Modella Road Races, Saturday August 25

It proved to be another day for the hard men and women at Modella, with strong, cold winds leading to big helpings of gutter actions for most riders.

A Grade saw another good win to Brent Nelson (Croydon Cycleworks), who bridged with Alistair Donohue to lone leader Craig Johnson (02 Networks) shortly after the start of the second lap. The trio worked well to hold off the chasers, with Nelson having too much speed in the finale for his companions. Jarryd Jones (Torq) led the chasers home in fourth place.

Troy Thompson attacked B Grade early on, before being caught by a select chase group comprised mainly of up and coming juniors. Thmpson was still in the mix at the finish, but the win went to the much younger legs of Matt Ross (CCCC Elite/Bikes de Ver). Kevin Murphy (Classix Racing) stopped the juniors taking all the prizes with a strong second place, ahead of Tom Russel, Lucas Hamilton (Quick Cycle) and Alex Woff.

Three riders rode away from C Grade approaching the hills on the second lap, with David Tennant (Classix) and Peter Hollins combining with youngster Jayden Cooper (Kelly Cycle Coaching) to build an insurmountable advantage. Cooper cooked himself on the run up to the climb however and just lost contact, with Hollins and Tennant powered home with Hollins taking the win. An exhausted Cooper was overhauled close to home, with Marco Rando (Classix) snatching third ahead of Morgan Curtis.

Kallum Parlevliet denied George Sarris back to back wins in D Grade with a good sprint, but Sarris was strong enough to hold of the best efforts of Joe Leonard and Lachlan Van der Velden. Women’s winner Amber Saunders was just behind, narrowly ahead of debutant Bethan Knapp and Anna Collins.

Racing over the out and back circuit to the summit of Heath Hill, Bill Simpson took the E Grade win ahead of Thomas Jones (Hampton Cycles), Ethan Height and first time racer Sarah McClarey.

Thanks as always to the officials and volunteers making the racing safe and successful. Running the show was Ann Johnstone, while Graham Prosser and Brenton Jukes took charge of course signage. Corner marshals were Josh Goodall, Brenton Jukes, Davern White, Abbie Owen, Michael McGowan, Simon Bone and Damon De Angelis, with support cars driven by Jarrad Anderson, Mel Nicholls, Phil Randall, Steve Towers and Paul Parlevliet. Lawrie and Julie Hunt and Trent Height supervised the junior race, and Brenton Jones rode as an instructor with the D Grade bunch.

Thanks to David Stannus for today’s photos.