London glory has Brown riding high
Joanneleadsthe WeeCountybid Cyclist savours Six Day success with fellow Scot
Wee County Vaulters had a success trip to the 25th British Equestrian Vaulting Championships at Onley Grounds Equestrian Complex, Rugby last weekend, with titles going to Joanne and Hannah Eccles, Andrew McLachlan, Kerri Brylka and Bryony Rawding.
In the female individual three-star class, Joanne landed her 12th championship with team-mate Rebecca Norval finishing runner-up. Both girls vaulted on WH Bentley lunged by Joanne’s father John.
Andrew McLachlan took the title in the male individual three-star section vaulting on Tylers Kernel lunged by Amanda McLachlan.
In the junior female individual two-star class Kerri Brylka was first with Lisa Mercer fourth, both vaulting on WH Bentley. Mitra Pezeshki was fifth place vaulting on Tylers Kernel.
The senior pas de deux class was won by Joanne and her sister Hannah for the 14th consecutive year while Kerri Brylka and Bryony Rawding took the junior title, both pairings vaulting on WH Bentley.
In the child two-star section, Mhairi Hume was second, vaulting on Captain Jack lunged by Rebecca Norval with Katie Henderson vaulting on Glaxtown Billy, lunged by Hannah Eccles, taking third.
Sally Henderson was fourth in the novice class with Ferne Smith fifth and Kyra Lennie sixth. Codi Hay was fifth in the child one-star section. The intermediate squad competition was won by the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting team which was made up of six Wee County Vaulters — Rebecca Norval, Lisa Mercer, Kerri Brylka, Bryony Rawding, Mhairi Hume and Katie Henderson.
The team vaulted on Glaxtown Billy and was lunged by Joanne Eccles.
The novice team of Mitra Pezeshki, Katie Henderson, Kyra Lennie, Sally Henderson and Ferne Smith were second in their class vaulting on Tylers Kernel, lunged by Amanda McLachlan.
A special gala evening was held on Saturday evening to celebrate British Equestrian Vaulting’s 25th anniversary and Joanne, Hannah, Rebecca and Andrew were delighted to be asked to perform at the event being previous medal winners at World and/or European Championships.
Stirling cyclist Andy Brown made a name for himself in the cycling world by winning the 1878 Cup at Six Day London, in front of a capacity crowd at the Lee Valley VeloPark.
The 19-year-old was racing alongside fellow Scot Grant Martin in the Under-21 competition running on the first three nights of the second Six Day London.
The competition consisted of a 40km Madison race on each of the event’s first three nights, with the Scottish duo taking home the trophy with a consistent run of results.
The opening night saw them finish eighth before winning on the second night, gaining an allimportant lap on the field.
And even a mid-race crash on the final night of competition could not halt their ride to glory as a sixth place finish sealed the overall crown, a lap ahead of the field in the general classification.
The pair were then brought up on stage, in the track centre, to be presented with their trophies in front of the sell-out crowd, creating a moment to live long in Brown’s memory.
“Because of the London Olympics, it’s big for us and it’s kind of a dream to ride here with such a big crowd,” said the Glasgow Racing rider. “There was such a loud cheer when we won.”
Six Day racing returned to London last year, following a 35year absence from the capital, with Brown and Martin racing on the same track as British cycling superstars Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish,
And Brown was understandably pleased to have taken the title, named after the year of the first ever Six Day cycling race, having beaten competition from the best young riders in Europe.
“It’s really good,” he added. “There’s a lot of good riders there internationally so to win it is a pretty good feeling as well.
“I’d say the first day didn’t go so well but we made up for it on the second day taking a lap.
“A crowd like this creates quite a big atmosphere. I’ve never really raced with crowds like this so it’s pretty good. It really gets you going.”