The Tuesday night was called off due to rain with the weather forecast tipping Thursday as a suitable replacement. Fortunately the forecast was correct and we had a great night with a light westerly that died off as the night went on to provide near perfect conditions for one lap record attempts later in the evening.
The nights programme included age graded 5 lap scratch races followed by 2 lap handicap races then in a departure from the routine we had all of the riders take part in team sprints. The wind eased and the light was plentiful so the riders were invited to have a go at breaking track records for the 1 lap standing start and then the evening concluded with longer age graded handicap races.
Of the nine record attempts we had 4 broken records and the establishment of 1 record, one of the broken records was over 10 years old and another 9 years. Hayley Giddens of Wanganui took more than 4 seconds off the Senior Womens mark.
The race of the night was provided by the Under 17 Boys and Girls 7 lap handicap race. The race began with the helter skelter expected in a race involving riders in this age group. The scratch bunch included George Roberts, Kate Stewart and Cameron Howell they gave Campbell Stewart and Josh Kendall a few hundred metres start and a gritty James Denholm and Takumi Clarke 300 metres start. George took a leadership role from the start with solid turns on the front as the scratch bunch worked well together to bridge the gap to the Under 15 rider Campbell Stewart who while he may be under in gearing is well over in ability. After the first two laps all riders were racing but little progress was being made to close any of the gaps and every one began giving Ian Gray the handicapper side ways glances. James and Takumi were applying the pressure on the chasers and nervous glances were being exchanged as riders tried to evaluate the task size of the task ahead.
Lap three saw enthusiasm replaced by fitness and in roads began to be made into the handicaps. With two laps to go the entire field had almost joined into one pack as the bell rang to signal the last lap the second race within the race began and riders positioned themselves in readiness for a mad dash for the line. George made the first bid with 300 metres to go with Kate close behind and Josh covering both of them. It was at the 200 metre mark that Cameron made his move from the back of the pack and with a smooth action he slide his way past the field to be clear at the top of the home straight and in control of the race. The characteristic single minded determination of Kate saw her take second from a fast finishing Josh.
Rider of the night awards were judged by timekeeper Steve Perry. He judged Cameron Howell the under 17 rider on the back of his win in the hard fought race of the night and Teagan Roffe for a solid effort in the Women’s 12 lap handicap race.
The fantastic nights racing ended on a disappointing note with a grub act by one rider when he deliberately forced another rider into the fence. For the integrity of the sport and more importantly for the safety of all riders on the track this rider must be dealt with strongly and transparently by the board. The message that deliberate endangerment has no place in any activity controlled by Bike Manawatu has to be made crystal clear to all.
Racing is held on Tuesday nights at Johnston Park Feilding with racing to start at 6.10pm. As the track is too slippery for the bikes if wet racing will be cancelled if it is raining.
Results for 8th December 2011
Under 15 Girls and Boys 5 lap race on whistle
1st Chris Denholm
2nd James Cuff
3rd Hayden Washington-Smith
4th Carne Groube
Under 17 Boys and Girls 5 lap race on whistle
1st Kate Stewart
2nd George Roberts
3rd Cameron Howell
4th Josh Kendall
Under 19, Senior and Masters Women plus Masters Men 5 lap scratch
1st Brent Zimmerman
2nd Marcel Hollenstein
3rd Hayley Giddens
4th Kelsi Eccles
Under 19 and Senior Men 5 lap points race
1st Jaycob Humphreys 10 points
2nd Mark Finlay 6 points
3rd Josh Chard 4 points
4th Luuk van Wantendonk 2 points
Under 15 Boys and Girls 2 lap handicap
1st Carne Groube
2nd Libby Arbuckle
3rd James Cuff
4th Hayden Washington-Smith
Under 17 Boys and Girls 2 lap handicap
1st Takami Clarke
2nd James Denholm
3rd Cameron Howell
4th Josh Kendall
Under 19, Senior and Msters Women
1st Ruby Perry
2nd Hayley Giddens
3rd Kelsi Eccles
4th Sharon Hollenstein
Masters Men 2 lap handicap
1st Steve Perry
2nd Marcel Hollenstein
3rd John Clarke
4th Brent Zimmerman
Under 19 and Senior Men
1st Josh Chard
2nd Jaycob Humphreys
3rd Luuk van Wantendonk
4th Mark Finlay
Team sprints
Hayley Giddens 1.31.35
Brent Zimmerman
Jaycob Humphreys
Kelsi Eccles 1.37.29
Peter Wenborn
Josh Chard
James Denholm 1.39.20
Josh Kendall
Kate Stewart
Ruby Perry 1.39.46
Teagan Roffe
Luuk van Wantendonk
Sharon Hollenstein 1.39.75
John Clarke
Marcel Hollenstein
Chris Denholm 1.39.90
Hayden Washinton-Smith
Cameron Howell
Carne Groube 1.42.10
James Cuff
Campbell Stewart
Libby Arbuckle 1.43.16
Takami Clarke
George Roberts
One lap standing starts
Carne Groube 36.82 existing record 33.15
Campbell Stewart 32.79 existing record 33.15 new record
James Cuff 33.16 existing record 32.79
Kate Stewart 34.44 existing record 34.74 new record
Brent Zimmerman 32.67 existing record 32.89 new record
Hayley Giddens 34.26 existing record 38.64 new record
Marcel Hollenstein 33.58 existing record 32.67
Kelsi Eccles 36.23 existing record 36.03
Peter Wenborn 35.96 established record for Masters Men 3
Under 15 Boys and Girls handicap 6 laps
1st Libby Arbuckle
2nd Chris Denholm
3rd Hayden Washington-Smith
4th Carne Groube
Under 17 Boys and Girls handicap 7 laps
1st Cameron Howell
2nd Kate Stewart
3rd Josh Kendall
4th George Roberts
Under 19, Senior and Masters Women handicap 12 laps
1st Hayley Giddens
2nd Teagan Roffe
3rd Ruby Perry
4th Sharon Hollenstein
Under 19, Senior and Masters Men handicap 12 laps
1st Mark Finlay
2nd Marcel Hollenstein
3rd Luuk van Wantendonk
4th Josh Kendall