Div 3 Report
I actually arrived in time to do a few laps warmup before this one. Unusual I know.
Warmup ScratchI was about to ride up the ramp and my wheel pulled. A hasty retreat to the seating area and with the assistance of another I was back on the bike and just managed to make it for the race. With 2 laps to go I attacked off the front and got a reasonable buffer on the field, but on the last lap they were reeling me in and 2 riders got me on the line, so I came 3rd. The guys said that if the race was 1 meter shorter I would of won, but that's racing.
Win it outI was too far back in the pack when it was time to kick for the win on lap 6, nor was I in it for 2nd (lap 7), 3rd (lap
or 4th (lap 9).
Point a lapThis was the last point scoring race of the series, and Shaun from my club had to win with Sasha coming no better than 3rd to win the series. Yip it boiled down to the last race. So it was time for team support. Shaun had 4 riders to support him and from what I saw Sasha had help from at least 1 rider, who let him take a point. Anyway Shaun had to score 4 points to win and the first lap was neutral.
Christian took off with Shaun on his tail, so Shaun was pulled off the front, then Christian allowed Shaun to roll him for the first point and retired from the race leaving Shaun to then do 3 laps solo. I was sucking Sasha's wheel then there was daylight back to the pack where the other 2 support riders were. Alarm bells rang in Sasha's head and he took off after Shaun, I realised that he was going to catch Shaun before he got his 4 points.
On the front straight Sasha started to roll Shaun, so I figured, if Shaun isn't going to get this point then I'd better get it, so I tried to roll Sasha, but didn't achieve it, points were;
Shaun 3, Sasha 1
Shaun was gone, it seemed to me that he wasn't going to get any more points, so it was time to win the points myself and I took the next point;
Shaun 3, Sasha 1, Mike 1
I started to think, not only do I need to win points, but I also need to not win the race, does this mean a maximum of 2 or 3 points? I didn't know. Sasha rolls me;
Shaun 3, Sasha 2, Mike 1
I'm spent and retire, however the other 2 riders, John and Ian come into play and do their best to try to beat Sasha, however Sasha proves to be too strong, takes the points he needs and wins the series. Congratulations to Sasha on a well deserved win and on winning the Series.
Combined Div3 and Div2Race also included a couple of Div1 riders who didn't do the time blaster. Pace was comfortable but I wasn't able to respond to the attack at the end and 6 riders got away from me, so I came 7th, but there was a sizable gap to the first 6. Still a good result considering I was up against faster divisions.
Well that concludes winter series track racing. I started the season by challenging myself, moving up a division. At the beginning of the season, I was struggling to stay on and was being dropped in a number of races. As the season progressed, I managed to sit in the bunch and then towards the end of the season I was placing in a race or two each night. I feel that my 2008 pre-accident fitness had returned and perhaps there was a bit extra there too. Look forward to the 2010 season.