Masters, In this week’s Bleat;
- Race Report – Lookout Hill Graded Scratch
- Volunteers – for CRMCC races
- Next Race – Sutton Super Series – 3 June
“If you brake, you don’t win”. Mario Cipollini – Itallian Former Pro Road Cyclist
Race Report – Lookout Hill (21 May 2023)
A cool breeze blew over Lookout Hill for the Sunday afternoon Graded scratch race event. With a southerly in full effect, it was promising to be a race of 2 halves with a tailwind for half the race and a headwind for the other half. And to be even more generous to the 35 riders who were racing, we added a bonus of an uphill sprint finish to ensure every rider got value for money. Unfortunately the van was not in operation today after a re-fuelling mishap saw it take out the Shell Service Station at Curtin. Nothing like a bit of drama to add to the day.
A Grade
First away with a big turnout of 13 riders (The biggest grade), the racing was guaranteed to be fast and hard. Coming past the judge after the half a lap, you could tell that the tail wind was proving to be the express train service that once you were on, it was not going to stop. However after completing the first lap, the pace saw 1 rider dropped. By lap 2, we heard a motorbike from about 4 kms away with reports over the radio it was auditioning for an entry into the Isle of Man race. I figured the rider was just trying to motorpace Steve Crispin who had attacked A grade and was flying past us breaking the sound barrier. Steve had a small break coming back up the hill after lap 2 with A grade stringing out chasing hard. Steve was joined by 3 other riders for the final lap and they built up a race winning lead. With half a lap to go it was anyone’s race and as they entered the bottom of lookout hill the sprint was on with Callum Henshaw winning in the sprint from Tristan Dimmock just 2 seconds back and Steve Crispin a further 3 seconds behind.
B Grade
Not a single B grader registered for this event. So they are either burgling lower grades or racing in A and will be spotted by the handicapper
C Grade
8 riders started the race and it was all tea and scones for the first 2 laps as they all stayed together. With 1 lap to go, they had managed to drop 1 rider and it was going to come down to a group sprint on the final lap as they went past us with 1/2 a lap to go for the final leg down to the Point Hunt turn around mostly together. Coming into view, the big engine of Gareth Downey roared into life and managed to take line honors by 3 seconds over Simon Costello with David Dickson just a further 5 seconds away in 3rd.
D Grade
The hard men and women of D grade usually take no prisoners on these road races and this was no exception with D grade providing a brutal introduction to a new rider on lap 1 (We do need them to come back for further racing!). After 1/2 a lap, they had dropped 2 riders and after 1 lap, had added another 2 riders to the list. From then on, it was just a smash-a-thon with me trying to keep track of where every D grader was in the race. Gregory Harris had snuck away and built up a lead over 1 minute which proved to be too much for the chasing bunch. Mark Taylor chased in vain for most of the race to earn 2nd place with 3rd place a further 3 mins behind with Peta Brill putting on the after burners up lookout Hill in a 3 way sprint.
E Grade
Ashley Sked was the lone rider for E grade so decided to ride with D grade and for most of the race, he raced on his lonesome to record a respectable time.
F Grade
2 riders in F grade with Liz Low taking on Chris Copeland. By the first lap, Liz was determined to hammer out the 3 lap race as a solo TT and built up a commanding lead for the rest of the race to take the win by 3 mins over Chris.
Thanks to the marshals Iain Johnstone and Russel Marston who had to not only figure out the myriad of signs to deploy at each of the turn points, but also had to run surveillance on the cars and motorbikes who use this course as a race track on weekends. Their intelligence back to us at the finish line helped us to keep the race safe. Mark Moerman helped me back at the finish line recording the riders as they finished and Simon Whitehead who provided 1st aid which thankfully was not required on the day. Also our ever present handicapper Rob Langridge who kept a close eye on who will earn a promotion or demotion and brought all the equipment for the race in the back of his car.
Ben Davis – Race Director
Volunteers – for CRMCC races
Members are asked to please check the Race Management System – link here
There are race Marhsal positions to fill on 17, 24 and 25 June and July races also – if you can assist the Club then please email the race.committee@actvets.cc
RACING – Next Race
Saturday 3 June, 1.30pm – Sutton Super Series – Graded Scratch
Direction clockwise.
13.30 – C/D 40 mins + 1 lap
14.20 – E/F/G – 30 mins + 1 lap
15.00 – A/B – 50 mins + 1 lap
