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Friday Night Winter Track Racing #1

Dunc Gray velodrome, Sydney, June 18, 2004

Back at last

By Paul Craft

At last, the 2004 FNWTR series is underway and it was a cold start for the 58 competitors who heated up the night with some scorching-paced rides. It was great to see some of last years regulars back. But it was also fantastic to see a heap of FNWTR virgins taking to the track for the first time.

The Feature race for the night was the Velocraft 1km Div 1 Wheel Race. The handicapper did a good job in spreading the places over a middle marker (Patrick Bolan 55m second), a limit man (Craig Eather 100m third) and the scratchy (guess who). However when Shaun Hopkins had all but caught the leaders on the bell, we all knew what the result was going to be. Hoppy took home a $90 wheel bag and $50 2003 Tour De France video. Well worth the 1 minute and 7 seconds he spent racing for it. Velocraft has been a long time supporter of FNWTR and you can see what they have for sale on http://stores.ebay.com.au/Velocraft.

Stand out riders for each grade this week are:

Div 4 - Peter Rafferty was probably the smartest rider in this division winning 2 out of the 5 races. He may want to think of increasing his challenge in div 3.

Div 3 - John Britten (fnwtr virgin) started the night with two bangs. First, the sound of his front tyre exploding in turn 3 and second, the sound of him hitting the ground in turn 4. To his credit he was up and racing hard in round two only to get another big scare. By round 3 he had this track racing business under control. John then finished the night with a hard fought 3rd and 2nd placing.

Div 2 - In an email earlier this week Ivan Colig indicated that he hadn't been training and would probably ride div 3. On the night he thought he would tough it out in div 2. Ivan than proceeded to give a lesson in track racing to his compatriots by winning 2 out of 5 races.

Div 1 - Duncan Crosby was in the action all night, but his moment of glory was to come at the end of the night in the NSWCF+NSWIS Time Blaster Challenge. In this event the winner can collect the $50 prize so long as they beat the record time. This being the first week, a nominal time of 10minutes (45km/h) was elected. If the riders failed to meet this time the prize money jackpots. With 10 laps to go the bunch was down some 10 seconds on schedule. So Duncan thought it wise to go out for it alone. Not long after, a group of five set out after him. With 2 laps to go the money looked safe with the now tiring Bicisport rider having to complete the final two laps in 38 seconds. With one lap to go the money was going in my pocket as Crosby had to be home in 18 seconds; however he was clearly sprinting for it. In the end he covered the final lap in 16seconds (56km/h) to claim the $50 and set the record time of 9min 58sec.

Look forward to seeing the both "old" and new faces next week, when division 1 get their first shot at the Madison for 2004 and Div 2 have the feature Team Alex 1km Wheelrace.

Results

Warm up scratch race winners 
 
Div 4: Peter Rafferty
Div 3: Joel Chant
Div 2: Ivan Colig
Div 1: Shaun Hopkins
 
Group H'Cap Div4 
 
1 Peter Klim (125m)
2 Warick McAlpine (125m)
3 Peter Rafferty (Scratch)
 
Group H'Cap Div 3
 
1 Mark Rowling (125m)
2 James Gilmore (125m)
3 Matt Brown (125m)
 
Group H'Cap Div 2
 
1 Alex Simmons (Scratch)
2 Jeff Hopkins (Scratch)
3 David South (125m)
 
Velocraft 1km Wheelrace Div 1 
 
1 Shaun Hopkins (Scratch)
2 Craig Eather (100m)
3 Patrick Bolan (55m)
 
Miss'N'Out Div 4 
 
1 Peter Rafferty
2 Warick McAlpine
3 Penny Rowbotham
 
Miss'N'Out Div 3 
 
1 Steve Dixon
2 John Britten
3 Geoff Worthington
 
Miss'N'Out Div 2 
 
1 Ivan Colig
2 Andrew Brown
3 Julian Yuen
 
Miss'N'Out Div 1 
 
1 Phil stokes
2 Duncan Crosby
3 Stuart Miller
 
Point Score Div 4 15laps 
 
1 Michael Bently                              8 pts
2 Peter Rafferty                              8
3 Raymond Potter                              5
 
Point Score Div 3 15laps 
 
1 Geoff Worthington                           8 pts
2 John Britten                                7
3 Joel Chant                                  6
 
Point Score Div 2 15laps 
 
1 Alex Simmons
2 Julian Yuen
3 Graham McClymont
 
Point Score Div 1 20laps 
 
1 Brett Johnston                             10 pts
2 Phil Dixon                                  9
3 Michael Mellish                             3
 
Div 3+4 
 
1 Joel Chant                                 15 laps
2 Michael Leach
3 John Britten
 
The NSWCF Time Blaster Challenge 
Target time 10 minutes for Prize $50 
Div 1 +Div 2 Sratch 30lapper 
 
1 Duncan Crosby                            9.58
2 Michael Mellish
3 Anthony Bennett