Club riders enjoyed a warm afternoon for racing on Saturday along with a buffeting northerly wind. With 24 starters there were a good number of riders in each bunch to tackle the hilly Korrine circuit. At the end of the first of 2 laps, limit rider Rob Aitken was still away with a handy break. Next through was Rod Cheyne and Elliott Gin from the 11 minute bunch although the climb up to the Glen Alvie corner had seen the 5 rider bunch split. The 4 rider bunch on 7 minutes had Neil White and Tom Dudley driving their bunch but their gap to the large 6 rider bunch on 4 minutes had shrunk significantly. This large bunch was powering along and looked to be a chance for line honours. The 5 rider bunch on 2 minutes had not closed the gap to the bunch ahead however the chasing scratch duo of Stuart Smith and Nick Aitken had closed the gap to just 15 secs.

On the second lap Rod Cheyne showed his winter training in Italy was of some benefit as he caught and rode past Rob Aitken on the climb up to the Glen Alvie intersection. This enabled him to solo home a clear winner. It also helped keep Rob working and he soloed in for 2nd. Next home were the strongmen from the 4 minute bunch with David McFarlane winning the sprint for 3rd from Ronald Purtle whilst Elliott Gin claimed 5th with a great ride. The hills and wind resulted in a tough last part of the race so that riders cycled home in ones and twos. In 6th was another junior with a great ride in Tom Dudley, 7th Kevin Feely, 8th Rick Whitehouse, 9th Neil White and 10th and fastest time to an exhausted Stuart Smith with a time of 56.22 min.

The racing has produced a cliff hanger in the tally of aggregate points before the final race next Saturday. The aggregate sees riders gain points according to their finish position plus bonus points for the placings. Hence a big field can see a large range of points. With Kevin Feely coming in 12 placings ahead of Paul Taranto on Saturday Paul's handy lead has shrunk to just 4 points for next Saturday.

n the junior race, 4 riders raced an out and back course at Korrine which included some head wind riding and the climb up past the old Korrine school. The riders had a handicap with Matt Dudley on 2.30 followed by Thomas McFarlane and Jarrod Donohue at 30 secs and lone scratch rider Mitch Gin. At the final turn atop the hill at the Glen Alvie corner it was Matt Dudley still with a handy break. However, Mitch had caught the others and the chasers were coming hard. However, the down hill run and tail wind saw the hard working Matt claim the win. In a surprise sprint result, Jarrod has jut edged out Mitch for 2nd . Mitch settled for 3rd and fastest time.

Race report by Lindsay Love