Reports

Cold and windy at Casey Fields!
Casey Fields
Jun 30 2007
Mal Sawford

Now that's a shock!

Riders faced arctic conditions as Casey Fields, with a very strong and icy breeze making for slow going down the finish straight. A Grade numbers were down with many regulars tackling the Macedon Ranges Teams Classic, so to keep things interesting the A and B grade fields were combined: but the five A Grade riders were given a one lap deficit to make up.

Using the 1500 metre lower loop for the first forty minutes before the full course was opened up, it took Nick Mitchell (Mascot Cycles), Dale Woonton (Hillman), Luke Pledger (O'Mara Cycles) and Simon Shaw (Mainline Cycles) a little over thirty minutes to make contact with the B Grade bunch. Woonton was the first to attack after the catch, and spent a couple of laps clear before being reeled in.

A few counter attacks followed without success before Mitchell powered away with around fifteen minutes to race, and steadily built an advantage of thirty seconds by the call of three to go, allowing him to cruise to the win. Woonton tried repeatedly to break free in the closing laps, but couldn't shake off the bunch, which was eventually  led home by Clint Van Beveren in a photo finish from a fast finishing Pledger, with Shaw, Woonton and Scott Berry (Terry Hammond Cycles) well up in the bunch sprint.

David Anderson attacked the C Grade bunch twenty-five minutes in, and made light work of the windy conditions as he built a huge lead. Ten minutes later, first timer Lee Imrie shot out of the bunch, and pedalling a huge gear, slogged his way across to Anderson.

The pair were forty-five seconds clear at three to go, and took the win by a minute, with Anderson jumping first, before the final corner, and holding off his young opponent. Big Andy Cameron led the bunch in for third, ahead of Matt Fortunato, with Kerrie Howard the leading lady in sixth place.

D Grade proved a race of attrition, with the bunch steadily whittled down to just four riders. Trevor Coulter made his second race a winning one, holding off a desperate sprint by Jamie Blaker, with Dean Sanfilippo and Micky White rounding out the podium.

Trent Morey and Andrew Chen were the first of the chasers, just ahead of Suzannah Molloy, who claimed the top women's prize.

Racing next Saturday is at Modella, with A, B and C Grades tackling 2 laps of the hilly circuit, while D Grade will complete one. Racing starts at 1.30pm, with entries taken at the Modella Hall from 12.30.

Results