With Friday night coinciding with the holiday weekend the number of starters for Friday night racing was again reduced. However for those in attendance there was some close and exciting racing. The reduced field also meant it was difficult to give riders a rest between races. Although the night was warm there was a steady north wind blowing and that impacted upon times.

The 1 lap time trial saw Elliot Gin record 32.06 sec, followed by Matt Dudley on 34.71 sec, Thomas McFarlane on 37.00 sec and Mitch Gin on 38.38sec. These were all down on their personal bests.

This was followed by some sprint match races over 2 laps. In the first Elliot was up against Matt with Matt playing close attention and trying not to give any advantage to Elliot. On the bank with around 300m to go, Elliot feinted a move and lured Matt to commit to the sprint. Matt headed for the bottom of the track whilst Elliot stayed high then used the extra bank height on the run into the back straight to dash past Matt and go on to take the win.

In the second heat between Thomas and Mitch, it was a different race with the pace still slow after the bell, Thomas high on the track and Mitch at about mid height. With around 300m left Thomas made the decisive move using the bank to perfection to make the gap and take the win.

After a brief recovery riders were again on the track for a 2 lap handicap. Thomas on 100, Mitch on 90, Matt on 40 and Elliot on Scratch. Thomas lead out hard early and with the riders closing up toward the 200m mark, Mitch made the move around Thomas with Matt following whilst Elliot was closing all the while. The dash down the finish straight saw Mitch hang on to score the win by a half wheel from Elliot and Matt and Thomas a close 4th.

This event was followed by a Leongatha versus Wonthaggi team sprint over 1 lap. Thomas went hard early and the home team had a break of around 10m at the halfway point but at the finish the result was too close to call be eye and the stop watch indicated 35.13 sec Wonthaggi to 35.95 Leongatha.

The last event of the night was a scratch race over 8 laps. Riders swapped turns until the bell lap and then it was anyone’s race. Elliot quickly covered the challenges to score a handy win ahead of Matt, Mitch and Thomas.

Last weekend Matt and Thomas raced at a Newborough meeting and both came home with some prizemoney whilst Mitch and Elliott went to a Preston junior Open. It was their first Open and both riders enjoyed the event with Elliot just missing the podium in several events but realising he is competitive at a State level.

Race report by Lindsay Love