Records fall at Burkes Cycles Speed League Summer Series

Records fall at Burkes Cycles Speed League Summer Series Round 1

Three records fell in perfect conditions at the Wellington Velodrome at the first round of the Burkes Cycles Speed League Summer Series which also incorporated the regional Sprint Championships.

Wellington’s under 17 team smashed the 3000 team pursuit record by 18 seconds, setting a new mark of 3.53.99. Liam Cooper, Thomas McCallum, George Jackson and Sam Tillotson rode smoothly throughout finishing the ride with a textbook blanket finish.

In the sprint qualifying, Regan Bang broke the long standing Masters 1 flying 200m record by 0.02sec with a 12.39sec ride. Chris Taylor chopped almost 0.4sec off his own Masters 2 flying 200m mark, recording 12.47sec. Ele Pepperell came within just a couple of hundredths of a second of the senior women’s mark which is still held by Hannah Latta.

Max Uivel took out the Open Men’s sprint after claiming silver in 2014 with a 2-0 win in the gold-silver ride-offs over Gareth Warnock. Tijs Robinson beat his Rivet Racing team mate Peter Mora for the bronze medal. Bang had to work hard to get the better of an in-form Harry Kent in the Masters 1 sprint ride offs while Nick Warren won bronze ahead of Bruce Cook.

Chris Taylor’s speed was too much for Jamie Hodgkinson in the Masters 2 gold medal ride off, however Hodgkinson cunningly stayed out of the sprinters’ lane in the last 200m and was able to force Taylor right up the track entering the finishing straight. Taylor fought back in the final 50m to win by half a wheel.

Bruce Cook continued his return to track racing with a great win in the B grade Scratch Race, and second place in the Points Race behind Thomas McCallum. In the C grade, Lawrence Farrington won his first race of the season, taking out the Points Race ahead of Mark Coburn and Grace Saywell. Saywell was unstoppable in the Scratch Race and also took out the 8 Lap Handicap Race, blasting past Peter Mora on the final lap.

Matt McCarty rode strongly in the D grade, winning the 4 lap Handicap Scratch Race ahead of Zoe Perry and placing third in the Points Race behind Amelia Taylor and Prajna Baskar.

With current senior men’s overall leader Grant Perry sidelined due to a broken collarbone, the Speed League title pretenders were keen to grab valuable points. Nick Warren won the 10 lap Scratch while George Jackson rode a tactically astute Points Race to win ahead of Jason McCarty and Zac Blakely.

In the mixed grade 20 laps Team Scratch, the yellow team’s plan worked a treat with Zac Blakely patrolling the front of the bunch for the best part of 15 laps and Nick Warren leading out Max Uivel, dropping him off for the final sprint with just over 200m to go. Uivel just held off Regan Bang (orange team) on the line for maximum points.

The next round of the Burkes Cycles Speed League Summer Series will be at Wellington Velodrome at 4pm, February 1, 2015.

Burkes Cycles Speed League 2014/5 OVERALL Category Leaders:
Senior/ Under 19: Grant Perry (91 points)
Female: Ione Johnson (44 points)
Under 17: Grace Saywell (77 points)
Under 15: Amelia Taylor (56 points)
Under 13: Henry Tate (59 points)

The Lanes Sprint Ace (men): Louis Higgison
The Lanes Sprint Ace (women): Ele Pepperell
Zeal Commercial Interiors Teams Prize: Capital Cycles Dame Truth (211 points)

Results from Summer Series Round 1.
Burkes Cycles Speed League tables.
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ENDS

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