After being washed out for the 2 previous Friday nights it was great to be back in action last Friday. The riders enjoyed the mild night and light winds and conditions seemed to be conducive to producing new personal bests.
The A grade 6 lap scratch race saw the pace lift with 2 laps to go as Fletcher Hill came to the front. Ethan Davis saw the danger and quickly clamped on the wheel. A late surge saw Oscar Davis close the gap but in the race to the line it was Fletcher winning from Oscar and Ethan. In the B grade 4 lap scratch race it was Zac Evans who covered the early move from Ryan Beggs. He raced home for the win from Renee Hardacre and Ryan Beggs.
In the 1 lap dash against the clock Ethan Davis, Fletcher Hill, Ryder Evans, Renee Hardacre and Zac Evans all recorded new PB’s whilst the other riders were also close to new marks. Quickest for the night was Fletcher Hill at 34.84sec. Next was Oscar Davis at 35.43sec just ahead of brother Ethan at 35.81 sec. All the riders at the Wednesday night training session put in best efforts behind the motor bike so coach Tony Smith was pleased with the workout. The end result is improved times against the clock on Friday.
Unfortunately the Covid lockdown will mean the riders will miss out on a Wednesday session at the track. The saving grace is they can still go for a session on the road.
The handicaps were arranged so that riders could start from the fence in the finish straight – no assistance from pushers to get them started. In the A grade race, Ethan Davis (20m) showed he was having a great night as he flew away at the start and bridged the gap to Ryder Evans (30m) leaving the back markers to chase hard. At the line it was Ethan winning from Fletcher (scr) and Ryder 3rd. In the re-handicap it was Fletcher (scr) winning in a 4 way photo from Ethan (10), Oscar (20) and Ryder (35). The throw on the line by Fletcher enabled him to snatch the win from Ethan.
In the B grade handicap, Zac Evans (scr) took out the first race from Renee (15) and Ryan (30). In the second race, Ryan (50) made a better start and defied the chasers to record a clear win from Zac (scr) and Renee (20).
Another new event for the night was a flying 200m time trial. At national sprint events riders qualify and are seeded according to their 200m time. Ethan Davis was the first onto the track and put in a smart time of 15.14 sec. However, brother Oscar was up for the challenge and came home with a 15.13sec and hence bragging rights for the night. Next best was Fletcher at 15.23 sec.
The night finished with an elimination race. Zac Evans tried to use some good tactics to put one of the A graders out put ran out of zip and allowed the rider to escape the move. In the end it was Fletcher winning from Ethan and Oscar. It was perhaps Ethan’s best night of the season.
Lindsay
updated 9am 25th Sept.
