Club racing was held on the tough and hilly Mardan circuit this weekend. The race was changed from the usual format to start and finish in Leongatha instead of Mardan. This was a positive given the cold and wet conditions and it also changed the race dynamic as the long 6km climb was now in the middle of the race rather than the end.
15 riders entered and Malcolm Gin led the way on 13 minutes with junior rider Thomas Macfarlane to keep him company. He was followed by Phil Hanley and Neil White on 8 minutes then a group of 3 riders on 3 minutes, 5 riders on 2 minutes and the scratch group of 4.
Solid riding by the 2 minute group saw them quickly pick up Steve Allen, Steve Piasente and Morgan Barnes. The quick early pace also kept them out of reach of the hard working scratch riders. Ron Purtle, Eamonn Feely and Elliott Gin were climbing strongly.
Neil and Phil had caught Malcolm and looked to have the race in their hands over the long downhill run back into Leongatha. However the head wind made their job tougher and some big turns from Dave Macfarlane saw them swept up just before the turn into Horn St. Jamie Grenville had ridden strongly all race and lead out the sprint. Tony Clark looked to have him covered until the line when Phil Carmenzuli weaved his way through to score his maiden win and fastest time for the day. Tony held on for second, Jamie third, Kevin Feely fourth and Dave Macfarlane fifth place.
updated 8am 2nd June
