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PrestigeVC.com/Viner/MAR Support Services Eelmore Circuit Races #6
June 9, 2004
Frantic action
WELL! Where to start tonight?
The action was thick and fast tonight in both senior events, with no bunched group finishes to give the judges a headache. Even the 3/4's got it on and the race was split to pieces. Maybe people are getting greedy for the Allsports International Energy products (www.allsports-int.co.uk) on offer for prime prizes, or maybe people have realised that these races are to hone your race training and shouldn't really be a seasons target, unless, that is, you want to win the Viner frame and forks (www.vinerbikes.com) on offer for the overall series winner!!! Hmmm, sounds a bit more tempting now doesn't it!
Youths
Only 4 riders signed on and all the locals expected Gareth Dickinson (Team Luciano) to take the win easily, but he didn't reckon on how bad his hey fever was and the resilience of under 14 rider Toby Meadows (Beyond Mtb's) who stuck to the task and rode wheel for wheel with Gareth, taking the sprint relatively comfortably by half a bike's length. Rob Jackson (Team Luciano) and Andrew Ferris (Farnborough & Camberley CC) continue to battle it out week after week, and Rob continues to outsprint Andrew - for the moment!
3/4/W/V/J
Right from the start Keith Brooks (VC Meudon) attacked and got a decent gap with Eamon Watson (Team Peloton). Now quite why he did this remains a mystery, but I reckon it is because of the flashy new kit that the VC Meudon riders were sporting tonight. Gone is the greeny, slightly annoying colour and in its place is a white and orange design. Very professional looking it is too. See the photo of Keith clutching his prime prize of some Allsports International SR3 (designed to replenish the electrolytes as well as provide some carbohydrates) for the new look. Eventually a chasing group formed and caught the two tearaways and the lead group became 10 strong. These all worked well together, with the odd foray off the front for the primes on offer. Keith won one, Eamon Watson won two and eventual winner Keir O'Donnell (Beyond Mtb's) won the last one. As the gap grew, the remainder of the race were being well policed by the other VC Meudon riders, so no real chase developed. For them, tonight, it was game over!!! With three laps to go, Keir O'Donnell made a brave move and chipped off the front of the 10 breakaways. He was caught up in the E/1/2 race for a lap and a half, but he rode to one side (as briefed at the start) and made no attempt to gain an advantage from the faster group. He crossed the line pretty pleased with his efforts, some 20 seconds ahead of the break. A bunch sprint ensued, which saw Andrew Self (Pedalon.co.uk) emerge as the strongest tonight for second.
E/1/2
From the gun again. This time it was Sam Gardner (Evans RT) who shot off, followed by team mate John Veness and Army rider Max Harris. John and Sam were looking comfortable as they increased the lead on the bunch, however Max must have thought the move a futile one and drifted back to the group. What he, or anyone else for that matter, did not reckon on was that these two would stay away for the full 36 laps, but that is just what they did. Aided by their team mates in the bunch, including Justin Hoy, Garry Clark, Steve Farmer and Chris Birch, the leading two chipped away to a comfortable half lap lead within 15 laps. Eventually Paul Pickup (Liphook Cycles RT) took Steve Farmer away with him and sat 100m off the front of the main bunch for the last few laps. On the bell lap, Sam, who is just back from the Alps after 2 weeks intensive hilly training, unleashed his devastating sprint onto the unsuspecting John Veness and crossed the line, arms aloft with 3 or 4 bike lengths to spare. Ok, maybe it was more like John had let him take the win after chatting about it for a few laps, but Sam wanted me to mention his "sprint", so I can only oblige the guy! Sad really huh! Paul led in Steve and Justin won the bunch sprint for the rest of them. Good, fast racing with Evans working the team tactics to claim 4 of the top 5 places.
Many thanks to the sponsors, www.vinerbikes.com, www.allsports-int.co.uk and all those who helped out again, including Kat, Lorraine, Alison, Rob, Marie-Anne, Brian and me!
Remember next week (16th June) is a normal event, but the following two weeks (23rd & 30th June) races are separate events on the tighter, shorter top circuit in preparation for the Guildford Crits on 7th July.
Results
Youths 1 Toby Meadows (Beyond Mtb's - U14) 2 Gareth Dickinson (Team Luciano - U16) 3 Rob Jackson (Team Luciano - U14) 4 Andrew Ferris (F & C CC) 3/4/W/V/J 1 Keir O'Donnell (Beyond Mtb's) 2 Andrew Self (PedalOn.co.uk) 3 M O'Brien (Archer RC) 4 Keith Brooks (VC Meudon) 5 Eamon Watson (Team Peloton) 6 John Hill Venning (Beyond Mtb's) 7 Dan McEwan (BC PM) 8 Damien McKeaveney (CC Basingstoke) 9 Paul Egan (Hillingdon CC) 10 Chris Birch (Newbury RC) E/1/2 1 Sam Gardner (Evans RT) 2 John Veness (Evans RT) 3 Paul Pickup (Liphook Cycles RT) 4 Steve Farmer (Evans RT) 5 Justin Hoy (Evans RT) 6 Berni Charlick (CC Basingstoke) 7 Warren Jesse (VC Meudon) 8 Lee Day (Liphook Cycles RT) 9 Mark Pettitt (Freerider Cycles RT) 10 Adrian Goatley (Freerider Cycles RT)
