by Trevor Scaloppini
Numbers are steadily building at Wednesday night track racing with the refurbished surface proving popular and fast for all.
The return of the motor paced events with Linc Biggins on the new motor scooter was a treat with many riders enjoying the smooth quiet acceleration in the opening events and keirin.
New additions to the junior ranks Verity and Rene added some much needed depth to the fields and again showed that girls quickly adapt to the skills and speed of track. Siena Goulding was the standout winning 3 out of 3 despite strong opposition from Verity, Rene and Elijah.
Tom, Jackson and Luca provided the freewheeling action and didn’t disappoint with their handicap proving to be a school night thriller. All the juniors continue to impress with their progress.
In the seniors, the Brandon Hutton show rolled on with the imposing under 19 showing why he is national standard on the track, opening his account with wins in the motor-scratch and A grade keirin. However the Dozer didn’t have it all his own way with the young guns of Azzopardi and Hodge getting 1st and 3rd respectively in the closing scratch race.
Greg Reynolds and Tom Cook continue to impress in this category with Reynolds showing he has a touch of class to mix it with our best despite only recently returning to racing. Likewise, Cook is fit and proving to be more than just A grade filler with solid performances all through the night.
Former A grader Josh Rayner was banished to the B’s (presumably for his facial hair?) but made no mistake of dispatching his opponents in the second division. He was simply too strong taking out a treble while making Smith Park a #Hipsterzone.
Regardless, there were notable performances in the category, my fav’s:
Mark Proctor – rapidly gaining status as a track endurance icon, another beautifully timed finish in the 15 lapper from him
Tennille Fallappi – pure speed, the former world champ always adds some class to the field
Michael “Jock the Doc” Reid – Plenty of watts got him home in the B Keirin. Looking like a weapon on the new bike.
Jim Larcombe – The senior statesman of Smith Park. No one rides a wheel better than him
Good revs also from – Rod Armstrong, Idan Pearcy and Al Marcic
The melting pot of cycle talent that is the combined handicap was possibly the highlight of the night. This race was called impeccably by Jonesy and it saw a typical cunning victory to Greg Hutton from Tennile Falappi and Jim Dorney. Backmarker Brandon riding a miniscule 88 inch gear could not get to these talented middle-markers who made a great start with Greg Reynolds leading the way. With 200 to go Batesy folded like grandads patio awning leaving the placegetters to fight it out.
Final Observation: The Huttons had it covered! See you next week..