Just under a 100 riders from Northern, Eureka & Geelong Surf Coast competed in the second race of the Vic Masters Challenge at National Boulevard on Sunday across grades A through F.
The riders that attended were treated to perfect racing conditions with a mild sunny day with little to no breeze to speak of. Following the racing Northern hosted a BBQ and podium presentations outside the new unofficial club Cafe facilities Caffeinated AF.
Massive thanks to all those involved in the coordination of this event with special call out to Albert, Bruce, Faye, David B & David C (Chooka) who consistently devote a huge amount of their time to ensure that these events run in a safe and efficient way. Big thanks also to the corner marshals and first aiders (Ross Clarke & Mark Edele) who swapped responsibilities in between the split start racing. Last but certainly not least Luke Markof for stepping up to man the BBQ at the post-race gathering for those that remained for the presentations which was conducted by Tim Anderson in his new role as club president.
The racing was intense with the split starts and large fields with Northern outnumbering the Eureka Ballarat and Geelong Surf Coast riders across all grades.
In A grade it was a Northern 1, 2 finish with Thomas Williams and Mark Seddon breaking away early on lap 3 to put a lap into the rest of A grade. Ex Benghazi HCP winner Jesse Cropley took out 3rd place.
In B grade there were multiple break away attempts notably by 2024 club champion Tim Anderson who put a big gap into the field early for many laps however ultimately the field came back together for the final lap where Luke Poyser the current club champion went early on the final lap and was hauled in on the line by Luke Grounds of Geelong who rode a tactical race conserving energy at the rear of the field before launching a decisive sprint to take out the race. John Hiatt another noted sprint specialist grabbed 3rd place for a Northern 2nd ,3rd and then Northern places 4 -7 (Mark Edele, Luke Markof, Emilio Romano and Simon Bone) for more points in the largest field of the day.
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Overall round 2 Northern picked up 176 points followed by GSCC with 84 and Eureka with 45.
After round 1 point standings were Eureka 129, GSCC 59 and Northern with 36.
Provisional totals now following round 2 are Northern on 212, Eureka on 174 and GSCC on 143.
Congratulations to all those below who made the podium on Sunday:
3rd – Jesse Cropley (G)
