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Friday night Winter Track Racing Week #14
Dunc Grey Velodrome, Sydney, September 17, 2004
Big prize news for FNWTR
By Paul Craft
The big announcement for the night was made by Felice from Cycling Projects which had the Dunc Gray Velodrome buzzing. The Final night's (Sept 24) Campognolo 1.5km wheelrace will carry the mammoth first prize of a pair of Campagnolo Pista wheels valued $1500. This announcement increased the tension leading into the div1 ZeroRh wheelrace, which was the div 1 rider's chance to qualify for the final night's huge race.
The feature race for the night was "The Div 1 ZeroRH sunglasses 1km Wheelrace". Cycling Projects representative Felice brought along 3 pairs of ZeroRH sunglasses for the top 3 place getters of this prestigious race. With the prize pool now exceeding $600 and the fact that this was div 1's chance to qualify for next weeks race meant that the anticipation for the 1km Wheelrace could be felt by both spectators and competitors alike.
Geoff Hopkins had no choice but to go for it from the start. Starting as the limit marker off 90m, he did a good job in opening a decent gap and maintained it to the bell lap. With 1 lap remaining Geoff held a 50m lead over a straight lined bunch with Scratch man Shaun Hopkins at the back starting his sprint for the line late. By 100m to go the situation had changed. Geoff was dying whilst Queensland's Peter Spencer (40m) was flying with Shaun Hopkins desperately chasing. On the line Spencer held out Hoppy and Newcastle's Michael Lewis (70m) snuck over another Queenslander James Schneider (65m). The top three riders were all ecstatic with joy, not only for qualifying for the Campagnolo Wheelrace, but also scoring a pair of the ultra-cool ZeroRh sunglasses
Felice from Cycling Projects was on hand to proudly present the prizes. ZERORH is the fastest growing sunglasses brand in Italy. The Fassa Bortolo team including Alessandro Petacchi use ZERORH+ sunglasses together with the "Lion King" Mario Cipollini. Visit ZeroRH+ at www.zerorh.com
The round 3 Win'N'Out had a few FNWTR newcomers scratching their heads and asking how the race works. For everyone else this is becoming another favourite race that has its own set of tactics. Tactical move of the night belonged to Bicisports Phil Dixon, who wisely sat out the first sprint but followed close enough to remain in contention. The first sprint was contested by four of Australia's fastest riders. Peter Spencer, Alex Sommer, Michael Lewis and Anthony Bennett all threw desperately for the win. In a close but decisive distance Anthony Bennett took the win leaving the other three riders to contest the sprint for second. This is when Dixon launched into action passing the tiring sprinters to claim a well deserved 2nd place.
Throughout the night, young talent Stuart Lane had been riding superbly. He started the night by winning the div 2 warm up scratch, claimed a third in the Win'N'Out and was an integral player in the point score. Stuart had high hopes in the final race of the night, the Div 1 and 2 combine. Unfortunately for Stuart a second wheel swing up sent the bunch up the track with the young Southern Cross rider clipping a wheel and coming down. Amazingly Stuart spun his way along the track missing everyone by millimetres. Of the 20 riders in the race 15 of them had a story of a close call. As Stuart received immediate medical attention, it was revealed by one of the riders that his pedal had clipped the back of Stuart's head. The ensuing wound was significant enough to send Stuart off to a Bankstown Doctor. Stuart seemed very philosophical about the whole incident stating that he will be back on the bike by Monday. I will let you know of Stuart's recovery in Wednesday's news letter.
Next week will be the biggest night of the FNWTR series with in excess of $5000 worth of prizes to be given away. The Racing will be hot from the start of the night with riders competing in the most prestigious Campagnolo 1.5km wheelrace. The riders will be in the hunt to score vital points in an attempt make the top 5 on the serries point score. The top 5 of each division will receive tickets in the draw for the first prize Team Alex Frame. Additionally the battle that has raged all season for club supremacy between Waratah Vets and Bicisport will come to its ultimate conclusion. The presentation in the Handle Bar Tavern at the end of the night is always a great celebration of the series. I encourage everyone, riders, spectators, family members, husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and secret lovers to come along.
Don't miss out on the fun.
Results
Mortgagemaker Junior Development demonstration Demo 1: Brendan Cole Demo 2: Adriano Maradini Round 1 Warm up scratch Race winners Div 4: Neil Leifels Div 3: Simon Vagg Div 2: Stuart Lane Div 1: Shaun Hopkins Round 2 The ZeroRH Sunglasses 1km Wheelrace Div 1 1 Peter Spencer (40m) 2 Shaun Hopkins (Scratch) 3 Michael Lewis (70m) 4 James Schneider (65m) Handicap Miss'N'Out Div 4 1 Paul Worby (30m) 2 Brian Hopkins (30m) 3 Cole Goldie (30m ) 4 Neil Land (scratch ) Handicap Miss'N'Out Div 3 1 Geoff Worthington (30m) 2 Bruce Wyllie (30m) 3 Richard Lang (Scratch) 4 Kelly Fury (30m ) Handicap Miss'N'Out Div 2 1 Alan Townsend (30m) 2 Peter Barnard (Scratch) 3 Mike Cotes (30m) 4 Justin Tomlinson (Scratch) Round 3 Win'N'Out Div 4 1 Neil Leifels 2 Garry O'Sullivan 3 Paul Ragattieri 4 Neil Land Win'N'Out Div 3 1 Joel Chant 2 Simon Vagg 3 Richard Lang 4 Peter Harvey Win'N'Out Div 2 1 Roland Lang 2 Ivan Colig 3 Stuart Lane 4 Justin Tomlinson Win'N'Out Div 1 1 Anthony Bennett 2 Phil Dixon 3 Duncan Crosby 4 James Schneider Round 4 Div 4 Point Score 1 Mark Skribins 11 2 Paul Worby 8 3 Garry O'Sullivan 4 4 Penny Rowbotham 4 4 Neil Land Div 3 Point Score 1 Chris Murray 10 2 Simon Vagg 8 3 Joel Chant 7 4 Scott Mills 5 Div 2 Point Score 1 Roland Lang 13 2 Justin Tomlinson 7 3 Graham McClymont 5 4 Tim Rice 5 Div 1 Point Score 1 Michael Lewis 10 2 Peter Spencer 9 3 Phil Dixon 8 4 Anthony Bennett 6 Round 5 Scratch Div 3 and Div 4 Combine 1 Joel Chant 30 laps 2 Kelly Fury 3 Simon Vagg 4 Richard Lang Scratch Div 1 and Div 2 Combine 1 Peter Spencer 30 laps 2 Patrick Bolan 3 Duncan Crosby 4 Justin Tomlinson
