11/01/2013
By Rob Monk
A record 63 riders contested the 2nd round of the Garden Shed Criterium Series at the Chesterfield Estate.
In the junior race Matt Dutneal was too strong for Caelin and Riley Dastey. Dylan Bensted having his first start in a race rode really well to get fourth. Lauchlan Jagoe took a tumble but toughed it out well.
Division 4 broke up quickly as the men who are coming back into some fitness put the pressure on. Steve Muggeridge, Trev Rollinson and Mick Blackwood filled the places on the podium and also earn promotion to Division 3 next week.
Andy Nichols was a short priced favourite in the Division 3 race and punters who backed him were not disappointed. He did give them some nervous moments though. Bruce Staben was strong all race and Col Brown didn’t do his usual trick of chasing everything down. Andy had some anxious moments as Graeme Patrick and Grant Neilson spent time off the front. Nichols was still fourth wheel rounding the final bend but he managed to overtake three riders in the 150 meter run to the line. Bruce Staben was second and Col Brown third. Zvonko Maric was fourth.
Sixteen women contested the two women’s divisions. The popularity of women’s cycling continues to grow and it is great to see more of the girls have a go at racing. The division 2 women’s race was closely contested and it was not until the final lap that Sharon Gordon managed to break away from Dani Reidy. Donna Gibson sprinted well to get third just in front of Annie Pryjmak. Robyn Barker, Kylie Foltin, Kristen Theile and Kathy Munro raced well.
The division one women’s races was the best race of the night. Mariah Dastey, Kate Prestige and Rachel Kimber were determined to find a chink in each other’s armour and constantly attacked. This had Adele Whelan and Lou Clarke in trouble from the start. Kate Prestige has a diesel motor in a Ferrari chassis so the only way she could win was to ride the others off her wheel before the sprint. She nearly succeeded. Track sprinter Mariah Dastey held on desperately and Rachel Kimber, the best cornerer of the trio, looked to get a break around each bend. Rachel hit the front in the finishing straight and looked the winner but Dastey came back and just pipped her on the line. Kate was third with Lou fourth.
The biggest field of the night was in Division 2. For the first half of the race the usual suspects, Dastey, Pettinghill, Whelan and Battley were trying to get off the front. Their efforts were largely fruitless though as the big field was able to bring them back. With 5 laps to go Pete Whelan, who had rested in the middle of the race, put all his cards on the table and went on the attack. He soon had a 150 meter gap and the chase was on. With 3 laps to go Whelan was still looking strong. At the bell Brett Miller started to move up. Miller can sprint and had done little all race so he looked the most likely to run Whelan down. Brett passed 5 riders down the back straight and tried to take the bottom corner at 50km/h. That was never going to end well. He went over the gutter and along the nature strip. On trying to re-enter the circuit his wheel was caught and he crashed heavily. This baulked a number of the chasers and Whelan would not be caught. Darren Cook backed up his Division 3 win last week with a second in Division 2 this week. He now leads the five race series. Chester Sanderson was third and Paul Makepeace fourth.
The division one race was dominated by breakaway attempts from Jayden Manintveld. Jayden attacked the field at least half a dozen times but was never able to make one stick for long. Strong man Justin Gravett was the main work horse to drag him back but Scott Keeble and Brett Rollinson were always there to give him a hand. Brett Rollinson and Cy Monk put some pressure on in the last 5 minutes to try and detach the fast finishing Jack Walk from the field. They succeeded as Walk and Manintveld were dropped with 5 laps to go. With three laps to go Cy Monk got off the front and established a 5 second gap. He was able to hold that until the bell when Gravett put in the big ones to try and chase him down. Cy was still 30 meters in front rounding the last corner and held on to take a strong victory. Brett Rollinson flicked Gravett in the sprint for second. Scott Keeble was fourth.
Racing continues next Friday night at the Chesterfield Estate starting with the juniors at 5.45 pm.
And the feature length production of the Div 2 Men’s Race
