Published: 22 July 2009
Mondays Palmer Park action would come in the form mainly of high speed team Sprinting and Kierin racing. The predominantly larger, muscle bound group of riders dominated the field for the Keirin competition as well as the Central Divisions Olympic Team Sprint competition and with 7 local teams entered , it was going to be fast and furious.
To the Keirins first and the heats produced some close and exciting racing but no real surprises as the fastest finishers progressed to the final, which was a real battle royale.
- Sam Serruya going head to head with John Paul (obscured) in the Senior A’s Keirin final
- Photograph courtesy of swarbrick.com
With the derny pacer taking the speed up to 25 miles an hour prior to peeling off it was all action mid pack as riders jockey'd for position it was Eddy Sobieralski who moved up on the outside to avoid the mess behind. Local rider Sam Serruya is leading this competition with another strong favourite and sprint comp leader John Paul looking to change this, it was these two who proved to be the fastest over the last two hundred metres, with Paul winning from Serruya and Sobieralski escaping the chasing pack to finish third. What is amazing is that the winner John Paul (16) is less than a third of the age of Sobieralski (49), such is the span of athleticism and enjoyment from riders of all ages.
The Olympic Team Sprint is one of the few such competitions outside of the National Championships for domestic riders and in this format every team gets a chance to qualify for the Final so with seven teams entered, including two all womens teams, three under 16 teams, who knew how close it could be!
The first teams up were Palmer Park Velo "A" and the DNA Cycles all womens team opposite each other to complete one and a half laps. It wasn't first across the line but setting a qualifying time which was important. PPV A team produced a practiced and fast effort of 51.10secs, whilst DNA clocked 56.76secs.
Heat Two saw Twickenham A's up against Hillingdon Slipstreamers and it was the Twickenham crowd who produced the fastest time of 50.98, the Slipstreamers producing a 54.61 second effort.
Heat Three saw the favourites, Team Terminator, up against the Twickenham B squad and the Terminators didn't disappoint producing a cracking 47.97 sec effort whilst the TCC B squad rode a 55.37 secs.
The Fourth heat saw a composite Womens squad racing against the Palmer Park B squad, with PPV "B's" finishing with a 56.5seconds whilst the composite women rode a 57.53 effort.
- Team Terminators (from left), Sam Sturgeon, Lee Povey and John Paul in Olympic Sprint action
- Photograph courtesy of swarbrick.com
So the Final saw Team Terminator up against Twickenham A and it was a polished performance by the Terminators, which is made up of some class riders like National Masters Sprint champ Lee Povey (well known down at the Brighton track league) and future star in the making, John Paul, who is only 16 but rides like a seasoned senior and super fast Derny rider Sam Sturgeon, as they blasted round the track even faster than in qualifying to win the Divisional Championships.
Twickenham A squad by comparison was made up of a super strong ex-oarsman (Tom Sutherland) riding a loaned bike for about the fifth time, an ex-track sprinter (James Viner) competing in his first season and his first Team Sprint competition plus a veteran ex-national masters sprint champion (David Jack).
- Dave Sinclair winning the AW Cycles 20 km endurance race
- Photograph courtesy of swarbrick.com
On to the rest of tonights endurance races which could be summed up as the Dave Sinclair Show. I remember Dave as a young talent turning up for a session at Hillingdon with Go-ride coach Graham MacNamee and even as a 15 year old he showed a super turn of speed and a clean pair of heels to many a classy rider on that day ....and guess what, he still is! Dave won the 10 Lap Hare & Hounds followed by the Senior A's Devil, the Unknown Distance (4 laps) and the AW Cycles 20 km Endurance race. To add to this he even qualified for the Keirin Final but was caught up in the mid pack mayhem, finishing outside the top three.
- Cassie Gledhill (blue helmet) overtakes Emma Patterson to win the Keirin event
- Photograph courtesy of swarbrick.com
It sounds like more of a one man show but the Ladies races saw two victories for Jayne Paine (Hare & Hounds , 20Km) and two for Cassie Gledhill (Keirin, Devil) whilst in the B's competition it was Cameron Swarbrick who won the keirin in a great show of strength whilst Dan Maslin won the B's Devil and 20Km whilst Cam Swarbrick won the Unknown Distance.
Super racing all round and with next week being the last league night, until the track is re-opened after renovations to the running track, it should be a full on action packed evening.
Good luck to our league riders competing at the European Masters Track champs at Manchester .
Thanks again to our volunteer officials who turn up week in week out and to Guy Swarbrick for his continued high class photography.