Sandown Twilight Crits Tuesday January 24

Another great summer’s night at Sandown, with blue skies and temperature still above 30 degrees when racing wrapped up saw big fields and great racing across the board.

Congratulations to Luke Parker (Jayco VIS) for his first big road win with a great sprint to lead home the survivors of the usual A Grade race of attrition on the hot and windy night. It’s only a few months since Parker was wearing the green and gold on the boards at Moscow, as the starting rider in the Australian Junior Team Sprint team, but he is clearly making the change from track sprint to endurance very well! ALex Smyth (Plan B) finished hot his heels and ahead of recent winner Shannon Johnson (Kosdown), Nick Walker (Search2Retain), Brent Nelson (Croydon Cycleworks), Paul Van der Ploeg (Search2Retain) and Dale Woonton (Thrones).

B Grade finished with an all in bunch sprint, which saw one of the closest finishes on record. French visitor Anthony Soucaze got the nod nwith a perfect throw, less than a tyre’s width ahead of Kyle Thompson (Crino Cycles). Both will race in A Grade next time round after their recent successes. Rounding out the podium were workhorse Ron Heron, Camden Bush (Charter Mason) and Belinda Goss (Nutrixxion), who also claimed the women’s win from Helen Kelly (Kelly Cycle Coaching).

An attack at two to go by Nathan Buschkuehl (Barefoot) didn’t quite pay off, but set up his older brother Todd perfectly to take the C Grade win. Mark Hudson (Giant) overhauled Nathan Barry in the final metres to prevent a Barefoot team quinella, while Scott Charlton also sprinted strongly to claim the final podium spot. Jess Wigan battled through the tough conditions to outlast her competition and take the women’s win.

Geelong visitor Michael Allan looked home and hosed in the D Grade bunch kick until Michael Fermanian (Jones Cycles) unleashed a terrific finishing burst in the final 50 metres to shoot past and claim his first win. Daniel Pendlebury and William Troung took third and fourth, while Amber Saunders was a comfortable winner in the women’s race ahead of Sophie Weston.

CCCC crits continue on Sunday morning at Glenvale Crescent, Mulgrave. The novice clinic begins the program at 8.30am, followed by B and D Grades at 9am and concluding with the A and C Grade races at 10.15am.

Thanks to David Stannus and Mike Eaddy for capturing the action tonight. To view his full gallery go to https://plus.google.com/photos/103110114927998248117/albums/5701140274183712385?banner=pwa