Bournemouth Jubilee Wheeler’s 2 Day Stage Race
Kev Chant, James Veal and Clint Oliver all tackled the 2-day Jubilee Wheeler’s event in Bournemouth at the weekend.
The hill climb – an all out 1.2km effort – would see Kev Chant take the win in this event with a time of 1.43, taking the course record at the same time. Clint Oliver crossed the line in 28th Place with a time of 1.57 and James Veal in 33rd Place with 2.01.
Onto the TT, the tough 9.1 mile course would see the riders negotiate a technical first half with several small climbs then leading on to a fast second half finishing with another small climb. Kev Chant finished 6th with a time of 21.04, James Veal 21st in 21.40 and Clint Oliver 28th in 22.09.
Chant, Oliver and Veal headed to stage 3 of the event – the West Holme circuit road race. Kev was 4th in the general classification and keen to protect or better that position.
The race consisted of 6 laps which would take a large climb at the end of each lap. The race started at a fast pace and saw a couple of early attacks in the first couple of laps. Kev, Clint and James had to stay alert to the threat of the bunch splitting and several times they had to bridge gaps that were created by the surges in pace.
Just 2 laps from the end, 3 riders made a break but were chased down with half a lap remaining, meaning the race would come down to a bunch sprint. Clint and James, who had done a brilliant job in protecting Kev for the majority of the race, gave him a great lead out for the summit finish securing him 6th place and taking him up to a podium position of 3rd in the general classification.
James finished 15th and Clint 26th overall.
Omega Circuits at Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth
Dave Cooper headed over to Portsmouth last Wednesday (15th May) to race in the 4th cat event.
In his 2nd event of the year and in a field which had an even number of both senior and junior riders from the start, the race was on. With a Junior from Southampton going clear for the 1st half, everyone who was keen to finish well had to work to get him back. Cooper, seeing that time was running out, done a fair share of the chasing to bring it back together until 5 laps to go when another rider jumped clear and was joined by 2 others.
Cooper, keen to remain in a top 5 position, again helped chase the 3 down only to run out of steam for the final lap sprint where Cooper finished in what was left of the splintered bunch.
Red flag halts James’ progress at Thruxton
James Veal raced for a 2nd time at the Thruxton motor circuit on Tuesday 14th May.
A pre-race tactic of hiding in the bunch until the last few laps, then trying to catch other racers by surprise, failed as with 3 laps to go the race was red flagged, meaning slow down and don’t pass the safety car. This allowed the breakaway consisting of 3 riders the extra time needed to stay away which resulted in the bunch fighting for forth place.
Knowing that a sprint finish against larger riders would end badly, James decided to launch a long range attack and with about 1/2 lap remaining he set about trying to create distance between himself and the pack. Unfortunately, he was caught on the last chicane and was forced onto the raised kerb which meant he lost all chances of a points finish. He finished safety in the bunch.
Kev steps up at Goodwood
Wightlink-Wight Mountain team riders Kev Chant and Matt Allsopp took to Goodwood on Tuesday 14th May with Kev stepping up to the E12 category to race with his team mate.
A group of riders got away forming a group of 6 on the first lap. Kev and Matt made chase to create another group, which was so close to catching the leaders with them always in sight.
For the rest of the race, which consisted of 13 laps of the Goodwood Motor Circuit, the group were able to hold off the main bunch.
Allsopp managed to take 7th with Kev shortly behind finishing in the top 20 – a very impressive ride for his first E12 appearance.
