FNWTR

The night started with its usual warm up scratch races. The first race in every instance was superb which gave us all a taste of what was to come later in the night.

This Friday was all about one race that has been 9 weeks in the making. The TWE wheels 2km Wheel-race is an event that the top 5 on the series Points-Score from each division qualified to ride. Riders who qualified are posted below with my own pre-event pretend odds. First prize was a set of TWE wheels of the winner’s choice made specifically for them.

Div Rank	Division 1	Handicap	My make believe Odds
7	Stuart Lane	0m	10-1
6	John Deane	5m	15-1
4	David Browne	10m	9-1
3	Gavin White	15m	8-1
1	Jason Roberts	20m	4-1
	Division 2
6	Tirian McManus	90m	9-1
5	Andrew Herlihen	95m	9-1
4	Gary Mandy	100m	7-1
3	Keith Oliver	105m	50-1 (win) 2/1 (Place)
1	Ben Harvey	110m	4-1
	Division 3
6	Brett Hansen	160m	12-1
5	Nosh Mistry	165m	12-1
4	Stephan Joyce	170m	12-1
3	Ian Atkin	175m	11-1
2	Greg O'Brien	180m	8-1
	Division 4
6	Greg Ryan	225m	11-1
5	Alastair McCausland	230m	11-1
3	Mathew Hynes	235m	10-1
2	Garth McInerney	240m	5-1
1	Michael Docker	245m	5/2 (fav)

Clear favorite for the race was Michael Docker who has a massive lead in the Division 4 point series and consequently receives an almost unbelievable mark. From the start Michael drew away from the rest of the Div 4 riders.

Behind Michael a committed group of Division 4 riders gave a serious chase with all the riders swapping off turns in hope to maintain Docker at a respectable distance.

The scratchies knew they only had one shot at getting across the massive gap to the leaders. They formed a perfect train and were flying across the gap. The scratch group would eventually make contact with all but Michael Docker. Unfortunately they used all their effort in doing this and all were too exhausted to contend for minor placings.

Ben Harvey and Gary Mandy were the movers and shakers of the race; they exploded out of the Division 2 group to give chase, leaving Andrew Herlihan and Tirian McManus to work together in hope of catching the leading groups later in the race. Harvey and Mandy caught the lead groups and made the fatal error of sitting in for a lap before they realised that the win was still 80m in front of them with Michael Docker.

In the end Docker crossed the line with 50m to spare whilst Mandy and Harvey sprinted it out for 2^nd place. Greg O’Brien crossed in 4^th with scratch rider Stuart Lane doing a superb job to score 6^th place.

The post race presentation was quite special as Michael Docker, in anticipation of the win, had brought his whole family including Grandma and Poppy. Greg Ryan presented a Wheel to Michael as an example of what he could order. Greg will build a set of wheels specifically for Docker’s requirements. One thing that he will take into account is that Michael being a sub junior will require race wheels that fit into the Cycling Australia wheel regulations for his age category.

After the presentation a short interview with the winner was conducted. When asked “What State titles have you won?”, Michael responded “I’ve won the criterium, the Time Trial …..well I’ve won all of ‘em” Michael was then asked about Track events and which events he has won. Michael responded “yeh I’ve won all of those as well”.

The Kierins as always, where awesome. Many thanks to our derny rider for the night, Brad Hooker. Brad actually got a bit of a work out as he pedaled the motorised derny for 16 races.

The Miss’N’Out Points race again produced gutsy efforts from all the winners. In Div 1 Scott Law finished 3^rd in the Miss’n’Out section than backed up to win the Kierin to take the overall win

The final race, the Maersk Logistics+ CNSW TIME BLASTER, had a slightly depleted field. The time to beat was the impressive time set by Joel Stewart four weeks ago of 8 minutes and 54 seconds (50.2km)

The bunch rode well to cross the 10 lap time check 7 seconds down on schedule, however when they crossed the 20 lap time check 11 seconds down it was clear that race was for pride and not the $200 cash prize.

In the end it was Grant Fraser who was the best, crossing the line just in front of Mark Copeland. Mark later queried the result however the below photo shows that the judges got it right.

With the Maersk – CNSW Time Blaster time of 8:54 not falling for a second time that means the Jackpot prize is $300. Similarly, the Ivan Colig Last Man standing prize also Jackpots to $120.

The Hillbrick Series starts next week, with the scoring event being the Sprint event in round 3

Next week will be our team’s night. When you sign on you will be allocated 1 of six coloured ribbons which will be attached via safety pin to your left sleeve and recorded on the sign on sheet. Racing will include a scratch race, sprints and the tactically difficult Winners race. The night will end with a team Italian Pursuit. Individual Points will still be awarded as per normal however the top 4 teams will receive bonus points to the series Point-Score.

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