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Eastern Suburbs Cycling Club
Heffron Park Summer Series #3, Maroubra, NSW - January 23, 2007
King Spurge reigns supreme
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Anthony Spurgeon (Caravello) continued his new year winning streak with a gutsy win in Round 3 of the Eastern Suburbs Summer Series and now has a commanding eleven point lead from his nearest rival Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joes) who was one of many casualties in the buffeting 50 kph NE wind gusts which made for a very tough night of racing. The sprint showdown between Spurge and Hoppy will resume again on Friday when the big Australia Day race - the Joseph Sunde Memorial will be conducted with Hopkins the defending champion and Spurgeon keen to notch up another win after his first win in the event ten years ago.
Once again the handicapping worked out perfectly with the three grades coming together in the closing laps - obviously the handicapper's recent return to form has not only sharpened up his fitness but also his judgement. C grade started the race with a massive field of forty riders but this was soon whittled down as the buffeting north easterly wind dramatically reduced the size of the field by the half way mark. After last weeks six man escape in B grade, everyone was a lot more vigilant and despite some big turns from Todd Sinclair (North Sydney), Alex Frame and Brad Glennan (Sutherland) B grade were accounted for by a fired up A grade who were being driven by some punishing turns from Australian under 23 rider, Shaun Higgerson (Sth Australia.com).
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With three laps to go another A grade big motor Stewart Campbell (Easts) pulled off one his trade mark efforts in the gutter down the straight to open a handy lead, but another one lap turn from Higgerson had Computer back in the fold as the remaining C grade riders were also caught. The Easts machine who are desperately looking for a way to counter Spurge's Heffron Park dominance tried to split things up on the last 'pimple' when mountain biker Paul Rowney forced a small break leading into the straight.
Not to be outdone, Spurge put in two huge efforts, one to get across to the small break and another to unleash his renown Heffron sprint to take the win from the everpresent challenge of Tim Willing. Steve Fitzpatrick (St George) who left his run for the line a little bit late stormed home third, while Joe McDonnell (FRF Couriers) found his Heffron sprint legs to take fourth in front of Pete Fitzpatrick (St George).
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The battle for B grade remains wide open as Steve Griffiths and John Sunde made it a St George one, two and John Kenny (Easts) got some valuable series points for third. Dave Stevens (Easts) was too strong for C grade when he finished well in front of Sen Mitsuji and Mark Ardouin.
Attention now turns to the Australia Day celebration on Friday 26 January at Heffron Park. A reminder that racing gets underway with Masters over 50 divisions at 7.30am, followed by Masters under 50 divisions at 8am. The handicap event (same format as Tuesday night) for B, C and D grades starts at 9am and the elite race feature event starts at 10am. Join us on Australia Day to celebrate a great day for a great cause - the Joseph Sunde Memorial Criteriums.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Stuart Baker
- Katie Brown (3rd wheel) made a welcome to racing at Heffron Park.
- It's a red, white and blue blur of Easts jerseys as C grade battle the crosswind down the straight.
- Dave Early keeps the pace honest in A grade.
- John Ciofani and Alex Frame worked hard to keep the B grade tempo up all night.
- Australian under 23 rider, Shaun Higgerson pulled off some punishing turns.
- The strain of the crosswinds shows on the faces of A grade in the closing laps.
- Last lap and Tim Willing starts to position himself for the finale.
- Anthony Spurgeon collects his second win of the series from Tim Willing.
Results
A Grade 1 Anthony Spurgeon (Caravello) 2 Tim Willing (Easts) 3 Steve Fitzpatrick (St George) 4 Joe McDonnell (FRF Couriers) 5 Peter Fitzpatrick (St George) B Grade 1 Steve Griffiths (St George) 2 John Sunde (St George) 3 John Kenny (Easts) C Grade 1 Dave Stevens (Easts) 2 Sen Mitsuji (Easts) 3 Mark Ardouin (Easts) Points after Round 3 Summer Series 1 Anthony Spurgeon 18 pts 2 Jeff Hopkins 7 3 Tim Willing 6 4 Ben Isaksen 5 4 Peter Fitzpatrick 5 5 Steve Fitzpatrick 4 6 Jose Rodriguez 3 7 Joe McDonnell 2 8 Warren Scott 1 B Grade Series 1 John Peppard 3 pts 1 Brent Dawson 3 1 Steve Griffiths 3 2 Adam Socha 2 2 Brad Glennan 2 2 John Sunde 2 3 Scott Callum 1 3 Nic Rathborne 1 3 John Kenny 1 C Grade Series 1 John Greally 5 pts 2 Frank Conceicao 4 3 Dave Stevens 3 4 Kevin Vlahos 2 4 Mark Ardouin 2 4 Sen Mitsuji 2
