Chris Henderson
Although the track season started a month ago, the
weather at Tuesday club night has not been conducive to fast
racing or large entries.
On Tuesday evening, the track surface at the Seddon Park
Velodrome had absorbed plenty of sun throughout the day and
the warm temperature saw a large group assemble for racing.
The first race was a combined C grade and junior scratch
race.
First over the line was John Lynch, followed by Glenda Bruce
and Samantha and Shannon Hope.
The B grade was won by Daniel Creswell, with Stu Thomas and
Elyse Fraser hot on his heels.
A grade saw Alex McGregor power over the line ahead of his
younger brother, Lachie, with Mark Spessot picking up third
ahead of a field that had been stunned by the hot pace.
In the B grade elimination race, Daniel Cress was well over
the line before Elyse Fraser, with Mark Spessot winning A
grade from Alex and Lachie Mc-Gregor.
The fastest 500m time trial was recorded by Chris Henderson.
The feature event of the evening was the "dash for cash".
By this time, the wind had dropped.
The C grade was hugely entertaining, as it became a real
hare-and-tortoise event. The Hope sisters, who had been
dropped several times, clawed their way back into contention,
with Samantha the eventual winner from Matt Cumming and
Shannon Hope taking third place. Sam's time was 23sec outside
the bogey time, though the split bunches had made this goal
difficult to attain.
Carl Haddon won the B grade race, 7sec outside the bogey
time.
The A graders raced as a pursuit team in order to get one of
them across the line in less than 10min 37sec, making for
compelling spectating.
At the halfway mark, all had done their dash apart from the
McGregor brothers. With encouragement from the crowd and time
splits given on every lap, it was clear the bogey time would
be broken.
With five laps to go, Lachie McGregor had nothing left and
pulled out, leaving Alex to beat the clock by 19sec and pick
up the prize, which he shared with his brother.
In the roadsters category, Cameron Lynch won the flying lap
and match sprints from Bradley White.
- Jan Brosnahan
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