MASTER RACER DAY WINS IN BONDI

IN A battle of Master versus Apprentice it was reigning champion Ali Day whose experience got the best of his 20-year-old Surfers Paradise protege Finn Askew in the opening round of the Nutri-grain Ironman Series on Friday.

Day, 31, made it seven round wins in a row – a feat never before achieved in the sport – but he was made to work harder than the previous six in serious swell at North Bondi.

Mother Nature threw everything at the superstar ironman, who was battered from pillar to post in conditions far different to those in which he won the previous weekend in the Summer of Surf at the same beach.

And yet the three-time champion proved he’s far from a flat-track flyer by beating out last year’s runner-up Jy Timperley and 2020 winner Kendrick Louis to the line and begin his title defence in perfect fashion.

Northcliffe’s 2017/18 champion Matt Bevilacqua came in fourth ahead of Askew, who stayed with Day for large sections of the race before being caught out on the final turn home to the beach.

In just his second series start, Askew’s fifth was his best-ever race finish. But with the potential for a podium spot on the line it was mixed emotions for the rising star.

“Going into that last leg I got hit by a little wave on the way out and I got in my head a little bit. Then I missed another wave and dropped a couple of places in the last 100 metres to the beach,” Askew recounted to News Corp.

“I thought I did pretty well throughout the whole Iron to keep my head in the race (but) going into that last leg I kept thinking that I had a podium on the line and when you think about that, that’s when you make mistakes.

“I guess it does come down to a bit of inexperience at that level.”

One of Askew’s key reasons for moving to Surfers Paradise in 2019 was the chance to train alongside Ali Day.

He said it was a surreal moment to be battling it out with his friend and idol at the head of the field.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot since last year and to be able to race up the front with someone I look up to was amazing. It did end up feeling a bit like training.

“It was just me and him. I didn’t have anyone else in my mind at that point. It was pretty special.”

Day hailed Askew for running him close the whole race.

“Finny was really pushing me there the whole time,” he said.

“We have something special in the water (at Surfers Paradise) at the moment and I’m really lucky to have someone like Finn there pushing me all the way.”

Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the Series will be held at Kurrawa Beach in February.