Big Jim too strong on Burke St circuit
The final race of the summer criterium series was contested on the Burke St circuit on Sunday.
Smaller than usual fields and strong winds made for hard racing with many riders unable to finish their respective races.
The A grade group of seven didn’t stay together too long. First the McLean brothers tried to get away and before the intermediate sprint were caught and Brett Kennedy took off.
He soloed to victory in the intermediate sprint and kept going. Ollie McLean having his first A grade race took second in the intermediate sprint but was dropped soon after. Rob Monk tried to get across to Kennedy but didn’t even get half-way.
His effort did pick up the pace enough to see the end of both the McLean boys and first time A grader Jason Fritzlaff. Matt Parkinson did the majority of the chasing helped occasionally by Will Lumby. Kennedy was proving hard to catch.
At the bell Kennedy was still 50 metres off the front. Parkinson and Lumby lost Monk on the hill and went after Kennedy. Lumby was dropped rounding the home turn and Parkinson chased on alone.
He caught Kennedy within metres of the line and took the win. Kennedy was second with Lumby third. Monk was the only other finisher in fourth position.
The B grade race stayed together until the intermediate sprint. Paul Yeatman narrowly beat Jason Dastey in the prime but the race then lit up. Jim Timmer Arrends and Pete Whelan broke away together and the rest of the field needed an organised chase to catch them. It didn’t eventuate. Pete and Big Jim quickly established a winning break. Connor Bagot tried to get across to them but it was not going to happen. Jim took the sprint from Whelan. The consistent Mark Mason won the sprint for third from Connor Bagot and Paul Yeatman.
The C Grade race was a tumultuous affair, with the return of Pete ‘Doggie’ Bailey and the inclusion of Roland Elsdon into the mix. Both took it in turns making savage attacks on the King St hill, with the others left to scurry back, however, neither was able to break away in a definitive move, with Col Brown and De Mac reeling them in on each occasion.
Returning racer Matt Williamson sprinted brilliantly to take the midrace prime, however he spent all his bickies in that sprint and as he exploded out the back on the next lap. Elsdon continued his furious attacks until the bell lap, but he too, had spent all his reserves and didn’t figure in the sprint.
Dave Smith rode a clever race, never putting his nose in the breeze until the final 300 metres, whereupon, he selected the appropriate gear and showed a clean rear wheel to the rest of the bunch. Pete Bailey sprinted strongly for second place, with Peter MacDonald taking third and Col Brown finishing fourth.
Lea McLean set the pace up the hill most laps in the D grade race. Robyn Baker did lots of chasing and made sure Lea was reeled in each lap. Robyn won the intermediate sprint from Peter McLean. In the finish Lea McLean was too quick for Robyn with Peter in third and Kristy Rollinson finished fourth.
The series winners were: Bernadette Fitzgerald and Peter MacDonald equal first, Will Lumby third, Ollie McLean fourth and Thomas Fitzgerald fifth.
Next week racing returns to Saturday afternoon with a teams’ race at Darnum at 2pm
Enter online before 7pm Friday so teams can be published early and psychological mind games can begin.