Riders Put Up Good Show
13.03.09
 

The opening event was the Senior A Grade 15-lap heart starter with a field of nine riders, although Malcolm Clasohm was forced to retire four laps into the race with a punctured rear tyre.  Daniel Anderson started to slip slightly off the back of the bunch with four laps to go and was joined by Ron Versteegh the next lap and with the fast pace the rest of the pack was able to pull away from these two.  Paul Berkett took off as they got the final lap bell, but the others responded immediately and soon reeled him in with Ben Young taking out the event from Berkett, Rhyse Carpenter, Tim Fulton, Ryan Ware, Darren Anderson, Daniel Anderson and Versteegh.

In the Senior B Grade 12 lap scratch race Keith Gibbons started to move up through the pack with two laps to go while Nicole Goldring took the lead hoping to control the sprint from the front.  The sprint for the line saw Gibbons go to the front with Peter Werner on his wheel, but Werner had to settle for second ahead of Jai Sutton, Dylan Starkey, Goldring and Pierce Sutton.

Gaps started to appear in the field of the Senior C Grade 10 lap scratch race after eight laps when Jarrod Hamilton lifted the pace while doing his turn at the front, however it was Nick Hellowell who led Gary Carpenter, Adrian Wilson, Hamilton and Darryl Fulton into the final lap.  Hellowell put in a strong lap to hold off the others and cross the line first ahead of Wilson, Carpenter, Hamilton and Fulton.

In the Junior A Grade eight lap scratch race the riders stayed together until they came into the last lap when Sam Campbell, Charlotte Wakeling and Liza Wakeling took off as soon as they heard the bell getting the jump on Jessica Shore.  She put in a good sprint, but wasn't able to catch the others while Campbell took out the event from C Wakeling, L Wakeling and Shore.

It was an extremely close finish in the Junior B Grade four lap scratch race with Dana Prater sitting comfortably on the wheel of Justin Burke as they began their final lap and coming alongside him as they approached the line.  While Burke is usually the stronger of the two, Prater didn't give up and as they crossed the line it was Burke whose wheel was in front by just 10 centimetres.

The Junior C Grade riders were together on the bell in their four lap scratch race, with Bailey Kesby leading Jacob Hughes, Corey Gibbons and Chloe Hellowell.  Hughes and Gibbons sprinted for the line gaining a handy lead over the other two.  Hughes held the lead to the finish while Kesby was third and Hellowell fourth.

Scott Litchfield, although not beating his previous fastest time, completed his lap in 47.43 seconds.

After a round of handicap races for all grades Shane Boundy presented the McLeods Point Series awards for round four in which Junior A Grade had the closest competition with Shore and Campbell equal first on 39 points while C Wakeling was a point behind them.  K Gibbons had a clean sweep in all of his five events over the evening while Clasohm showed his years of experience staying in the pack when there were attacks, saving his energy for a very impressive final sprint.  He took out the closing event, a 40 lap scratch race.

FULL RACE RESULTS HERE