Close Finish for Opening Race
19.01.09
It was an extremely close finish in the Senior A Grade 20 lap heart starter on Friday night.  Barely a tyre width separated the first two places.  A steady pace was set from the start with Tim Fulton using his turn at the front at 14 laps to make a break from the pack.  Darren Anderson and Rhyse Carpenter were ready and responded immediately and were soon on his wheel.  Malcolm Clasohm, Ryan Ware and Nicole Goldring tried to bridge the gap to the three riders but without success.  Anderson didn't contest the sprint finish leaving it to R Carpenter and T Fulton who were side by side as they came down the straight to the finish but it was T Fulton whose wheel was just in front as they crossed the line.

The Pace lifted half way through the Vets 10 lap scratch race and Hayden Gill dropped slightly off the back of the bunch.  Peter Werner led Gary Carpenter, Adrian Wilson and Darryl Fulton into the last lap and held the lead to be first from Wilson, D Fulton, G Carpenter and Gill.

The two Senior B Grade riders were given the challenge to lap the four Junior A Grade riders twice in 10 laps.  It took them six and a half laps to catch them the first time which meant they were going to have to work hard to catch them the second time and they ran out of time.  Sam Campbell took out the event ahead of Liza Wakeling, Charlotte Wakeling, Jessica Shore, Dylan Starkey and Jarrod Hamilton.

Jacob Hughes(100m) held the lead until the last 15 metres of the Junior B Grade two lap handicap when he was caught and passed by Justin Burke (0m) while Chloe Hellowell (80m) was third.

In the Novice one lap handicap Scott Litchfield (65m) put in a really strong effort to hold off Bailey Kesby (0m) to the line.  BMX rider Hannah Wilson had a series of timed one lap dash events completing the first lap in one minute 42.44 seconds and reducing this time in each subsequent event.  She posted a time of one minute 34.95 seconds in her last race.

It has been some weeks since the riders have taken part in an Elimination race where the last rider to cross the line in each of the sprint laps is eliminated.  Some riders found themselves in the wrong position as they approached the line but held into that spot by the position of the other riders on the track and so they were the ones to be eliminated.

In the A Grade three lap handicap Goldring (95m) and Clasohm (70m) were together on the bell and tried hard to hold off the rest of the field in the final lap, however Anderson (35m) caught them on the back straight to take the lead on the final bend.  Ware (60m) was able to take Clasohm and Goldring before the line while R Carpenter (10m) and T Fulton (0m) weren't able to reel in the rest of the field over the distance.

Hamilton (100m) made the most of his handicap in the combined two lap race to take the lead from Gill (140m) and hold it to the line to finish first followed by Starkey (80m), D Fulton (50m), G Carpenter (0m), Gill and Wilson (10m).

In the Junior A Grade handicap Shore (30m) held off a fast approaching Campbell (0m) to take out the event from Campbell, C Wakeling(20m) and LWakeling(10m). 

Hellowell (105m) put in a good effort to hold off the two strong boys in the Junior B Grade handicap and crossed the line first ahead of Hughes(90m) and Burke (0m) while Kesby (0m) had a comfortable win over Litchfield (60m) in the Novice one lap event.

A round of team events followed before the final scratch races with Starkey taking out the Senior B Grade 11 lap scratch race from Hamilton and Campbell the Junior A Grade 10 lap race ahead of L Wakeling, C Wakeling and Shore.

Wilson and Werner had a warm down during the Senior A grade 40 lap scratch race with both pulling out before the race was half way through while T Fulton tried to attack but with five other riders.  It wasn't long before he was brought back into the pack.  The attacks saw both Goldring and then Ware slightly off the back and with the pace of the bunch they were unable to bridge the gap and get back on.  T Fulton made his last attack with five laps to go but R Carpenter and, Clasohm and Anderson went after him.  Anderson wasn't able to keep the pace and dropped off but the other two reeled in Fulton.  As they came around the bend to get the final lap bell Fulton held Clasohm high up on the bank which gave Carpenter the chance to dive under them and get a slight break.  He couldn't hold them off and Fulton was first to the line ahead of Clasohm, Carpenter and Anderson.

Many of the cyclists will be away in Adelaide next weekend taking part in the support events for the Tour Down Under so there will be no racing on Friday January 23.