Gitting and Hall rule at Reading Velo

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Location: Palmer Park Sports Stadium, Reading
Event: 8th August 2011
Report: Guy Swarbrick

Dark, brooding skies over Palmer Park gave way to golden summer sunshine for Round 15 of the Reading Track League season. A busy programme opened with the VIA International 10 Lap Scratch for the Senior A riders.

The bunch stayed together for most of the race - although a late attempt by George Withers of Palmer Park to get away was closed down on the penultimate lap. Stephen Bradbury of AW Cycles, taking to the track just an hour after returning to the UK from the week-long Assen Youth Tour in the Netherlands where he was the highest placed British rider, pushed team mate Matt Gittings - unbeaten in track league competition since the 27 June - hard but couldn't halt the winning streak, just pipping Ian Greenstreet of Newbury RC for second place.

In the Senior B and Ladies Scratch, Kevin Holloway of VC10 jumped first with just over a lap to go but was closed down on by Simon Dawson of Inverse RT and James Pilgrim-Morris of GS Henley. In a closely contested sprint it was Pilgrim-Morris who just had the edge over Dawson with Trevor Bradbury snatching third from AW Cycles team mate Rikki Pankhurst. Corrine Hall of Team Corridori took the Ladies win.

The Senior A Points race saw the sprints shared around among a number of riders with AW Cycles' Nick English scoring early on and taking the final sprint to secure third place. But it was team mates Bradbury and Gittings, once again, who were behind him scrapping for second place in the sprint and first and second overall. It was enough for Gittings to take the win over all and for Bradbury to stay ahead of English in second.  Dawson made up for the disappointment of the opening Scratch race by taking the win in the Senior B points race ahead of Joe Holloway of VC10 and Jason Pitt of Palmer Park Velo.

Corrine Hall rode the Senior B Devil from the front - looking in control until the last lap. She took the Ladies win but it was Pankhurst who rode away on the final lap to take the win from Pilgrim-Morris and Pitt. By contrast, English rode away with three to go in the Senior devil - taking care not to pull out the half lap lead that would have seen him re-classified as the back of the bunch. He managed to stay away of the charging Gittings and Bradbury until about three metres to go, when Gittings eased past him to set up yet another clean sweep. English managed to hold on to second with Bradbury taking the final point.

In the Sprint Finals it was the usual story with some competitive heats followed by Gittings taking the Senior A race comfortably from Joseph Crolla of Palmer Park Velo and Cam Swarbrick of AW Cycles. In the Bs, the top three had all scored points in earlier races with Points race winner Dawson taking second ahead of Scratch race victor Pilgrim-Morris, but it was points race runner-up Joe Holloway who took the win.

The AW Cycles 20k Endurance race again saw a group of 10 riders work together to control the race and, of course, Gittings was in the mix. It was Bradbury, though, who seemed to have made the decisive move, diving down from the top of turn three on the penultimate lap and pulling out a sizeable gap. Coming out of turn two on the last lap, though, Gittings turned up the week and rapidly closed the gap, opening out a huge lead by the time he crossed the line - looking round to see where everybody else had gone. Bradbury's momentum was enough to secure second, ahead of Martyn Harris of Banjo Cycles, but Gittings had done it again.

Kevin Holloway joined son Joe on the results sheet, taking the Senior B win ahead of Pitt and Stuart Stow of Hounslow & District Wheelers, with Corrine Hall completing a Gittings-like clean sweep of the Ladies events.

Results

Senior A

Via International 10 Lap Scratch
1. Matt Gittings (AW Cycles)
2. Stephen Bradbury (AW Cycles)
3. Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC)

Points Race
1. Matt Gittings (AW Cycles) 13 Points
2. Stephen Bradbury (AW Cycles) 8 Points
3. Nick English (AW Cycles) 6 Points

Devil
1. Matt Gittings (AW Cycles)
2. Nick English (AW Cycles)
3. Stephen Bradbury (AW Cycles)

Sprint Final
1. Matt Gittings (AW Cycles)
2. Joseph Crolla (Palmer Park Velo)
3. Cam Swarbrick (AW Cycles)

Aw Cycles 20k Endurance
1. Matt Gittings (AW Cycles)
2. Stephen Bradbury (AW Cycles)
3. Martyn Harris (Banjo Cycles)

Senior B

Via International 10 Lap Scratch
1. James Pilgrim-Morris (GS Henley)
2. Simon Dawson (Inverse RT)
3. Trevor Bradbury (AW Cycles)

Points Race
1. Simon Dawson (Inverse RT)
2. Joe Holloway (VC10)
3. Jason Pitt (Palmer Park Velo)

Devil
1. Rikki Pankhurst (AW Cycles)
2. James Pilgrim-Morris (GS Henley)
3. Jason Pitt (Palmer Park Velo)

Sprint
1. Joe Holloway (VC10)
2. Simon Dawson (Inverse RT)
3. James Pilgrim-Morris (GS Henley)

AW Cycles 20k Endurance
1. Kevin Holloway (VC10)
2. Jason Pitt (Palmer Park Velo)
3. Stuart Stow (Hounslow & District Wheelers)

Ladies
Via International 10 Lap Scratch
1. Corrine Hall (Team Corridori)

Devil
1. Corrine Hall (Team Corridori)

AW Cycles 20k Endurance
1. Corrine Hall (Team Corridori)

Somin Under 14 & Under 16 20k Endurance
1. Max Stedman (Palmer Park Velo)
2. Daniel Lansley (Palmer Park Velo)
3. Matthew Lansley (Palmer Park Velo)