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Another fine day and another good field as Melbourne's late summer finally gets into gear. Large fields in B and C Grade fields, and the first race for the A Grade boys without Hilton Clarke, who flies overseas tomorrow, to contend with.
Robert Tighello (ACR) has been the only rider to come close to matching Clarke's form this season, and the lanky Tour Down Under star has shared the spoils with a good run of wins of his own. In fact, one or other of the pair has won every race they have both contested since Christmas!
All out attacks went from the start of the race, and within five minutes, some riders found themselves in difficulty. As expected, Tighello was driving in every move, and only ten minutes in the field had split for good; and ominously, Tighello had three team mates in the eight man group!
Tighello, Matt Gould, James Taylor and Matt Jackson were joined by Thaddeus Roos (Bicycle Superstore), Doug Garley (Terry Hammond Cycles), Matt Chessum (Fitzroy Cycles) and Tim Wilson, and such was the ferocity of the early pace, that the chasing bunch ended up smaller than the break!
After working well until the 50 minute mark, Tighello decided it was time to make things tough for the others, in particular Roos who has a great finishing kick. Around the back of the circuit, a surge saw Garley, Chessum and Jackson lose contact, but continue working well in the hope the leading group might relax.
At two laps from home, Gould hit out hard, but Roos fought back well. Taylor and Wilson were dropped: Wilson back to the chasing group, but Taylor battled on to regain the front as the leaders played cat and mouse out of sight of the spectators. A three against one advantage for the ACR boys, and Tighello used the advantage to go clear unchallenged , to win by a mile. Roos gave everything to try to salvage second, but Gould popped out of his slipstream to snatch the result on the line. The never say die attitude of Garley was rewarded with fifth place, as he took out the sprint ahead of Chessum, with both riders benefiting from the Club's recent decision to extend the generous prize list.
A late attack in B Grade threatened to steal the sprinter's thunder, as Damien Power and Trevor Burridge opened a small gap at three laps to go. Next time round the 2 km circuit, Helen Kelly (KPMG) and Andrew Sprague were strongly in pursuit, and the escape had an even money chance of succeeding. At the bell, the advantage was rapidly decreasing under the impetus of a Justin Davis (O'Mara Cycles) lead peleton, and with half a lap to go, the sprinters took over.
Jason Wakelin (Bicycle Superstore) was two lengths clear at the line, with Darren Cathie pipping Fast Eddy Perez for second and Ken Conlan rounding out the podium. Liz Taddich (VIS) lead the girls home, with Helen Kelly recovering well from her efforts to hold second position in the frantic dash down the finishing straight.
The C Grade bunch finish kept the judges on their toes, with a fast paced final lap seeing them finish only meters behind the D Grade sprint. In a split decision, the win went to young Chris D'Amelio from Craig Rothenbeucher, with Andrew Beasley and Hayden Marcollo rounding out the podium. Speed skater Catherine Allan didn't need to hope her competition would all fall off, taking the women's prize money home after a good ride in the big bunch, with Rachel Rademaker and Cheryl Hickman also prominent.
Gerard Hurley will make the step up to C Grade, taking the D Grade win after leading out a long way from home. Under 19 star Apryl Eppinger moved up alongside in the closing meters, but did not quite have enough to come past. Lino Lascaleia and Jason Jones were also in the money, with Under 15 champ Tess Downing once again showing the other D Grade Women a clean pair of wheels and in the money again.
A Grade - 1 hour + 3 laps 1 Robert Tighello (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Matt Gould (Blackburn CC) 3 Thaddeus Roos (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 James Taylor (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 5 Doug Garley (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 6 Matt Chessum (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) B Grade - 55 minutes + 3 laps 1 Jason Wakelin (Knox CC) 2 Darren Cathie (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Eddy Perez (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Ken Conlan (Footscray CC) Unplaced Women: 1 Liz Taddich (Shepparton) 2 Helen Kelly (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) C Grade - 50 minutes + 3 laps 1 Chris D'Amelio (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Craig Rothenbeucher (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Andrew Beasley (Blackburn CC) 4 Hayden Marcollo (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 1st Women: Catherine Allan (Blackburn CC) D Grade - 50 minutes + 3 laps 1 Gerard Hurley (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Apryl Eppinger (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Lino Lascaleia (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Jason Jones (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 1st Women: Tess Downing (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) E Grade - 40 minutes + 3 laps 1 Dale Reith (Blackburn CC) 2 ? 3 Tim Sonelli (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC)