A chilly, drizzly day greeted riders at Te Tipua for the 4th race in the Winter Points Series, around the “Beast of the East” circuit. We were very grateful to Jos Miller for opening up the school for us to use the toilets and have a dry place to change and sign on – Thank you Jos!!
Division 1 set off on their way with a strong looking bunch. After riding out to the race, Cam Karwowski and Mike White decided they needed to burn some more calories, so set off on their own part way through the first lap, establishing a solid lead from the chasing bunch. On the final lap, Karwowski decided he didn’t want to risk the win in a sprint finish with the speedy White, so set off on his own, taking the win solo by 1 minute 6 seconds from White, with the chasing bunch a further minute back - Josh van den Arend taking the bunch sprint for 3rd from Brendan Akeroyd.
In the Div 1 Points Series, Mat Zenovich retains the Leaders Jersey with 52 Points, from Karwowski who, after missing the first two races, now sits in 2nd on 40 points, while Alex McGregor on 37 Points.
Division 2 rode at a solid pace over the two laps of challenging terrain, with the finale coming down to a bunch sprint of 8 riders. Birthday boy Stu MacDonald took out the bunch sprint, from Andrew Lienert, Steve Keast and Geoff van Dam.
MacDonald also takes over the Division 2 Points Series on 40 points from Andrew Lienert on 37 points and Aaron Sinclair on 36 Points.
Division 3 was another solid group, coming down to a 10 rider bunch sprint. Marty Lohrey took a popular win, unleashing a fantastic sprint to pip Grant Colburn who took 2nd, with Craig Sadlier in 3rd and Sid Cumming in 4th. Tim Maynard finished the day in 8th and did enough to retain the leader's jersey in Division 3 adding to his points tally which now sits at 50. Grant Colburn leaps up the standings to 2nd with 35 points, from Adrian Latta on 31.
Division 4 was a smaller group this week, and they decided to start in Division 3, but racing over 1 lap rather than two. Nicola Stevens continued her good form to take the win solo from Jane Donaldson and Kate Wilson. Stevens has extended her Points Series lead to 60 Points with Kate Wilson now in 2nd with 44 Points, and an injured Helen McKenzie retaining 3rd with 40 Points.
The Junior Division held their own Points Series race, and a separate report on this will be posted.
A huge thank you to the Marshalls on the day – Laura Fairweather, Glen Ferguson and Kerry Cox – much appreciated! Also thank you to Caleb Hope for helping Lindsay with the STMS and for assisting at the finish line, which isn’t always an easy job when there are bunch finishes!
We take a break from racing next week due to the Yunca Junior Tour of Southland, but we start up again on 12th of October with the Myross Bush Points Race, followed by the Bunty Hewitt “Hell of the South” on Sunday 13th from Makarewa (with races for A Grade, B Grade and U17), and then Wednesday Worlds, which will start again on the 16th October, from Rimu School. Can’t wait!
Enjoy the longer days team and see you out on the road!
View the full Winter Series Points Leader Board here
Race report courtesy of our ever efficient and diligent Dale MacDonald
Results
Division 1
1 Cameron Karwowski
2 Mike White
3 Josh van den Arend
Division 2
1 Stu MacDonald
2 Andrew Lienert
3 Steve Keast
Division 3
1 Marty Lohrey
2 Grant Colburn
3 Craig Sadlier
Division 4
1 Nicola Stevens
2 Jane Donaldson
3 Kate Wilson