Published: 24 April 2007
Second night of the AW Cycles Sponsored Track League was a cold and gloomy affair with the heat of the action keeping every one warm.
First up, as usual are the youth events and these began with a Devil (race where last riders are eliminated each lap), followed by a 2 lap handicap race, a Points Race (points given every lap - winner is who accumulates most points) and a 10 lap Scratch race.
- The Youth Devil finish
- Photograph courtesy of DGS Cycling Photography
Racing was very exciting and I could write many paragraphs on who came where but it seems we have dominant riders in each category as in all the youth events (bar the Derny), with Matt Gittings (Palmer Park Velo) winning every Under 16 event, Stephen Bradbury (Palmer Park Velo) winning all the Under 14's and Daniel Maslin (Hillingdon Slipstreamers) winning the Under 12/10's.
The Youth Girls events where a little different with Harriet Owens (Palmer Park Velo) winning the Handicap and Points races, Holly Swarbrick (Palmer Park Velo) winning the Scratch race and Emily Hogg (Palmer Park Velo) winning the Devil.
The Senior Events main event of the night was the Derny Paced event (riders paced behind special motorcycles) but to warm up for it they started with a combined A & B riders 10 lap Scratch race (basically first across the line), and with the night getting colder and colder, some took it upon themselves to go hell for leather from the gun. AW Cycles Tim Bedingfield, showing he is on great form, put the hammer down and drew away a small group including VC St Raphael's Richard Prince and i-Team David Sinclair with Sinclair taking the win in the A's category with Bedingfield held off Prince for 2nd place.
The B's race had two of last weeks winners Reading CC's Gavin Spiers and Chris McLeod taking 1st and 2nd places with Farnborough & Camberleys Graham Taylor taking 3rd.
The Womens race was well contested with VC De Londres Lara Wann taking the win with Agisko-viners Rohan Battison and Emma Patterson taken 2nd and 3rd places. Both Battison and Patterson were suffering the effects of Sundays racing 55 miles in the Womens team series race up in Nottingham but were to do well later in the evening.
- Action from the Derny heats
- Photograph courtesy of DGS Cycling Photography
Derny Paced heats - these are races that average between 30 and 40 miles per hour and when only racing 10 laps, seeing riders blast around the track, 3 riders wide, behind motorbikes, it is an amazing site.
In the A's heats 1. Tim Bedingfield and Newbury RC's Ian Greenstreet , Heat 2. Richard Prince and Team Quests Michael Wilmot Heat 3. Sam Sturgeon of Team Terminator and i-Teams David Sinclair all qualified for the final.
The B's heats 1. John Hobbs (Hillingdon Slipstreamers) , Gavin Spiers and Chris McLeod and Heat 2 it was AW Cycles Rikki Pankhurst, Graham Taylor and Cippenham CC's newest member Robbie Richardson who all went through to the finals.
The Youths were given a start in this event too and it was a straight final which was won in great style by Under 14's rider Stephen Bradbury who beat the Under 16's duo of Matt Gittings and High Wycombes Ed Wyatt.
If last weeks races were fast and furious then this weeks Derny racing finals could only be described as at Warp Speed.
In the A's final and with an average speed approaching 40 miles an hour it was David Sinclair who surged ahead to win from Sam Sturgeon and Ian Greenstreet.
The B's was clipped along at a not too shabby 35 miles an hour and it was Robbie Richardson who held off a fast finishing John Hobbs with Chris McLeod taking 3rd.
- The 20K Endurance race under the floodlights
- Photograph courtesy of DGS Cycling Photography
In the Womens event it was an experienced Derny rider in Lara Wann who showed a great turn of leg speed to win comfortably from Rohan Battison with Holly Swarbrick taking 3rd place.
Two events left for the evening and given how fast these races have been , you'd have thought everyone would be looking for a break but no. In the Unknown Distance event, which is as difficult a race to judge as it is to compete in, riders attacking off the front in the hope that as they cross the line the bell will be rung for the final lap. This happened on every lap (7 in all I think - I was at the back) and it was Tim Bedingfield who took his second victory of the night, followed by David Sinclair and VC De Londres stately speedster, Bryan Taylor who took third.
The Womens race had Emma patterson hold off her team mate Rohan Battison with another Agisko-Viner rider, Charlotte (Charley) Docker taking third.
So to the final event of the night, the AW Cycles sponsored 20 km endurance race.
- Bryan Taylor wins the Endurance race
- Photograph courtesy of DGS Cycling Photography
A common theme of last years 20km events was seeing Sam Sturgeon clip off the front from the gun and so it continues this year, with Sturgeon zipping away, followed closely by Taylor, Bedingfield, Wilmot (the younger), Sinclair and the ever present Ian Greenstreet plus a few others.
The scorching pace over the first 10 laps shelled all but these riders with the second group lapped twice by the races end.
Multiple attacks by Sinclair, Greenstreet and Bedingfield couldn't shed the others and it came down to a closely fought last lap and it was David Sinclair who took