The Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT team had another busy week of racing on the mainland.
Matt Allsopp, Kev Chant and James Veal headed off to Goodwood on Thursday to race in the first round of the Fat Creations Series. As expected, the racing was fast and furious from the start with riders averaging over 29mph for the duration of the race.
Matt and James did a great job keeping things together to give Kev a chance in the primes, Kev winning one and finishing the first round in 7th place. A decent result after an exceptionally long day.
On Saturday, Jerry Cooper, Kev Foster and Oliver Nolan had a great day’s racing at the Mountbatten Circuit in Portsmouth. Kev and Jerry’s 3rd Cat race started off at a fast pace with several attacks in the first 20 minutes. The main group eventually split when 2 riders managed to break away from the main group. Kev and Jerry dug in to finish 4th and 7th (respectively) in the bunch sprint.
Ollie Nolan, competing in his first E/1/2 event, rode a brilliant tactical race and stayed with the front group comprised of some of the top riders from the South of England. He followed a move on the last lap, coming out of the final bend on the wheel of the front rider, but was just pipped to the post in the sprint to the line.
Closer to home on Thursday, a field of 70 riders took part in the second round of the evening series on the Colemans 10 mile TT circuit. Along with our regular competitors from local clubs, we welcomed some new faces at this event, some riding their first race.
The Juniors were on good form after their weekly training sessions on the Colemans course. Ewan Cook (WWW) put in another awesome performance to take first place in 23 minutes 31 seconds, a time which also put him in the top 10.
Lottie Van Der Helstraete (IOW Triathlon Club) dug in and took the top spot for the girls in a respectable 27.53. Faye Faber (CycleCoach.com) came home in 23.20 to take the Ladies title.
Kevin Bull (NAUT Cycling) continued his winning streak in the Vets +60 category with an impressive time of 23.52 and Martin Piper (NAUT Cycling) took the Vets +50 crown in 22.39. Alastair Luxford (Full Gas) pulled out the ride of the night to take the Overall winner title in 20.58.
