The club managed to enjoy a pleasant Friday night of racing once again after previous weeks have been impacted by rainy conditions. However, it was riders tired from school camps and unable to ride which messed up the racing. The usual 1 lap time trial was the opening even and there was only Bernadette Fitzgerald who managed a new personal best for the night. For the seniors it was Austin Timmins at 32.06 sec just ahead of Gavin Slavin (32.64) and Bernadette at 34.23sec. In the juniors it was a consistent ride from Oliver McLean (36.48sec) ahead of Thomas Fitzgerald (37.06) and Felicity Waddell (41.48).
The next race on the program was scratch races – the seniors over 8 laps and the juniors over 5 laps. The senior race saw Austin win from Gavin and Kevin Feely. In the juniors it was a win for Oliver ahead of Thomas and Felicity.
Next up the riders had handicap events. The juniors over 1 lap and Felicity (40m) lead all the way to win from Thomas (20) and Oliver (scr). In their re-handicap over 2 laps it was a completely different outcome. Oliver (scr) chased the other riders to have a fine win from Thomas and Felicity. The senior handicap over 2 laps saw Bernadette (90) keep it a girls night by winning from the fast finishing Austin (scr) and Dylan Adams (45). In their re-handicap it was Austin (scr) winning from Gavin (40) and Kevin Feely (65).
With rapid fire racing the riders were looking for something a little less strenuous so the sprint option was attractive. The junior sprint saw Oliver win from Thomas and Felicity. The first senior heat went to Austin over Gavin whilst in heat 2 it was Dylan ahead of Kevin and Bernadette.
The last races for the night was a 10 lap scratch race for the seniors. Austin raced with a bunch to the half way mark before some power pedalling saw him riding alone. With 2 laps to go he eased up and allowed Gavin to catch up and then for Gavin to outsprint him in the dash to the line. Kevin Feely raced home gamely for 3rd. In the junior 3 lap dash it was Oliver from Thomas and Felicity.
Members are urged to get back into training as Club titles will need to be held over the next weekends. There were plenty of bike riders around Inverloch on Saturday for the Stage finish of the Sun Tour at Inverloch. Club members enjoyed the day of riding in fine and dry conditions.
The members were also keeping tabs on Thomas McFarlane at the National Track Titles in Adelaide. Thomas picked up a third in the sprint, a third in the keirin before he was relegated by the officials for a riding infringement and then a silver in the scratch race. Well done Thomas.
Sunday mornings sees a number of riders racing in Criteriums at Warragul so the extra racing ensures they remain fit for track racing.