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Report: Bromley Go-Ride Racing: Round 4
Round 4 of the Bromley Go-Ride Racing League provided a new challenge for 38 young riders as they raced for the first time on a tarmac circuit. Hosted by Penge Go-Ride, the event took place in Crystal Palace Park, with a twisting hill climb time trial, and a mass start race on part of the historic Crystal Palace racing circuit.
Race one - Hill climb time trial
The first race was a 500 metre hill climb, taking in two hairpin bends and a steep ramp up to the finish - a challenging course under any circumstances, but the damp surface reduced traction on the steep slope, and left no room for error on the bends. In the Under 8s race, the Round 3 winner Jack Harradine of Bigfoot Go-Ride again finished in the quickest time, ahead of Bigfoot's Cameron McIntyre, and league leader George Harding (Penge Go-Ride).
In the under 10s category, Imogen Meers again took top spot, beating her Bigfoot team mate Irfan Zaman into second place and continuing her unbeaten run.
The Under 12s race saw Fraser Spooncer of Penge improve on his second place in Round 3 by taking the win. Competing for the first time in the league, Martin Blackman of Sutton made a great impression by finishing second.
The Under 14s category was smaller than usual with only three riders, but it proved to be a close fight for the points. Penge Go-Ride's Georgina Williams took first place, followed by Michael Chambers from Bigfoot. League leader Tom Smith came in third after dropping a chain on the first part of the climb.
Race two - Circuit race
With some slipping and sliding during the hill climb there was some trepidation before the mass start race, which took place on the top part of the Crystal Palace race circuit.
In the Under 8s race Jack Harradine came in first, ahead of league leader George Harding, with Cameron McIntyre coming in third. With George Harding top of the league on 55 points, Jack Harradine in second place on 52 points and Cameron McIntyre on third place on 49 points the under 8s category is going to go all the way to the last event.
The Under 10s race saw Imogen Meers again take the victory, with Bigfoot team mate Irfan Zaman in second. Imogen now leads her age category by 16 points, and is looking hot favourite for the title on 25th June. Can anyone stop her taking a clean sweep in every race this season?
Having missed Round 3, former Under 12s league leader Callum McIntyre was looking to regain top spot. However, having taken top spot last time round, Penge Go-Ride's Fraser Spooncer was not going to hand it back lightly, and in a competitive race he took first place in the circuit race, beating Callum McIntyre into second place, and Sam Hopkins in third. With Fraser now leading the league by 10 points, it will be a tough job for his rivals to catch him, but you can be sure that they won't be giving up yet!
With Under 14s league leader Liam Burns absent, his close rival and Penge team mate Tom Smith took advantage with a strong second place to move 13 points ahead in the league. The race was won by the talented Martin Blackman of Sutton - so talented in fact that he was meant to race in the Under 12s category, but raced in the wrong category by mistake and still won! Bigfoot's Michael Chambers held his nerve in the slippery conditions to finish third and pick up a useful 7 points.
Round 4 proved to be one of the most popular yet with riders and spectators, thanks to an exciting and challenging circuit chosen by Penge Go-Ride. It looks set to be an annual fixture, and with the fifth and final round due to be held at Ravensbourne School on 25th June the competition is really hotting up!
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