Bernard Kerr snaps prototype Pivot DH during Crankworx Rotorua DH

Bernard Kerr’s race ended in one of the worst ways possible on Sunday. The Pivot Factory Racing captain snapped his prototype Pivot downhill bike during his race run at Crankworx Rotorua DH.

Kerr came up short after pulling for a big triple during the Taniwha Downhill, the first event of Crankworx Rotorua. When the Pivot leader cased the landing, the headtube and frame of his lugged-carbon Pivot separated. There is next to nothing a rider can do in that nightmare scenario and Kerr hit the deck hard.

Kerr was able to leave the track, though neither he nor Pivot Cycles have provided an update on any injuries yet. Hopefully Kerr is lucky and gets away relatively uninjured.

Frame failures of this sort are, thankfully, relatively rare. Especially on a platform that Kerr’s raced for more than a year at this point. But the failure certainly is unnerving, considering Kerr also raced Red Bull Hardline on the prototype just a few weeks ago. Any failure there could have had significant consequences.

You can see details of the unreleased Pivot, as raced by Kerr’s teammate Jakob Jewett last year at Canadian DH nationals. Jewett had a better race than his manager on Sunday, earning his first podium of the season.

You can watch Kerr’s frame failure and crash in Rotorua in the replay below at the 1:54 mark.