The first Northern race of the year was carried out in near perfect condtions with blue skies, temps in the low 20’s and no breeze to speak of.
As is the new norm it was a back straight finish which is nearest to the new cafe facilities Caffeinated AF which many members are now taking advantage of to pick up a coffee, drink or snack pre and post race. Feedback from members is the coffee, food & toilet facilities are a big step up from the previous arrangement so please check them out if you haven’t already and support the owner Danny who opens up on a Sunday morning for us.
The racing was hot but the numbers were a little down this Sunday for grades A and C today with B grade attracting the largest field with 14 riders.
In A grade Luca Giacomin broke away on lap 19 (44 km/h) to win by almost half a minute and then Luke Markof took out the bunch sprint ahead of Phil Cavaleri.
In B grade Ross Clark jumped the field leading into the final turn and held his lead up the back straight to the line ahead of James Topp who had the fastest back straight time of the day and almost reeled in Ross followed by Craig Frost in 3rd a few bike lengths back.
C grade ended in a bunch sprint that saw Steve Toogood (1st) get a tow to the line by Jamie Sharp who had a gearing issue in the final moments to get overtaken into 2nd place closely followed by podium regular Andrew McKenzie in 3rd.
Big thanks to the regular race officials, helpers i.e. Albert, Bruce, Faye, Chooka, David Halliday, David Brown and Paul Wilson. Also special thanks to the members who put their hands up to pick up volunteer roles for todays races i.e. John Mitsinikos (first aid) and Tommy McDonough (corner duty).
Congratulations to todays winners and podium getters:
1st – Luca Giacomin (38. 7 km/h avg). 2nd – Luke Markof. 3rd – Phil Cavaleri
B Grade
1st – Ross Clark (38.6 km/h avg). 2nd – James Topp. 3rd – Craig Frost
1st – Adam Chalmers (33.3 km/h avg). 2nd – Jason Bone. 3rd – Bill Harding
1st – David Drew (30.7 km/h avg). 2nd – Shayne Dwyer. 3rd – Ian Bishop
Full results: https://sporthive.com/sessions/11655443#byclass
There’s no racing scheduled with Northern for the Australia Day long weekend however racing will resume at National Boulevard the following Sunday 1st Feb.
