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By Kieran Turner
The pace in both grades seems to be a lot faster this side of Xmas which can only mean that lots of people have been riding despite Auckland's summer. Lots of new faces still turning up for B Grade which is good to see.
A slower than usual start for the first couple of laps but this didn't last long and meant that with an average speed of 44kph for the race, once the pace went on it stayed on. Plenty of attacks tonight as is usual for A grade but the depth in the field was always going to make it hard to stay away. Craig Pitt seems to be making the first sprint his own and was seen putting in a few big turns. It wasn't until after the second sprint won by Paul Summich who took an absolute flyer that any real breaks looked like they might stay clear. Each time a threatening move appeared people would gradually bridge across until the chain linked up and the whole bunch came back together. In the end it was going to come down to a bunch sprint, this week into a strong headwind. Murray Spencer took a flyer at the start of the home straight and looked to be off but it was a home straight to far as first Kieran Turner and then Eric McKenzie got on his wheel. McKenzie then kicked hard and put two lengths into the field to win from Kieran Turner lucky to hold off a fast charging Karl Murray with Spencer holding out for fourth. Turner's consistency over the two races has seen him go top of the table for now just two points clear of McKenzie with first series runner up Karl Murray 8 points behind in third. It should be a much closer series this time round.
The pace in B grade was solid from the start with a few finding the 50kph down the back straight a bit tough. The first sprint was taken by Adam Gaskel after which the race was enlivened when Andrew Yelverton got clear with one other rider for a lap and a half. They couldn't sustain the effort though and the bunch swallowed them up again. The pace was on coming into the final lap and the bunch fragmented in the headwind sprint with a couple of guys usually seen on bikes with fatter tires showing the field a clean pair of heels. Matt Treanor third last week just managed to hold of Christain Pulley for the win with Richard Speer coming home third.
A Grade 1 Eric McKenzie 2 Kieran Turner 3 Karl Murray 4 Murray Spencer 5 Mike Metz 6 Nigel Hunt 7 Ryan Hoogenberg Points Standings 1 Kieran Turner 42 2 Eric McKenzie 40 3 Karl Murray 34 4 Richard Bowker 26 5 Murray Spencer 24 6 Ryan Hoogenberg 16 7 Mike Metz 12 8 Scott Guyton 12 9 Nigel Hunt 11 10 Andrew Small 6 B Grade 1 Matt Treanor 2 Christian Pulley 3 Richard Speer 4 Dave Richards 5 Kim Struthers 6 Adam Gaskel 7 Tim Bodger Points standings 1 Matt Treanor 43 2 Christian Pulley 35 3 Chris Tennant-Brown 26 4 Peter Harding 22 5 Richard Speer 18 6 Dave Richards 15 7 Kim Struthers 13 8 Glen McIntyre 12 9 Adam Gaskal 10 10 Tim Bodger 9