February 25th. Emu Creek Block Graded Scratch Race 35km
28 RIDERS
- A Grade 11 Riders
- Sean McCarthy, Jacob Lea, Joe Stoltz, John Macague, Steve Cunneen, Dave Bakes, Rowan Nankervis, Ryan Pontelandolfo, Troy West, Joel Fahy, Tony Jones
- 1st.Steve Cunneen
- 2nd.Rowan Nankervis
- 3rd.Troy West
- 4th.Sean McCarthy
- Rest of grade in same time bunch finish. Lap time of 49.20 extremely fast – tailwind home from
Gooseneck.
- B Grade 17 Riders
- Gordon Donaldson, Brett Williams, Shane Thompson, Dave Heath, Dave Fairburn, Noel Sens,Rik McIntosh, Phil Harrison, Mark Williams, Jordan Lucas, Andrew Creek, Mick Anderson, Clare McKechnie, Trevor Phelps, Greg Lewis, Gary Murdoch, Graeme Pilcher
- 1st.Dave Fairburn
- 2nd.Dave Heath
- 3rd.Brett Williams
- 4th.Shane Thompson
- Most of grade in same time bunch finish. Time of54.40 about 5 mins. faster than usual. As per script, Fairburn snuck through in sprint, followed by Heath who took his wheel
Race Summary : The new road racing calendar was again well supported with large A and B Grades fields fronting up to race around the gooseneck despite track and mtb events for riders to choose from.
A grade racing was aggressive from the gun with Sean McCarthy, John MacCague, Joe Stoltz and Jake (hmm what’s Jake’s last name?) all prepared to hit the front hard early. The attacks kept coming up the snake eye out of Mandurang with McCarthy unlucky not to find a companion to go away with. No single rider could stay away with Tony Jones and Troy West happy to stretch their legs in the action too. McCarthy had the field strung out again over the top of the gooseneck but couldn’t quite shake the field.
Once back on Emu Creeck Road the pace went through the roof with a strong tail wind. And on the final climb before the corner it was Rowan Nankervis who hit the bunch hard with only Steve Cunneen glued to his wheel. The bunch reacted but even with a tail wind wasn’t able to bridge the gap and it was Cunneen who played his cards well and rolled Nankervis in a drag race for the line.
B Grade Racing was went down to the line too with evergreen Dave Fairburn out sprinting Dave Heath and Brett Williams in the finale.