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Ben Jackson Secures Another Win (and a Brand New Scapin!)
St Kilda Cycling Club's highly competitive Scapin Criterium Series culminated in close racing in all grades and a fantastic victory to new SKCC recruit, Ben Jackson. A large group of spectators joined competitors inblazing sunshine and perfect conditions for racing as Jackson took his second race win in the four race series and cemented his position at the top of leader board. With points awarded for the top ten placegetters in each round, Jackson's lead going into the final race was significant (thanks to an earlier victory together with strong second and third placings) and he needed only to finish prominently again to secure the fabulous Scapin frame (of his choice) as his prize. The fact that Ben secured the prize in spite of racing consistently in arguably the hardest grade (A grade) makes his overall win all the more impressive.
Dave 'Scapin' Roberts presented the prize to Ben with both Daryl Annells and Scott Rush not far behind in the overall points standings. All competitors were congratulated for making the competition such an exciting and closely fought spectacle and Scapin was thanked for its huge generosity in providing the sensational prize to the winner. There were also a few bids for Ben's current ride as it will almost certainly be given an early retirement thanks to the new steed!
The biggest fields ever assembled for an SKCC Sunday criterium event got underway with D and C grade and the racing was fast and furious from the outset. Both fields were well represented by a number of members from clubs such as Footscray, Italo and Brunswick as well as Caulfield Carnegie. In D grade, Caulfield Carnegie racers Tess, Erin and Michael Downing acquitted themselves extremely well with Tess eventually taking out fourth and just narrowly missing out on a spot on the podium. The top three places were filled by Glen Pearsall, Damien Clancy and Lino Lascaleia, with Glen winning comfortably in the end. Glen will be elevated to C grade for next Sunday's race for his efforts!
In C grade, a field of over 40 competitors circulated at high speed for the duration of their race. A nasty fall on the very last lap marred what was otherwise a great race with Nick Caple, Oliver Sceales, Steve Ditulio and Eid Elkheir taking out the top four places. Nick will almost certainly be rewarded for his particularly strong ride with an elevation to B grade next week and Oliver Sceales will have a tough time convincing officials that he should not be elevated as well given his strong front running and fast finishing speed. The C grade men were also joined by a number of female riders and Helen Lawson took out top honours with a flashing sprint finish that propelled her past consistent placegetter Sam Lindsay who was the second unplaced female. Helen has improved in leaps and bounds and has graduated from D grade to become one of the strongest female racers at the club in just three weeks.
Another large field in B grade (featuring David Downing attempting to emulate the performances of the younger members of the Downing clan in D grade) provided some great attacking racing. An interesting battle ensued between the more experienced riders and a number of athletes who are still relatively new to the sport. In the end, it wasn't clear as to whether maturity, patience and cunning had the won the day over youthful exuberance and hyper-enthusiasm as Adrian Ward took the win in front of Steve Martin, Scott Rush and the recently elevated Darrell Annells.
In A grade, last week's winner in Bill Walker was unable to come up with the goods as Ben Jackson showed he's still a hard man to beat in a sprint finish with a crushing burst to the line. Andy Naylor and Adam Murchie rounded out the top three with Bill finishing in fourth. The field of over 30 riders was shattered by a number of devastating attacks that were clearly too much for some riders on the day. Jackson was able to weather the storms and ride a wonderful tactical race that had many wondering whether he had actually raced the Bendigo Madison the night before at all - certainly, his legs proved no worse for wear. Ben then left the circuit (prize in hand) to make his way back to the track for another series of races in the afternoon.
All in all, the large numbers made for some fantastic races and also meant that the prize money awarded to placegetters was more than enough to purchase a few well earned drinks. The big story at SKCC is the recent announcement that the club's number one sash holder and member, Scott McGrory, has entered the field for the Club Championships on April 7th. The event will be a graded scratch criterium so everyone will get a chance to test themselves against the Olympic Champion - the race will almost certainly be another event not to be missed!
A Grade 1 Ben Jackson 2 Andy Naylor 3 Adam Murchie 4 Bill Walker B Grade 1 Adrian Ward 2 Steve Martin 3 Scott Rush 4 Daryl Annells C Grade 1 Nick Caple 2 Oliver Sceales 3 Steve Ditulio 4 Eid Elkheir Unplaced females 1 Helen Lawson 2 Sam Lindsay D Grade 1 Glen Pearsall 2 Damien Clancy 3 Lino Lascaleia 4 Tess Downing
Australian results from the past week |
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