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FNWTR Week 4 Report
The lower numbers this week, due to the Canberra Jnr Tour and a major traffic jam in South Western Sydney, didn’t effect the excitement that was created at FNWTR. I would like to express a warm welcome to some Brisbane based Masters who ventured to FNWTR to get some pre-Worlds racing on the world class track.
The first point of business every week is the Junior Development squad. Despite the mass exodus to Canberra there was still a significant number of riders who benefited from the knowledge and experience of Lionel Cox.
The Feature Race of the night was “The Rocky Point Rd 1.25 km Wheel-race” for div 4. Eighteen riders would qualify for this event from two scratch races in round 1. Of the successful 18, the scratch-men for this event were Stephan Joyce and Garth McInerney. Out front was Geoff Worthington on 110m. It was a hectic start, with one competitor crashing on his first pedal stroke. Despite the rider falling clear of the track, the fall still managed to baulk the back-markers, making their job to hit the front even harder. The big move of the race came early with Tim Llewellyn (95m) making his way to the front on the second lap and opening a massive lead. Tim was being chased by Philip Mullany (75m) who had opened a 40m gap on the rest of the bunch.
Just past half way through the event, Tim had a massive lead with Philip slowly closing the gap. On the bell lap Tim had a seemingly unassailable lead until the air around him turned into soup and he was passed by Philip. Despite holding a sizable lead everything went pear shaped for the young rider as his lead started to dissipate with only 100m remaining. In the end it was pretty simple for Justin Bagge (55m) who had been tipped by many as being the rider to beat in this race. Justin popped himself out of the compact chase group and sailed past Philip with 40m remaining to take a great victory.
Rocky Point Road Cycles have been a great supporter of Sydney racing for many years. Terry Freshwater was on hand to present the Met Stradivarius helmet to the winner of the Wheel-race.
Terry was also proud to announce that Met Helmets and Rocky Point Road Cycles will be sponsoring another Wheel-race later in the season. FNWTR competitors and spectators were treated to witness Australia’s. and possibly the World’s, best Paralympic tandem team perform a 1km Time Trial. Speaking to Shaun Hopkins prior to the event, I was informed that the World Record stands at 1:04.26 however, the duo was planning for a sub 1:06. The time splits for the four laps were very impressive: Lap 1 19.9 Lap 2 34.1 Lap 3 48.5 Finish 1:05.44 Interestingly, if Ben and Shaun could have maintained the pace after the 3rd split it would have equated to a 1:02.8.
The much anticipated “1 Lap screamers” in round three produced some excellent results. A race to note was the Division 3 Heat 6. This heat drew in three former National Champions - Michelle Ferris V’s Rebecca Ellis V’s Donna Meehan. The battle was an exciting one as all three rode in each other’s armpits until Ferris’ power propelled her into the lead for the win.
Point of note: The 1 lap screamer results recorded have some errors due to a minor problem my end. I will review the video tape to correct any errors. In the mean time if you note that your heat has an error please email me with correct results. Round 4’s Snowballs were simply unbelievable fun, with all the races going down to the final sprint to determine the winner. Tactics played a significant part in determining the place getters for the race, with the preferred tactic to hold back for the later higher scoring sprints. When I first started running snowballs, I was never that fond of them however, now I believe they are the ultimate combination of skill, tactics, speed, endurance, power and race knowledge. The night ended with our usual combines which allowed the endurance riders to really open up their legs. Next week being the second Friday of the month means it’s motor pace time. Round 1’s warm up scratch will be motor paced for half the duration. Round 3 will be the always exciting Kierins. Round 4 will be the amazingly painful Miss’N’Out pointscore and of course Round 5 will be the combines including “The Maersk Logistics CNSW Time Blaster” (unfortunately this will have no motorbike). The time to beat in the Maersk-CNSW Time Blaster is 9 min 01 seconds. The prize has jackpotted to $200 and don’t forget the Ivan Colig Last man Standing Prize of $80 to the top Div 2 rider. All photos are courtesy of David Lane from Action Snaps Photography. Check out their website www.actionsnaps.com.au
Cheers Paul
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