Event: Regional Championships   Add this to my calendar (Outlook etc.)

Date: Sunday, 5 December 2004

Promoter: VC Deal

Contact: Richard Wood 01303 253365/07815 010163 r.wood23@ntlworld.com

Location: Lydden Hill Motor Circuit, off A2, Lydden, near Dover, Kent.

Eastern Champions: The table below shows the Eastern Area Champions for 2004. (This year's race was a combined South Eastern championship so the race winners are not necessarily Eastern champions.)

Report: A worthy setting for the races of the year so far. In every category, we saw bunches of riders duelling amongst themselves. Unusually the U12’s were the first underway, and set the standard for others to follow. Ipswich BC’s Hugo Robinson was straight into the thick of it from the line, tussling with season long adversary, Daniel Young (Crest CC). This time however they had other opposition, mainly from Kent based riders, (who are considerably older as well). Hugo Humphreys (Team Darenth) rode away for an emphatic win, and 2nd place Alec Briggs (Herne Hill YCC) knew he had a race on his hands, containing Hugo R, who was pushed into 3rd place on the last lap.

Youths were next onto the Lydden raceway. Favourite Andrew Griffiths (Lee Valley YCC) had an easily controlled race with only Alex Paton from the promoting club VC Deal to give any worries. There was still plenty of action behind them however. Rebecca Thompson (Bikeplus) had an easy win over Katy Wade (VC Deal) in the girl’s race. Hannah Robinson (Ipswich BC) even had time to smile on her way round to 3rd Girl.

A bunch sprint looked a possibility in the Vets, Juniors and Ladies event with six riders taking control of the race. With two ex national champions at the front in the form of Mick Bell (London Fire Brigade) and 50+ ex-champion Carl McDonagh (Brixton Cycles), Eastern riders Mark Farrow & Dave Copland knew they had their work cut-out to keep in touch. However Junior National Squad member, William Thompson took the race by the scruff its neck and was leader through the line on all but one lap, and by the bell had opened up a commanding lead of 47 seconds over the pursuing vets.

Mick Bell just held off a determined McDonagh at the line, both winning their respective age group gold medals. Mark Farrow (VC Norwich) used his road craft to out-sprint Dave Copland (Ipswich BC) and take the 40+ silver medal. Further down the field Tim Butler was recovering from a poor start, after being forced into tyre wall at the first corner, soon passing John Terrell, who was lying prone on the floor after a spill. John soon recovered and battled in vain with Shaftesbury’s Bruce Robinson. Bruce crossed the line 22nd overall, 5th 50+. Butler was now moving up the field, dicing with Mark Meacock (Free Rider). On the last lap in desperation to beat Meacock, Tim gave it all he had, passed Meacock and almost caught his old adversary Geoff Bores (Lee Valley YCC), finishing 10 meters behind for 16th overall and 13th Vet.

The best was definitely left to last. The Seniors left the crowd breathless with excitement. The leader from the gun, Brian Curtis (Corridori), went off like a greyhound after the hare, opening up a twelve second advantage at the end of the first lap. The packs of pursuers soon formed for the chase. Carl Davey (unattached), Shaun Aldous (Interbike) and Nathan Miller (Anglia Sport), linked up to the in form Curtis on lap three. Aldous kept testing the water on the long climb, seeing who had the legs for a chase. Lap five saw the leading pack down to three, with Miller dropping back to the chasers. However, a refreshed Miller rejoined the group on the lap eight climb, forcing Aldous to make his race-winning move. More drama was to come on the last lap when Curtis punctured, leaving Miller to chase Aldous and grab the silver medal from Graham Rogerson (Army CU), leaving Davey with no medal, wondering ‘where did it go wrong.’

Results:

Back to fixture list