A light zephyr of a breeze and a crystal clear blue sky welcomed all 32 Track Cyclists to Johnston Park Velodrome on Tuesday night. With the Tour De Manawatu taking place on Sunday the organisers decided to replace the Sunday afternoon meet with Tuesday night, it did mean that daylight was not as plentiful as a Sunday afternoon and so the programme had to be more compact. The programme was made up of short races followed by two record attempts offered to those that had unofficially broken the 1 lap standing start track records the weeks before followed by 2000 metre team pursuits, then finished off with long handicap races.
Both Michaela Drummond and Brent Zimmerman had unofficially broken the 1 lap standing start track records at the previous two track racing meetings. The records had been unofficial as they had each been measured by just 1 stopwatch. To be official the time has to be taken by 3 stopwatches with the official time being the middle time, also the rider has to be the only rider on the track. Like the previous 2 meetings and in near perfect conditions they both broke the respective records and had for the third time posted personal bests.
Because of the large number of under 17 riders their 3 lap handicap race had them split between two races with the first 4 in each making it to a final. Chris Denholn showed good strength in this race and made a statement on the back straight when he exploded from the pack and cruised to a comfortable win. Track manager Ian Gray included the Team Pursuit into the programme to teach the novice riders the benefit of working together, to share the effort at the front and to then recover in the pack so to be fresh for the next effort on the front.
The under 17 11 lap handicap race provided the best race of the night. The 12 riders were split into the teams that rode together in the team pursuits with the limit markers Hayden Washington-Smith, Jack Finlay, Jacob Sievwright and Andrew McKenzie being awarded a start of 300 metres over the bunch on scratch. The lessons of the earlier team pursuit were not wasted on this group as they worked well together and kept good shape as the laps ticked by. The pace setter of the bunch was Hayden as he kept focused on the goal and maintained a challenging pace that ensured the more fancied scratch riders would have to achieve something pretty special to catch them. The lap counter was reducing but the gap was not, with two laps to go Andrew was not able to maintain the pace and dropped off the bunch, at this stage the scratch bunch had caught the middle bunch. The combination of a larger and stronger chase bunch and a weakened limit bunch saw the gap begin to close. Hayden again forced the pace and with the crowds encouragement Jacob and Jack dug a little deeper to keep the bunch together for the final push.
The bell signaled the final lap and while all riders were on the same home straight the gap looked too large to bridge in a single lap. The limit bunch kept the effort on and into the second last turn Hayden found a little extra to kick clear from a gallant Jack in second and a determined Jacob in third.
There was an omission from the 28th October results when it was not acknowledged that Ruby Perry had unofficially broken the under 19 womens one lap standing start with a time of 34.26 comfortably breaking the existing record of 36.03. With early season form like this from a proven performer at national level, suggests that Ruby will be one to watch this season.
The rider of the night was awarded by Commissaire Tim Whitehouse to Fergus Washington-Smith for his dogged determination to apply himself and stay clear from the scratch riders for 5 of the 6 laps of the under 15 long handicap race.
Results for Tuesday 30th October:
Under 15 4 laps race on whistle Heat 1: 1 Libby Arbuckle, 2 Fergus Bryan, 3 Flyn Yates, 4 Georgi van Lienen
Under 15 4 laps race on whistle Heat2:1 Dylan Simpson, 2 Adam Martin, 3 Harrison Kinghorn, 4 Fergus Washington-Smith
Under 17 Semi Final 1 3 Lap Handicap:1 Chris Denholm) 2 Carne Groube, 3 Hamish Mikkelsen, 4 Michaela Drummond
Under 17 Semi Final 2 3 Lap Handicap: 1 Joel Yates 2 Jake van Lienen 3 Jacob Sievwright 4 Mitchell Kinghorn
A grade 3 Lap Scratch race: 1 Jaycob Humphreys 2 Cameron Howell 3 Jordan Castle 4 James Denholm
B grade Men 3 Lap Scratch race: 1 Greg Bryan 2 Toshi Yamauchi 3 Brent Zimmerman
B grade Women 3 Lap Scratch race: 1 Teagan Roffe 2 Pania Hudson 3 Sheralee Cleland
Under 17 Final 2 3 Lap Handicap: 1 Chris Denholm 2 Joel Yates 3 Jake van Lienen 4 Hayden Washington-Smith
1 Lap Time Trial Record attempts: Michaela Drummond 32.51 breaking under 17 Girls record previously 34.44
Brent Zimmerman 31.51 breaking Masters Men 4 previously 32.03
Under 15 Team Pursuit: Team of Ferus Washington-Smith, Adam Martin, Dylan Simpson and Harrison Kinghorn Beat the team of Geogi van Lienen, Fergus Bryan, Flyn Yates and Libby Arbuckle.
Under 17 2000 metreTeam Pursuit: Team Michaela Drummond, Carne Groube, Chris Denholm and Jake van Lienen time of 2.47.03
Team of Mitchell Kinghorn, Fergus Allen, Hamish Mikkelsen and Joel Yates time of 2.53.64
Team of Hayden Washington-Smith, Jack Finlay, Andrew McKenzie and Jacob Sievwright in a time of 2.56.25
A & B Grade 2000 metre Team Pursuit: Team of Chris Symon, Cameron Howell, Jordan Castle, James Denholm and Jaycob Humphreys in a time of 2.39.17
Team of Kate Stewart, Ruby Perry, Teagan RoffeKelsie Eccles and Sheralee Cleland in a time of 3.00.67
Under 15 6 Lap Handicap: 1 Dylan Simpson, 2 Adam Martin, 3 Fergus Washington-Smith, 4 Flyn Yates
Under 17 11 Lap Handicap: 1 Hayden Washington-Smith, 2 Jack Finlay, 3 Jacob Sievwright, 4 Chris Denholm
Open 12 Lap Handicap: 1 Jaycob Humphreys, 2 Jordan Castle, 3 Cameron Howell, 4 Kate Stewart