Close Calls Keep Judges On Their Toes
30.11.08

The fitness level of the cyclists has improved over recent weeks which kept the judges on their toes on Friday night with several close finishes and a couple almost too close to call.
There was less than a tyre width between Pierce Sutton and Dylan Starkey as they crossed the line vying for second place in the Senior B Grade 10 lap scratch race while Jai Sutton had crossed the line first from Starkey and P Sutton.  P Sutton has shown a steady improvement since the beginning of the season and if it continues will soon be competing in A Grade.

The tussle to the line in the Vets 2-up sprint between Keith Gibbons and Kelvin Rohrlach saw Rohrlach take out the event by the narrowest of margins.

Friday night also marked the half way point of the second round of the McLeods Point series with riders eager to consolidate their positions.  In the overall points for this round there is just one point separating the first two riders in both the Vets and Senior B Grades and two points in Senior A Grade and Novices which should make for some good competition next week.

Novice Scott Litchfield has improved over the season and with the crowd spurring him along in his one lap dash he posted a personal best time of 46.07 seconds.  Jarrod Hamilton has only been racing two weeks and is doing really well in Junior B Grade and will be one to watch over the coming weeks and may be promoted soon to Senior B Grade. BMX riders Natalie and Jacob Anderson each had a win in their one lap handicap races.

In the final Vets race of the evening, a 15 lap scratch race, Peter Werner, Keith Gibbons and Adrian Wilson made a break 15 metres from Kelvin Rohrlach on the bell.  Werner and Gibbons were side by side as they came down the straight to the line but it was Gibbons who took out the event by half a wheel to Werner with Wilson not far behind and Rohrlach fourth.

Novice riders Corey Gibbons and Chloe Hellowell joined Junior B Grade for a four lap scratch race to give them experience in turn taking with Justin Burke first from Tegan Wood, Dana Prater, C Gibbons and C Hellowell.

With three laps left of the Junior A Grade 12 lap scratch race Jessica Shore and Charlotte Wakeling lifted the pace and split from Sam Campbell, Jarrod Hamilton and Liza Wakeling.  C Wakeling couldn't maintain the pace and rejoined the bunch in the next lap while Shore had made the move a bit too early and was caught by Hamilton and Campbell as they began the last lap.  Hamilton was first to cross the line followed by C Wakeling, Campbell, L Wakeling and Shore.

The Senior B Grade did well to maintain the steady pace set by the A Grade in the combined final race of the evening with B Grade finishing half way through the 40 lap race and Jai Sutton first from Dylan Starkey and Pierce Sutton.

Tim Fulton and Darren Anderson made an attack with 10 laps to go of the A Grade race but the other riders responded immediately and they were back together in a short distance.  Two laps from the finish they were bunched up with no one willing to lead out and all watching to see who would make the first move however the sound of the bell saw them all sprint.  Tim Fulton outsprinted Rhyse Carpenter, Ben Young, Ryan Ware, Darren Anderson and Daniel Anderson to the line.