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By Shaun Hopkins
The biggest night on Sydney's domestic calendar had finally arrived on Saturday night, with the focus being the NSW Keirin Championship and Clarence St Cup Wheelrace.
First up we had heats of the Keirin. I was off in the third heat with Anthony Peden. I was lucky enough to get a good run on Anthony down the back straight, and was able to roll him down the straight to put myself into the Keirin final against all the big hitters.
Next came the Scratch race heats for the wheelrace, and with a very classy field, it was going to be a very close and hard race to the finish with only two to qualify out of eight. Unfortunately for me I finished third, but still had the opportunity to qualify through the repechage.
The Keirin final promised to be a cracker with a world class field. Sean Eadie, Anthony Peden, Danny Day, Ben Kersten, Steve Fitzpatrick and, well, me. I got a great start and grabbed the bike. At 2.5 laps to go, Anthony jumped around me to lead out, and as I was looking to get his wheel, the Big Man Eadie decided I wasn't going to have it, and gave me a "love tap". I was then positioned in fourth wheel behind Danny Day, and with half a lap to go Sean and Danny made their move around Anthony, with me following very close in tow. In the middle of turn 4, with only about 50m to go, Sean's rear tyre decided to explode, which sent him high down the straight. Danny followed him, leaving a gaping hole inside. I have been accused of doing the "Steve Bradbury & Ryan Bayley", to cross the line first. The photo finish shows just how close it was, and a great effort to Sean for holding it upright at full gas.
I managed to make the Wheelrace Final with Mark Renshaw from my heat, but it was going to be a hard job to get to the finish, with a long chase. In the final with Mark, Danny and Ben Kersten, we started fast and with a big chase out to 230m we had to get there quickly. I did a mammoth three lap turn, with Danny doing two laps on the front to get Mark and Ben to the bunch with three laps to go. Mark hit out with two laps to go, and hung on for the finish with Matt Farmer getting over the top of Ben Kersten for second.
Last race for the night was the Speed Demons Derby, with me, Danny, Sean and Anthony. With six laps to have some fun, we changed positions and with two laps to go, Anthony decided it was time to get a wriggle on. With one to go, I jumped around him, and we rode side by side around turns 1 and 2, before he slightly edged ahead of me down the back straight. Down the front straight he rode out of the sprinters' line, and Danny Day ducked underneath. As the photo finish shows, they couldn't be split on the line.
So a good evening had by all, and a good crowd saw some very entertaining racing.
Photo-finish images courtesy Dunc Grey Velodrome
Photos by John Stevenson
U/17 Women Scratch 1 Amanda Spratt (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Sky-Lee Armstrong (Parramatta CC) 3 Belinda Wild (Southern Cross CC) 4 Eve Hood (Parramatta CC) U/17 Men's Scratch 1 Phillip Stokes (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Bradley Wright (Bathurst CC) 3 Tyler Mclachlan (Southern Cross CC) 4 Christopher Young (Parramatta CC) U/19 Women Scratch 1 Lucy Stewart (Canberra CC) 2 Rebecca Borgo (Illawarra CC) 3 Katie Brown (St George CC) 4 Michelle Fearne (Wagga Wagga CC) Stars of the Future 1 Ben Harvey (Bankstown Sports CC) 2 Melinda Potente (St George CC) 3 David Moiler (Bankstown Sports CC) 4 James Nicpon (Lidcombe Auburn CC) Jim Bundy U/17 Women's H'cap 1 Shannon Jobson (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Amanda Spratt (Penrith Panthers CC) 3 Eve Hood (Parramatta CC) 4 Samantha Ward (Wagga Wagga CC) Men's A Grade Scratch 1 Enzo Cesario (Chile) 2 Juan Cabrera (Chile) 3 Stephen Wooldridge (St George CC) 4 Danny Rutherford (Sydney TREK CC) NSW Keirin C'ship Final 1 Shaun Hopkins (Parramatta CC) 2 Danny Day (Qld) 3 Steve Fitzpatrick (St George CC) 4 Anthony Peden (N.Z.) U/17 Men's H'cap 1 Phillip Stokes (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Tyler Mclachlan (Southern Cross CC) 3 Christopher Young (Parramatta CC) 4 Luke Cridland (Randwick Botany CC) C Grade 6 Lap Consolation Scratch Race 1 Kane Brennan (Central Coast CC) 2 Jim Burke (Bathurst CC) 3 Jeff Smith (Penrith Panthers CC) 4 Luke Carroll (Canberra CC) Women, U/19 Women TREK Wheelrace 1 Michelle Fearne (Wagga Wagga CC) 2 Keely Mcnamara (St George CC) 3 Lucy Stewart (Canberra CC) 4 Rebecca Borgo (Illawarra CC) U/17 Women Elimination 1 Amanda Spratt (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Eve Hood (Parramatta CC) 3 Belinda Wild (Southern Cross CC) 4 U/17 Men 15 Lap Motorpace 1 Phillip Stokes (Penrith Panthers CC) 2 Bradley Wright (Bathurst CC) 3 Luke Picton (Southern Cross CC) 4 Christopher Young (Parramatta CC) Clarence St Cyclery Cup Final 1 Mark Renshaw (Bathurst CC) 2 Matthew Farmer (Bathurst CC) 3 Ben Kersten (St. George CC) 4 Campbell Kerr (Sutherland CC) 5 Warren Scott (St. George CC) 6 Patrick Naughton (Bicisport CC) Women, U/19 Women 12 Lap Motorpace 1 Toireasa Ryan (Bathurst CC) 2 Katie Brown (St. George CC) 3 Lucy Stewart (Canberra CC) 4 Rebecca Borgo (Illawarra CC) Men's B Grade 12 Lap Scratch 1 Campbell Kerr (Sutherland CC) 2 Grant Law (Illawarra CC) 3 Patrick Naughton (Bicisport CC) 4 Chris Unicomb (Bankstown Sports CC) Speed Demons Sprint Derby 1 Anthony Peden (N.Z.) dead heat 1 Danny Day (Qld) 3 Shaun Hopkins (Parramatta CC) 4 Sean Eadie (Bankstown Sports CC) Young Guns U/19 Men Scratch 1 Alex Sommer (Bicisport CC) 2 Matthew Farmer (Bicisport CC) 3 Andrew Taylor (Bathurst CC) 4 Warren Scott (St George CC) Men's C Grade Scratch 1 Andrew Carter (Bathurst CC) 2 Simon Cameroux (Canberra CC) 3 David Browne (Bicisport CC) NSW Derny Paced (40 Lap) 1 Mark Renshaw (Bathurst CC) 2 Antonio Cabrera (Chile CC) 3 Stephen Fitzpatrick (St George CC) 4 Chris Sutton (St George CC)