- Next Race – Iron Mike Handicap – 30 August
- Race Report – Sutton Super Series – 9 August
- Sutton Super Series
- Upcoming races requiring volunteers – race calendar can be found here
Next Race – Iron Mike Handicap – 30 August
Our next event is a Handicap race at Stromlo Forest Park western car park
*** 3 x ETC needed for this event***
Enter here https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar?5025445
Cost is $10, with registration closing at 5pm on Friday 29th August.
The club needs 20 riders registered for the event to proceed
Race Report – Sutton Super Series – 9 August
1.30pm saw 11 riders across D and D grades toe the line for a race
that – to much consternation and cries of “the RMS said clockwise” –
was 40 minutes plus 1 lap of the Sutton Driver Training Centre in the
anti-clockwise direction. It was pretty cool with a reasonable amount
of breeze about to provide a decent tailwind on the main straight but
of course this would mean having to contend with the wind and a climb
on the back side of the course. The author was pretty happy to be race
director and not getting hooped off the back, unlike his last visit to
STDC.
C grade rolled out with one fewer rider who had requested (!) an
upgrade (!!) and the five settled in for the first 15 min with Stuart
Roesler, Tony Hrstic and the OG Ben Healy taking turns on leading the
group around. Then a split occurred with Tony opening a gap on Stuart,
Ben and Brian Peak with Mick Hanbury dropping away from the group.
This was the pattern of the rest of the race with Tony Hrstic looking
very comfortable winning with a large gap, Stuart Roesler rolling
Brian Peak and Ben Healey with Mick Hanbury hanging tough to come in
fifth.
D grade had half a dozen riders, with Ange Hookham making the trip
down the Hume from Goulburn and pretty much towing the group around
all race, chapeau. The group essentially held station for the first
half hour with probably Ange suffering windburn from all the time on
the front of the bunch until just a few laps from the end when Andrew
Remely (who also was the Van Driver for the race, thank you) and
Alison Hale falling away from the group. Ange was super strong and
looked to have the race covered but ever crafty Nick Boylan took
advantage and surged for a strong victory, with Ange getting second
for her efforts, followed by Kevin Newhouse for bronze, Andrew Remely
fourth and Alison Hale next across the line with Allan Bontjer
rounding out the group.
Next up was a trio of riders in E grade for what seemed like would be
a long race with little respite from the elements without a group to
sit in. And so it was, with David Gunther doing the bulk of the work
on the front for Elizabeth Lowe and Ian Morton riding a time trial
behind the lead duo for much of the race. And this was the order in
which they finished, David and Elizabeth coming in together ahead of
Ian.
A and B grades were relatively sizeable with renowned MTB ace Matt
McAuliffe asking for an upgrade to A. With approval duly granted he
was put to work chasing down a break that formed early after Stu
Griffiths put his dadwatts to good use and opened it up after the
first lap. He was joined by Daniel Lekhac and Steve Crispin not too
long afterward. Matt, Toby McLenaghan and Brad Peppinck chased hard
all race but there was no stopping the powerhouse trio upfront,
especially without the horsepower of Ben Morrison who suffered a rear
flat, and Rainer Wilton who kept Moshy company back at in the starting
pen. The A lead group were stomping and lapped B grade about 30min in
with Stu getting a well deserved win ahead of Steve and Daniel. Brad
Peppinck the chocolate a little bit behind, with Toby fifth and Matt
McAuliffe getting his wish for a hard race coming in sixth.
B grade was the largest field in the race and stayed together the
entire day, with Nathan Spillane, Marc Vroomens and James Watt
prominent at the front. Nathan and Marc were trying pretty hard to
make a separation, however the big taily on the front straight meant
the group kept coming back together and swelling up, nearly causing a
problem when A grade caught them before the first turn about half an
hour in, but with a bit of direction from the A grade shepherds B
grade kept the pace up until the end with Mark Benedetti surging for a
strong victory over a group with quite a few fast finishers in it,
Chris Filiatrault snagged second and Nathan Spillane – who surely been
macrodosing creatine and cultivating fast twitch muscles this winter –
sensationally outsprinting Marc Vroomens for third and Conan Liu
rounding out the MTB podium for fifth.
Thank you very much to Andrew Remely for driving the van, Mark Harris
for his IT skills with the timing board and general marshalling
duties, and Ryan Fawke our first aider. SDTC is always a hard race,
and anti-clockwise is even more difficult but it was great to see so
many CRMCCers out on what turned out to be a chilly, blustery day.
Ben McDuff
Sutton Super Series
Six races will be held over the winter season at the Sutton Road Training Centre, with riders accumulating the points gained as per the list :
1st 10 points
2nd 8 points
3rd 6 points
4th 4 points
5th 3 points
6th+ 2 points
This scoring system differs from the RMS. 10 points will still be awarded to the winner even if only one rider starts the race.
Riders with the most points accumulated at the end of the series will be crowned grand champions for their grade.
Here are the main rules:
- The final round will be worth double points and riders that participate in all races will get a bonus 12 points.
- Prizes such as gift vouchers will be presented after the final race for first, second and third places.
- Riders must compete in the final race to receive a prize and be present at the prize ceremony.
- Riders who are promoted will take half their points with them to the higher grade.
- Point scores will be kept for each grade and updated after each round.
- If more than one rider finishes with the same final score, a count-back of the overall results will determine the higher place getter.
- The races may not all be scratch races, with a points race as another option.
Riders intending to compete in the series should make themselves familiar with all the rules. Any feedback will be welcome prior to the first race but it won’t be possible to make changes to the format after that.
Upcoming races needing volunteers
2025
30 August 2025 – Iron Mike Handicap
ETC x 3
06 September 2025 – Uriarra Homestead
ETC x 3
Please contact committee@crmcc.org.au if you can fill any of these roles for the club. Also look at the dates in the 2025 calendar where you could help the club. https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar
Thank you to those members who have offered their services to fill roles so our races can run.
