Friday night saw the track season commence. Club members in attendance found the steady east wind blowing made the night rather cold so were keen to depart at the end of racing. The night saw 2 riders have their first taste of track racing. The club would like to see some more youngsters come down and have a try. This can be achieved by riders coming along to the Wednesday evening training sessions where club coach Tony Smith can organise a bike and get the riders started.
Fist event for Friday night was the 1 lap Time Trial. Best effort for the night was Elliot Gin however he has some work to do to match last season’s time. He was followed by Ben Patterson, Mat Dudley, Thomas McFarlane, Mitch Gin, Mat Minogue and Alex Bennet. Thomas showed his increased strength by recording a best time.
The handicapper was into action trying to sort out marks for a 1 lap handicap. The marks worked well save for Matt and Alex. Elliot flashed home up the straight to score a fine win from the scratch mark. Next home was Mat Dudley and Thomas. The riders then had a 2 lap handicap and again the limit markers were caught with around 100m to go. Once again it was Elliot claiming the win just ahead of Ben and Matt Dudley.
The riders were given a short rest before lining up for some sprints. In the first match race between Matt and Alex, over 1 lap, Matt was keen to score a win and raced away from the start putting a gap between him and Alex that was enough to see him collect the win. Next up it was Mitch Gin and Thomas McFarlane. Mitch made the first move but Thomas showed some good track craft and timed his run to perfection to win by a ½ wheel. The final match race saw Ben, Matt Dudley and Elliot race each other. Elliot was quickly into control and easily brought up another win.
The final races saw Alex and Matt Minogue line up for a re-match. This time Alex lead out the race but once again Matt was able to find enough speed to claim the win. The other 5 riders raced a 10 lap scratch race and swapped turns at a good pace. However, at bell lap it was the 3 older riders dominating the proceedings and Elliot made it a clean sweep for the night followed by Ben Patterson and Matt Dudley.
updated 7am 18th Sept.
