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FNWTR Week 13
All photos property of Action Snaps Action Snaps sends David Lane to FNWTR every week to capture the action. All photos can be purchased on the Action Snaps Websites. Bookings to have Action Snaps as your official Photographer for any sporting event can also be made on line
Report
The final and 15th week of the 2007 Friday Night Winter Track Racing series is drawing close and many believe that the points series leaders have already been determined. Week 13 saw different fortunes in each division. Div 1 leader Jason Roberts increased his lead over Gavin White dramatically due to Gavin experiencing an injury. Div 2’s Ben Harvey had his lead slashed by an in-form Keith Oliver and Gary Mandy. Div3 has a new leader, Ian Atkin, who is in hot form and leads Greg O’Brien and Michael Docker in equal 2nd. . Div 4’s Matty Hynes has added some weight to his series lead with a solid ride on Friday.
It was an awesome night with the feature race being the Maersk Logistics / CNSW Time Blaster which carried a prize purse of $580. The riders only had to beat the previous best time of 8min 54 seconds. If this was achieved the winner would score $400 cash and the top div 2 rider scored $180.
A maximum field started the event however after the first time check at 10 laps completed; the bunch was 3 seconds down and starting to lose riders. By the second time check the group was now down to 12 riders and only 2 seconds off schedule. Some solid turns by Aaron Donnelly and Jack Bennett dragged the dwindling group ahead of schedule. Eight riders came into the final lap all with a shot of victory. Coming off 7th wheel J-L Rathbone, the current Australian Points Race Champion, flew around the outside perfectly on the bell and no one could contend with the Penrith rider’s speed. Stuart Campbell gave pursuit whilst Scott Law, Alex Carver and Ben Isakson fought out the minor places.
J-L as always was gracious in his victory speech vowing to divvy up a large portion of the money to those who contributed to recording the impressive time of 8 min 47 seconds (51.23km/h) for the 7.5km race.
Stuart Campbell was successful in his campaign to win the Ivan Colig last man standing Div 2 prize of $180. In fact Stuart attempted to make a challenge on winning the whole race in finishing second overall. I anticipate that he will be going up to Division 1 in the near future.
This Friday was the one Friday of each month that we get the Motor Derny out from hibernation. At FNWTR this means two things - Keirins and Miss’n’Out Point scores. The Keirins were run at their usual high intensity with the winner determined not purely by speed but by tactics and determination as well. The Miss’n’Out point score however is weighted more towards the tacticians of our racing.
I don’t like to write a report that only focuses on the Division 1 riders. I much prefer to share the love around all divisions. However the tactics and level headed riding displayed by the Jade Kitchens team (a team consisting of 4 X U17 riders and Old Man Law) is truly worth writing about.
In the early stages of the race Old Man Law (Grant Law) took an early exit from the Miss’N’Out section of the event to secure second position on the Derny. Meanwhile Jack Bennett, Aaron Donnelly and Alex Carver were all doing their bit in the wind to keep Scott Law near the front and clear of any energy sapping sprints. As Scott lost the last of his team mates, his natural ability kept him in the race until there were three riders remaining. At this point Scott wisely did not sprint but instead he went back to the motor bike to get an extra couple of laps recovery.
When Scott was picked up by the derny Old Man Law opened a gap so the younger Law could slot in near the front of the flying 20 strong pace line. J-L Ratbone won the final sprint of the Miss’N’Out section scoring 22 points. As J-L was picked up by the fast moving motor bike he was unable to secure a spot anywhere near the front for the Kierin style finish. Once the Derny (ridden by Brad Hooker) pulled off, Old Man Law swung into action keeping the pace high, ensuring that Rathbone would find it difficult to improve his position. Coming into bell lap Scott Law forced his way onto the Hoppy / Roberts train and came around Roberts to take the 8 Points and secure the overall victory in the Miss’N’Out Pointscore on 27 points, ahead of J-L Rathbone who was unable to improve on his 22 points.
Next week is the second last FNWTR for 2007. It will mark the last week of Jnr Development. Hence we will have two rounds of demonstration races. The night will include the final of the Hillbrick series. The final winner of this season long event will take home a Hillbrick Ryan Bayley signature complete track bike. The Finalists for the Hillbrick Series are:
Handicaps for this 1km event will be announced in this week’s news letter
Additionally next week will feature a wicked sprinters event and the popular Poker Race.
Guys and Gals, we are drawing closer to the final night spectacular. If you have not been to a FNWTR finale, you will have to trust me when I say it is an entertaining night from go to woe.
Cheers Paul
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