Greg Minnaar, South Africa’s most successful mountain bike racer ever, made a triumphant return to competition at the weekend after a long injury layoff to capture the 2008 Mazda MTN South African Downhill Mountain Bike Championships title.

A slightly stiff-shouldered Minnaar, who races for the US-based Santa Cruz Syndicate team, lacked some of his usual fluidity, but was certainly not lacking any speed or class as he completed two virtually identical runs down the tricky 2.9km plunge through the forest at Cascades on the western slopes of his hometown, Pietermaritzburg.

Former downhill world champion Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) will add some depth to the start list at the 2008 Mazda MTN South African mountain bike championships, which take place in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.

Minnaar’s first foray back into top-flight racing, following a five-month injury-induced layoff to repair a broken shoulder, is appropriately in his hometown, on the very same slopes that helped nurture his skills that took him to overall victory in the World Cup in 2001 and 2005 and the world championships title in 2003.

At the Mazda MTN SA Cup Downhill event held at Gillooly’s Farm in Johannesburg on Sunday, experience triumphed as sub-veteran Gary Barnard aced the short, but technical course to claim overall victory.

In the absence of an ill Andrew Neethling (Mongoose), the national champion and winner of Round 1 in Stellenbosch last month, the race for the title was a little more open. But the extremely rocky course wasn’t easily tamed and robbed many a rider of a smooth performance.