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Friday night Winter Track Racing #13
Dunc Gray Velodrome, Sydney, August 22, 2003
By Paul Craft
Madison Nights always draw a good crowd due to their excitement, skill and speed. Last Friday was no exception, with a large field and spectators in attendance to watch the action.
The Feature Race for the night was the Handlebar Tavern 1km Wheelrace for Division 2b+3. Michael Leach (Bankstown Sports) had the most difficult task, starting off scratch and giving away 180m to limit for the 1km race. With 1 lap remaining Terry Freshwater had a commanding lead but Leach was closing fast. It looked like Leach would win however, Freshwater found some extra speed on his way to the line. At the finish it was three high across the line with Leach taking it by centimeters over Scott Harmer and Freshwater.
Intense competition in each heat of the Sprint Derby round resulted in riveting entertainment. Standouts performances were; Peter Barnard, riding up a grade and winning, Shaun Hopkins, destroying the best sprinters of the night, Jim & Hugh Gray, Tag teaming 1,2 in div2, Geoff Worthington, salvaging a disappointing night and Catriona Croghan, who always places but tonight won.
The race many had come to see, the 50lap Madison did not fail to disappoint. The big question was would Phil Stokes be able to defend his undefeated record in this event against 9 eager teams. The race as usual started smoothly until Team Hunter decided to try their luck at breaking away with a series of devastating attacks. For around 30laps team Hunter was either off the front or attacking. The sprinters in the race found it almost impossible to recover.
Coming into the final, six teams were still in contention for the sprint. However with 3 laps to go Team Hunter attacked again, this time to try and take the sprint. The only team who managed to react was Stokes/Young, who overhauled Team Hunter with 1 lap remaining. Team Hunter managed a good change and was able to catch the leading team but could pass in the final dash to the line. Thus with the help of teammate Chris Young, Phil Stokes remains undefeated in the FNWTR Madison series.
With only 5 more weeks of FNWTR remaining for 2003, interest in the pointscore is heating up, as none of the division leaders are secure yet. Hopefully it will come down to the final night PARTY to find out who the victors are and who will be in the draw for the Velocraft track Frame.
Results
Warm up scratch race winners Jnr's: Scott Law Div 1: Shaun Hopkins Div 2: Graeme Dean Comb: Michael Leach Group H'Cap 1 Phil Stokes (Scratch) 2 Michael Lewis (Scratch) 3 Scott McGrath (Scratch ) Group H'Cap Div 2 1 Dan O'callahan (110m) 2 Andrew Grant (110m) 3 Kieren Brown (110m) 1km Wheel Race Div 2b + 3 1 Michael Leach (Scratch ) 2 Scott Harmer (65m) 3 Terry Freshwater (90m) Group H'Cap Wom 1 Carman Parter (90m) 2 Ruth Oxlade (50m) 3 Catriona Croghan (scratch ) Div1 Sprint Challenge Winners Heat 1: Alex Sommer Heat 2: Peter Barnard Heat 3: Shaun Hopkins Div2 Sprint Challenge Winners Heat 1: Michael Mellish Heat 2: Adam Christopher Heat 3: Hugh Gray Div2B Sprint Challenge Places Heat 1: Michael Leach Heat 2: Geoff Worthington Div3 Sprint Challenge Places 1 Terry Scarr 2 Trevor Wait 3 Lindsay Munks Wom Sprint Challenge Places 1 Catriona Croghan 2 Carman Parter 3 Ruth Oxlade 50 lap Madison 1 Stokes Young 2 Lewis McGrath 3 Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick 4 Browne Dixon Madison Pacer Scratch Div2 1 Jim Gray 2 Greame Dean 3 Peter Barnard Madison Pacer Scratch Div 2b 1 Eve Hood 2 Michael Tremaine 3 Scott Harmer Madison Pacer Scratch Div3+Wom 1 Lindsay Munks 2 Brett Hanson 3 Catriona Croghan Div1+Div2 Combine Scratch 35laps 1 Shaun Hopkins 2 Phil Stokes 3 Peter Fitzpatrick Div2b+Div3+wom Combine Scratch 20laps 1 Bruce Masson 2 Andrew Grant 3 Kelly Furey
