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St George Open Carnival
Hurstville Oval, Sydney, January 30, 2005
Kersten claims big double
By Phil Bates
Ben Kersten continued his outstanding form, claiming a major double at Hurstville Oval last night.
Kersten relished the big flat 400 metre track, and won the Sam Drew Memorial Wheel race from scratch after conceding more than 240 metres start. Kersten quickly closed the gap on newly crowned National Under-23 Champion Chris Sutton and Steve Fitzpatrick, a former winner, to be well-positioned after just 1200 metres.
However, with 200 metres to go, Steve Fitzpatrick burst clear of his opponents and the King of Hurstville seemed set to record his second victory in the Sam Drew Memorial race.
National pursuit champion Chris Pascoe was having a great tussle with former national junior champion Warren Scott rounding the corner into the straight behind Fitzpatrick, when Kersten hit the turbo charger and flew from six back to win by just centimetres from Fitzpatrick while Pascoe crossed just ahead of Scott. It was an incredible performance by Kersten, who continues to win major wheel races on all tracks across Australia.
In the Ron Bates Memorial Madison, Kersten teamed with Gavin Bates, the grandson of Ron Bates, in a quest to win his first madison title for a considerable number of years. The race, staged over 50 kilometres, was divided into three sprint sessions, comprising four sprints 2000 metres apart.
After the first session, the undefeated champions of madison racing, the Fitzpatrick brothers, Steve and Peter, held a one point lead over Bates and Kersten on 12 points, with Chris Sutton and Chris Pascoe in third place on nine points. The second session was a great effort by Richard Vollebregt and Justin Tomlinson, the team from the Southern Highlands, who opened up a commanding half lap lead to claim three sprint victories and move to 15 points, with Kersten and Bates taking the overall lead on 22 points.
The Fitzpatricks maintained their position in second place, with Pascoe and Sutton moving to fourth place (14 points), just ahead of Warren Scott and Sam Lee. In the final session Kersten was virtually invincible, winning three sprints as the Bates/Kersten team finished the night with 37 points, 10 clear of the dual champions Peter & Steve Fitzptarick, with Pascoe/Sutton back in third on 17 points. Tomlinson and Vollebregt picked up one more point for fourth while Sam Lee and Warren Scott tied with Tyler McLachlan and Anthony Bennett for fifth.
Kersten was full of praise for his partner Gavin Bates and was grateful to add his name to the honour roll. In the aces derby earlier in the night, Steve Fitzpatrick defeated Warren Scott and brother Peter by the narrowist of margins, making it a clean sweep by St. George cyclists, while Luke Barrett (St George) won the Open Scratch from Matt Wild of Southern Cross and Andrew Kilday (St George) to round out a great night for the St George Club.
