National Trophy Series - Cheltenham 20th October

The second round of the National series saw some more close fast racing at Cheltenham. This time I was nearer the front, if not on the front! The course had been made slippery by the rain, but it was still fast on the flat grassy circuit. There were a couple of dismounts, the first up a steep bank and the other a pair of high hurdles. At the end of the course there was a section in and out of the tree that became very slippery.

I made a good start and was straight up to 4th or 5th place after the start loop. A group started to pull away almost immediately containing, Shaun Snoddon, Stuart Wearmouth, George Richardson and I. Shaun was the first to slip off - literally. He hit the ground around one of the tight bends. George Richardson was pushing the pace. Shaun made his way back up to us after a couple of laps. It was Stuart Wearmouth's turn to split the group next, he did a hard lap on the front. Shaun lost contact again. George did a hard lap after and this made Stuart struggle. George opened a slight gap that I knew I had to close quickly. I did - so now there was two of us. George open a slight gap again but this time he came back as he slipped off around a tight corner. With two laps to go it looked like it was going to come down to a sprint. Mick Ives, George's sponsor was shouting instructions, like "don't go through!"

Unfortunately for me I came off around the same bend that everyone had been slipping on. My back wheel just seemed to come by my front one! This gave George a gap and he took advantage of it. I chased him to the line but he finished a few seconds in front.

Second was not so bad. I have now moved up to 3rd overall in the series. The next round is at Ipswich in two weeks time.

Senior Trophy Results

1. George Richardson     MI Racing         59 min 26 secs
2. Barrie Clarke         Helly Hansen-Giant   at 12 secs
3. Stuart Wearmouth      Science In Sport.com at 37 secs
4. Paul Oldham           Helly Hansen         at 42 secs
5. Steve Knight          MI Racing            at 1 min 17 secs
6. Oli Beckingsale       MBUK/Scott           at 1 min 18 secs
 

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(written 21/10/02)