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On Saturday the Scratch Race Champs was held as part of the usual race meet but with all the glamour of a Club Championship it was a very different race to the usual with the field keen to follow Richard England closely. This played perfectly into the hands of ‘In Form’ sprinter Barry Woods who took the race in convincing style.
The Sunday had Sprints in the morning and the ever controversial Points Race in the afternoon.
The Masters sprint was a good event with new member Big Vaughan posting a sizzling qualifying time that would have qualified him 1 hundredth of a second behind Richard England in 7th place in the Elite Men category.
The Elite men’s qualifying saw Barry Woods pull his finger out and finally beat Andrew Steele in the qualifying, a task he has never done before and some say never will again. No records were broken as the wind was quite blustery.
The first round (quarter finals) were to be SUDDEN DEATH with all following rounds to be the ‘Best of Three’ heats.
There was action aplenty as Richard England and Luke Doherty fought it out, but the persistent and deceivingly quick Doherty was too fast for the Big Rich E.
Then Stevie ‘Made Every Wheelrace Final’ Martin destroyed a keen Rowan Geddes who looked only too happy to go home early and miss the Points Race.
In the third race Andrew Steele wound up a nervous and keen Jamie Goddard with plenty of action on the track as Jamie tried to position the Master Tactician where he liked him, in the end Jamie’s fast leadout was all that the Big Steeley needed to come round him.
In the final of the Quarter Final SUDDEN DEATH heats came the ‘RACE OF THE DAY’ with an ever keen Duanne Gilmore using the thousands of hours of Gary Neiwand videos to control the Super Fast Barry Woods! After holding Barry up high until the back straight Barry made a final dive underneath Duanne only to have the door shut solid, making Barry have to back off and come around the wild and feisty Duanne who was using his ATOM ‘Kieran’ helmet to it’s fullest in the bank as he held Barry up High on his hip, only for the two of them to enter the final straight NECK & NECK! With the crowd on its feet Barry had the final lunge to barely squeeze a few inches between himself and Super Duanne! It was the closest anyone would come to the big man all day, and by the slowest qualifier it was indeed an awesome effort.
The Semi Finals saw Steely defeat a cautious Doherty who lay off the big man just a little too far.
Then Steve Martin Conceded defeat to his good mate Barry Woods and conserved his energy for the coming Bronze Medal fight off against Doherty and then Points Race.
The Finals were a good sight with Barry Woods winning in straight heats despite some good hooking and different tactics from Big Steeley.
Luke Doherty won a Nail Biter against Steve Martin but once again lay off too far only to find Stevie Martin taken off a long way out to successfully steal two heats, and win the Bronze Medal.
A rest was prescribed for all and Kain Nunn added himself to the equation for the Points Race. It was always going to be a hard slog but the heat of the day would make it no easier.
They all lined up and were told that Alan and John would have a good understanding of the rules, and would also have the helpful advice of 2 commissaries in Pat & Maureen Doherty.
The Overall Championship would be decided in this race and Richard England needed to win and Barry Woods not to finish in the placings for Richard to take the Overall Club Champion Title! But it was never to be!
The Race was begun, 130 Laps with Sprints every 10 laps.
Within two laps of the start a keen Andrew Steele took of on a eager attack in search of points and hopefully a lap on the main field, just as he seemed to be about to re-join the back of the field before the first sprint, Jamie Goddard was just as keen to make sure he didn’t and kept the pace high leading up to the first sprint, dashing Steeley’s hopes of getting the lap quickly. Before the 2nd sprint Kain Nunn joined him and the two would spent the next 30 laps swapping turns. In the end they were caught and the bunch splintered with a tired Steele quickly losing a lap with Barry Woods and Luke Doherty to the main field.
The battle between England and Martin fired up with the two going head to head all race long but Jamie Goddard snuck off the front with about 50 laps to go and was nearly forgotten about, and Steve and Richard fought out each of the next sprints with the lead going from Martin to England with 3 sprints remaining.
A blistering attack from England with 6 to go saw Martin pull the pin and finally let him go despite his good friend Woods trying to coax him on.
A few laps later it dawned on Richard that Goddard was now closing the gap on Martin and Woods - who would probably be declared as the main field! And sure enough on the very last lap Jamie caught Martin and Woods and was awarded the 20 bonus points for taking a lap.
After much deliberation and reading of the rule book to decide the placings in the final sprint (who had got the bell? who was away? who was permitted to contest that final sprint?) it was announced that Jamie Goddard had in fact won and that Richard England and Steve Martin had finished in 2nd an 3rd in that order with Kain Nunn taking 4th place and the last finisher Woods taking 5th.
A great days racing and the end of the Track Season for all but Richard England who takes off to represent our club and the state at the National Track Titles in April. Good Luck Richard!