The second night of the track season was run in still but cold conditions on Friday night. The competition was fierce and produced some good finishes.
In the first event of the night, the 1 lap time trial, the good training night on Wednesday was producing some noticeable changes in times. Hamish Bissett, Austin Timmins and Matt Winchester all took considerable time of their previous time. In the A grade division, Thomas McFarlane was almost back to his best time of last season whilst Kevin Feely, on a new bike and carbon fibre wheel also clocked a best time. Times were Thomas McFarlane 31.03 sec, Chris Rowe, having his first night on the track for a large number of years, 33.69, Kevin Feely 35.82 sec. In the Junior division, Will Lumby recorded 36.55, just ahead of Matt Minogue 36.86, Hamish Bissett at 38.54 also just ahead of Austin at 38.63sec. Alex Bennett turned in a 42.35sec whilst Matt Winchester peeled of around 2 sec to get a 43.79 sec and Fleur Timmins was at 48.85. The time trials were followed by handicap events.
“Alex Bennett (60)m was quickly away to chase down the limit markers and hold on for a narrow win”
The Juniors raced a 1 lap dash and Alex Bennett (60)m was quickly away to chase down the limit markers and hold on for a narrow win from Matt Winchester (70) and Fleur Timmins (90) in third. The balance of the field were within 5m of the leaders.
The A grade riders raced over 2 laps and Thomas McFarlane (Scr) managed to pick up the others with just 100m to race. Chris Rowe claimed 2nd and Kevin Feely 3rd. After this it was a re-handicap dash for the juniors. This time around the finish was even closer with Fleur (90) grabbing the win. Matt Winchester (65) just managed to grab 2nd before a flying run from Will Lumby (Scr) down the outside saw him secure 3rd. Sprints were next on the list. In the A grade it was Thomas winning from Chris and Kevin. For the juniors there were 3 heats. The first saw Will grab the win from Matt Minogue. In the second heat it was Austin Timmins proving to fast for Hamish Bissett whilst in the
“third heat Alex Bennett was able to take a fly from the top of the bank and scoot around for the win”
third heat Alex Bennett was able to take a fly from the top of the bank and scoot around for the win over Matt Winchester and Fleur Timmins.
The A graders followed up with a second sprint and the outcome was the same as the first heat – a win to Thomas. The juniors fronted up for an elimination race. This was new territory for Austin, Matt Winchester and Fleur Timmins. Matt Minogue was riding well but a lack of fitness saw him fade at the crucial stages as he was forced to settle for third by some good riding from Will and Austin. The dash to the line saw Will work really hard to hold out a determined finish from Austin. Last races for the night were scratch races. The A grade riders raced over 12 laps and by this stage fatigue from the regular efforts was impacting some riders. Thomas McFarlane made it a clean sweep for the night but Kevin Feely was just starting to hit his straps and he finished strongly and secured second from a tired Chris Rowe.
The juniors were spilt into Div 1 and Div 2. In Div 1 over 5 laps it was Will Lumby who grabbed another win. Austin Timmins also raced home well to grab 2nd just ahead of Hamish and Matt. In Div 2, over 3 laps, Alex Bennett tried once again for a fly from the bank but Matt Winchester was ready and countered the move. The dash to the line saw Matt win from Alex and Fleur.
Training will be on again on Wednesday night and it is easy to see the improvement in the riders from the intense effort of these training nights. There are several riders who have been at training who need to make the transition to Friday night racing – including several girls to join Fleur.
Lindsay
updated 9am 25th Sept.
