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FNWTR Week 2 Report Week two of FNWTR for 2007 was again a cold night at the Dunc Gray Velodrome. I should remind competitors that if you invite spectators that they should rug up and possibly bring a blanky. As for the racing it was another night of fast racing and a whole heap of fun. The night was also the first week of Junior Development with Olympic Gold medalist Lionel Cox. This will run every week from 6pm to 6:40pm, with a demonstration race at 7:05pm. The feature race of the night was The Maersk Logistics 1km Wheel Race for Div 2. With a full field of 24 riders, it was decided to extend the race to 1.5km (6 laps) to ensure a safer event. The handicaps were adjusted by all riders above 50m to move forward an additional 20m, which also created a natural split between the back markers. Maersk Logistics, as part of their larger support of FNWTR, put $150 cash prize for this event. Often when I write these reports of the feature wheel-race I describe how the winner used superior tactics or how they simply pushed their physical limits harder than anyone else. This week the winner won the event with two words. Prior to the start of the event, (as is common) a number of first time FNWTR riders need to be handicapped. One such rider was David Stevens who approached me on his way to the boards requesting a mark. I simply asked “how did you go in the warm up scratch race?” The answer came quick and firmly “dead last” and with this I appointed David limit + 20m (which became 140m). Someone later informed me that he had suffered a mechanical issue in the scratch race, hence his bold confidence in his statement “dead last”.
Scratch men Andrew Burne and Paul Conner had a lot of work to do to pass the other 22 riders all in front of them especially with crafty world record holder Keith Oliver off a handy 70m. From the start the limit rider David Stevens took off at a blistering pace. Just behind him, Ross Harding rode in front of Neil Liefels in an effort to drag Neil across the seemingly small gap of 20m. For a full 3 ˝ laps Ross buried himself in aid of his good mate Neil and finally crossed the gap up to the fast moving David Stevens. Ross professionally delivered Neil onto the leader’s wheel and promptly pulled out to watch it all from the side lines. With David continuing his high speed and a significant gap back to the bunched field, It was now clear that the winner would come from the leading duo. The advantage was in the favour of Neil Liefels who had not hit the wind once in the entire race. Into bell lap we were all expecting Neil to roll comfortably around the fatigued David. Instead, David increased his speed and road his companion off his wheel to take the victory with daylight second. The video of the Wheel Race will be available on the FNWTR website from Tuesday. Next week’s wheel race will be the Rebel Sports / Pearl Izumi Wheel Race for Div 3. This has an awesome prize pool with some wicked equipment and cycling clothing as prizes.
Round 3’s Sprint Derby was of course spectacular with the fast twitch fibre cyclists loving every second. In the blue ribbon heat of Division 1, Jason Roberts gave a demonstration of speed and team tactics as he secured the victory. Jason is the short odds favorite for winning the series in 2007. Watch for him next week in the 200m fly.
Round 4’s “Winners Race” had FNWTR first timers scratching their heads but not Bankstown Sport’s Tim Murphy who knew exactly how to win the div 4 first sprint and then try and hang on for the remainder of the race. Next week’s racing will be a sensational event with our end of month Madison. These races are always a great spectacle with a worthy team taking the victory. Also next week we will get to find out who is the fastest Div 1 rider. Our Div 1 riders will have their first ever 200m fly night. Stay tuned to this week’s news letter, to find out the 200m fly Protocol. Add to all this the “Rebel Sports / Pearl Izumi Wheel-Race” and the speed defying Maersk-CNSW time blaster and you got yourself a top night of entertainment.
Cheers Paul
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