Does being a mountain biker, give you an advantage over being a roadie, when it comes to racing?

Just curious, pondering giving it ago next season, and dont want to be annihalated by a load of shaven roadies 🙂

No, not really.
As a rule the courses aren’t technical so a lot of mountainbike skills just don’t come into it.
Being fast on the straights and in and out of corners, as well as negotiating the hurdles are what’s needed.
Overtaking is often quite easy unlike a lot of XC.

I’d go so far as to say that a bit of cross will make you a better MTBer.

No.
Cross racing is a specific set of skills, and mountain biking is a different thing.

No, being fit helps though, and being used to high intensity for an hour is also handy. If you can handle a bike then that wont slow you down. Good luck, and enjoy!

That pretty much answered that then.

I’d suggest you still give it a go. I did my first couple of races on my full-suss and found everyone at the races to be more than welcoming.