Thirty seven riders braved the cold conditions that the Browns road race presented on Saturday, which included a nasty hail storm which restricted visibility down to only about one metre during the first of two laps. The cold conditions had its affect with some riders from all divisions pulling out after the first lap.
A grade which contained the biggest field of the day with 14 riders set off first and was blown apart by a group of four containing Mike White, Robert Huisman, Brendan Akeroyd and Luke Macpherson who attacked first time turning into Forrester Rd, by the end of the first lap this group held a 40 second lead over Matt Randall and Corbin Strong with the remaining field strung out over a minute behind. The lead group held together for the rest of the race and it came down to a tight sprint finish, which saw Mike White just hold out Luke Macpherson for the win, followed by Robert Huisman and Brendan Akeroyd.
B grade stayed pretty much intact for the whole race with a number of attacks going off only to be hauled back in by the covering bunch, a sprint finish determined the race, where for the second week in a row Neil Familton had the legs for the win over Hamish Keast and Ray Robinson.
It was a similar situation in the C grade with Craig Sadlier having the best sprint finish over Nicola Stevens and Max Anderson.
A good group of six D grade riders set off for their one lap race with all riders completing the 25km distance, in the end it was a well-timed sprint from Helena Rikiti who secured the win from Ronan Ferguson, with young Morgan Borrie having a good ride for third place.
Thanks again must go to all who helped out on the day especially the road marshalls, Lindsay Jones on the STMS and Robin Criglington taking the entries.
Report courtesy of manager Aaron Sinclair