With the championship part of the season about to begin the decision was made to resume the season a little early on the Thursday night rather than wait for the usual Tuesday night. While the 16 riders that rode was well down on the seasons average so far it was equal to the comparative years opening meeting last year. It was a mild night with a heavily overcast sky and a westerly wind that came in and out as the night went on, not strong enough to dominate the night but enough to be challenging to the riders not in the bunch.
The nights racing was made up of a short handicap race as a warm up followed by a short points race followed by team sprints and closed out with the traditional long handicap race. While the races were conducted in grades the races followed the same patterns with bunch finishes in the short handicap races the same riders finishing first, second and third in each of the two sprints in the respective points races and the scratch rider in each of the long handicap races battling against bunches that contained the balance of the field and were shielded from the wind. The audience was treated to a display of dogged human determination and perseverance from the scratch rider as they slowly over came their handicap to reach the bunch and in the last race to reach then pass the bunch.
Both long handicap races could be awarded race of the night but to show that fairytales don’t always come true the under 15 boys and girls 8 lap handicap race was chosen. The field of four was spread over half of the track with Hayden Washington-Smith on scratch. Both Grace Castle and Britteny Baker started aggressively and Grace had bridged the gap to limit marker Libby Arbuckle after a lap and it only took another lap for Britteny to catch them and so it became a battle over the remaining six laps between the bunch and scratch rider Hayden. The wind was most evident at turn three to turn four as each time Hayden hit turn three he was seen to waiver within the sprinters lane. The bunch was working well together as they proved to be hard to get and the gap remained constant at over 100 metres and it looked as if the handicapper may have been too hard on Hayden. When the race reached lap five of eight the gap began to reduce as the bunch had difficulty maintaining its previous consistency. The crowd stepped up their support as they could appreciate Hayden’s effort and see that he had a real chance of bridging the gap. As the laps available reduced so did the distance between Hayden and the bunch and with 300 metres to go Hayden latched onto the bunch. A fine effort given the wind and that he was up against a bunch riding well together. At the 200 metre mark Britteny made a bid for the line and opened a gap she would not relinquish. Grace was able to hold onto her sprint for longer than Libby and so took second. Hayden was on empty and was not able to respond to the call to chase.
Results for 5th January 2012
Under 15 Girls and Boys 3 lap handicap race
1st Libby Arbuckle
2nd Hayden Washington-Smith
3rd Grace Castle
Under 17 Boys and Girls 3 lap handicap race
1st Josh Kendall
2nd Jordan Castle
3rd Bryce Hirchfield
4th Britteny Baker
The Rest 4 lap Handicap
1st Jaycob Humphreys
2nd Brent Zimmerman
3rd Megan Blatchford
4th Shaun Matene
Under 15 Boys and Girls 4 lap points race
1st Hayden Washington-Smith 10 points
2nd Libby Arbuckle 6 points
3rd Grace Castle 4 points
Under 17 Boys and Girls 5 lap points race
1st Josh Kendall 10 points
2nd Jordan Castle 6 points
3rd George Roberts 4 points
4th Bryce Hirchfield 2 points
The Rest (men) 6 lap points race
1st Jaycob Humphreys 10 points
2ndMarcel Hollenstein 6 points
3rd Ross Castle 4 points
4th Shaun Matene 2 points
The Rest (women) 6 lap points race
1st Megan Blatchford 10 points
2nd Kelsi Eccles 6 points
3rd Sharon Hollenstein 4 points
Team sprints
Marcel Hollenstein 1.35.36
Brent Zimmerman
Jaycob Humphreys
Shaun Matene 1.38.76
Grace Castle
Josh Kendall
Britteny Baker 1.39.45
George Roberts
Jaycob Humphreys
Megan Blatchford 1.41.63
Brent Zimmerman
Ross Castle
Hayden Washington-Smith 1.42.51
Bryce Hirchfield
Jordan Castle
Abby Arbuckle 1.45.45
Kelsi Eccles
Sharon Hollenstein
Under 15 Boys and Girls 8 lap handicap race
1st Britteny Baker
2nd Grace Castle
3rd Abby Arbuckle
4th Hayden Washington-Smith
The Rest (Women) 12 lap handicap race
1st Megan Blatchford
2nd Sharon Hollenstein
3rd Kelsi Eccles
The Rest (Men) 12 lap handicap race
1st Jaycob Humphreys
2nd George Roberts
3rd Jordan Castle
4th Marcel Hollenstein
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.