than a dozen individual racers. VSI also offers a contingency program to professional/elite and junior elite riders who use its products.