The week saw children back to school and members back to track racing. However, as with most nights it is hard to get all the riders along. The senior numbers may have been minimal but the racing was pretty classy as Thomas McFarlane had his first racing for the season and showed his road season form translated well to the track. For the 1 lap time trial Thomas clocked 30.67 sec which is the fastest time recorded for the season. Ollie McLean posted a 32.12 sec time which was also good given the strongly southerly wind blowing for the start. Thomas Fitzgerald rode a 35.67sec lap. In the junior group Paris Reynolds rode 43.47 sec slicing 11 secs from her pre-xmas time. Erica Deery was next with a time of 44.01 sec, Kate Geary at 50.92 sec and Jake Johnston at a new PB at 65.15 sec.
The seniors raced a 8 lap scratch race with Tom McFarlane doing just enough to roll past Ollie McLean and Tom Fitzgerald at the line. In the junior 3 lap race, Jake was given a start and that encouraged Erica to chase hard in the opening laps and close the gap. Paris Reynolds challenged but it was not enough and Erica took the win from Paris and Kate Geary.
The 1 lap handicaps produced some interesting races. Tom Fitzgerald (55) made the most of his start and stayed away to win from Tom McFarlane (scr) and Olllie McLean (15m). After a re-work of the handicaps the second race went to Ollie(25m) from Tom McFarlane(scr) and Tom Fitzgerald(40m) with the end result looking to be just a 5m between all crossing the line together.
In the junior group, Jake Johnston (140) made full use of his start to win from Kate Geary(25m) and Paris Reynolds (scr). The re-handicap saw Kate Geary(15) quickly of the mark and hitting the lead with 200m to go, take the win. Paris Reynolds (scr) finished well to move into 2nd spot just ahead of Erica Deery (10).
To break up the night, the junior riders had a slow race on the grass. With several riders going too slow and falling onto the grass it left a battle between Jake and Erica. Jake was doing really well but a moments lapse of concentration saw him out also so an easy win went to Erica Deery.
Back onto the track for some sprint heats and Erica accounted for Kate in their 1 lap heat. In the senior sprint heat, Oliver McLean did the lead out but was never quick enough to trouble Thomas McFarlane in the dash to the line. Thomas Fitzgerald trailed in for third. The final 8 lap scratch race saw Oliver put the pace on at 2 laps to go which shook Thomas Fitzgerald from the wheel but Thomas McFarlane was up for the challenge and cruised past up the straight to take another win from Olllie and Tom F.
Training is again scheduled for Wednesday night so hopefully some of the numbers at training can swell the Friday racing numbers. There is only 4 nights of track racing for the season left. The Gippsland clubs have scheduled some road races for later in March.
Lindsay
results
updated 8am 2nd June
