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Very strong winds tested the resolve and stamina of forty one riders in last weekends 27.5km scratch races. The shorter distance race was to allow time for the Club presentations and BBQ lunch to follow the race.
A good size field of fifteen riders set off in the A grade race. With the strong tail wind speeds of over 70km/hr were hit, unfortunately that also meant that when the riders changed direction that the strong tail wind was a very strong headwind.
Early on in the race a group of three riders, Brendan Cato, Dylan Forbes and Graham Rutter, escaped from the bunch and set about building a good lead on the chasing bunch. Andrew Shepherd was able to bridge the gap as was Adam Hotchkis but the effort was too great for Hotchkis and Forbes and they returned to the bunch.
Cato attacked his breakaway bunch and gave an awesome display of power riding by putting a minute into them by the end of the race. The two remaining riders finished a mere nine seconds infront of the fast closing bunch. Rutter just pipped Shepherd for second.
Eighteen riders formed the large B grade bunch. There were some very strong efforts put in by many riders, including Neil Midgley, Adrian Cooper, Tony Pulo, Jeff Gray, Lionel Covington, Tony Pulo and Joe Pereira.
There were many surges put in by riders but due to the conditions no one was able to get away. The most dangerous attack came from Joe Chiaverini after the turn at the end of the first lap, he gained several hundred metres on the bunch. A couple of riders tried to join him but couldn’t bridge the gap.
The attack caused a split in the field and five riders were dropped the rest of the bunch rejoined on the climb up Hooker hill. Midgley was relentless on the front into the headwind on the return into Huntley for the finish. Covington, Pulo and others aided him.
Midgley led the sprint out and had a good break on the bunch but Garry Doughty came from the back of the bunch and overhauled him in the last 20m. Pereira crossed the line in third place.
Even though there were only seven riders in the C grade bunch the racing was still very intense. Terry Welsh was strong for the whole of the race and made life difficult for the other riders. Wayne Farrugia rode well as did Lou Jonceski and Carlo Paiola.
Diana Dickinson rode a very gritty race because when she lost contact she didn’t give up but kept riding on till she caught back up to the bunch.
Paiola was too quick for them in the sprint with Welsh second and Farrugia third.
The race was followed by the Club presentations for the 2001 championships. In addition to the those presentations there were also several special awards made.
Club person of the year was presented to Glen Doney for the support and assistance he gave the Club especially, but not exclusively, in the discipline of track racing.
The Kells the Lawyers encouragement and recognition of achievement awards to juniors were presented to Brendan Cato, Jaclyn Kejda and Rebecca Borgo. All three riders are at the top of their respective age groups, in NSW and Australia, in their chosen discipline.
Next week’s race is a 41km scratch race with group 4 marshalling.
A Grade 1 Brendan Cato 42.20 2 Graham Rutter 3 Andrew Shepherd 1.06 4 Dylan Forbes 1.15 5 Joe McDonnell 6 Brendan Ingram 7 Josh Wall 8 Marcus Arnold 9 Andrew Stewart 10 Adam Hotchkis 11 David Russell 12 Rob Calladine 13 Lou Palermo 14 Adam Crowther 15 Richie Lorenc B Grade 1 Garry Doughty 45.27 2 Neil Midgeley 3 Joe Periera 4 Adrian Cooper 5 Jeff Gray 6 Lionel Covington 7 Mark Owen 8 Brian Joyce 9 Joe Chiaverini 10 Mick Kejda 11 Peter Evans 12 Tony Pulo 13 Phil Jones 3.51 14 Peter Kelly 15 Andrew Telford 16 Jason Johnson 17 Kirk Brown DNF Peter McDonald C Grade 1 Carlo Paiola 56.37 2 Terry Welsh 3 Wayne Farrugia 4 Diana Dickenson 5 Lou Jonceski 6 Vince Dwyer DNF Emma Ringer
Australian results from the past week |
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