As luck would have it, early showers abated allowing Race No.5 of the Bertoldos Cup Series to go ahead as planned at the Hanwood Circuit on Sunday.
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With water on the roads none of the 23 riders were expecting an easy race, a sharp slap in the face from a nettle wind on the first turn into Walla Ave wouldn't help. This was going to be a tough 40 klicks.
The handicapper split the field into four groups with Limit getting a handy 10.5 minutes start that must have had Mia Stockwell, Brendan Sinclair, Jenny Massey, Michael Wynne, Moreno Chiappin and Bron Jones thinking there could be a real chance of victory in the damp conditions.
Three minutes later and looking dangerous, Group Three's Peter Stockwell, Brad Hart, Andrew Ritchie, Kingsley Massey and Dick Hore set off chasing Limit knowing if they were able to catch the front markers it would surely be a winning combination.
At the 25km mark these front two groups merged, and with strong work from Mia and Jenny were setting a race winning pace.
Chopping Block of Matthew Smith, Chris Fuchs, Shaun Flood, Allan Jones, Bryce O'Garey and Sean Browning rode off two minutes needing to do a lot of hard riding if they were to catch the front groups, and hopefully be far enough ahead of Scratch to take some of the sting out of their legs.
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Riding off Scratch Mal Blake, Ed Langdon, Nigel Dunstone, Craig Tilston, Angus Harris and Jason Minato knew they had their work cut out just to catch Block, and as is always the case the back markers put their heads down to get on with the job, rolling over and taking on the elements in their stride.
On the start of the last lap Scratch caught Block. Despite the Walla Avenue headwind being just a tickle to the Scratch bunch the merged Group Three/Limit dynamo weren't likely to be caught unless they made a tactical error.
Coming round the last corner towards the finish line was tricky given the road conditions but the front group made no mistakes, and with riders jockeying for position coming into the sprint Brad Hart timed his run to perfection holding out Kingsley Massey to claim victory.
Peter Stockwell grabbed third place with daughter Mia taking fourth spot followed by Jenny Massey and Andrew Ritchie.
For the second time running back marker Ed "Fast Eddy" Langdon had the fastest time (59:58).
RESULTS
- Brad Hart (1:07:08, Group 3)
- Kingsley Massey (Group 3)
- Pete Stockwell (Group 3)
- Mia Stockwell (Limit)
- Jenni Massey (Limit)
- Andrew Ritchie (Group 3)
- Ed Langdon (Scratch) fastest time
- Nigel Dunstone (Scratch)
Post-race saw lots of smiles and relieved faces. Many thanks to GCC race volunteers for ensuring the safety of riders and motorists.
The next Bertoldos Cup Series race (number six) will be held at Hanwood on August 15.