Scottish National Senior Track Championships Day 1: Punch the Clock!

Scottish National Senior Track Championships Day 1: Punch the Clock!

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We’ve moved inside for the Scottish National Track Championships before a final dice with the mud at Knockburn with Cyclocross. A full event card meant that the racing got off to a flying start…a record-breaking start it was too.

First event for the Friday session was the Women’s 500m TT and Lucy Grant (Glasgow Cycle Team) was in fine form coming home in a time of 36.386 to take Gold. Rebecca Dornan (The Racers) came close with a time of 36.714 for Silver and Lusia Steele (Glasgow Cycle Team) set a new Scottish Junior record to take Bronze in a time of 36.837.

In the Veteran Men’s Pursuit 3000m, Jason Roberts (Pro Vision Scotland) posted the fastest time in the heats and set up the final with Andy Bruce (Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique). His time of 3-38.466 was just over two seconds faster than Bruce’s 3-40.644.

The Bronze medal ride-off was to be between Richard Montague (Johnstone Wheelers CC) in 3-44.302 and Brian Marsland (Lomond Roads CC) in 3-48.406. However, the Lomond Roads rider was not well enough to continue and Richard Montague, having presented himself to the starters, took the Bronze.

In the final, Roberts started really fast but then Andy Bruce closed it down and it looked as if the Pro Vision rider may have gone off too fast, but with a few laps top go, Roberts went again and took the win in a time of 3-40.002 to Bruce’s 3-41.492. Gold to Jason Roberts and Silver to Andy Bruce!

Carole Dick (Stirling Bike Club) and Patricia Baird (VC Astar Anderside) came within half a second of each other in the heats for the Veteran Women’s Pursuit 2000m. Their times of 2-47.274 and 2-47.663 respectively set up an exciting final.

The Bronze medal ride-off was between Rachael Halifax (Glasgow Gals CC) who posted 2-52.227 and Elizabeth Clayton (Stirling Bike Club) in 2-54.831. In the ride-off, the Glasgow Gals rider was just over two seconds up and she would continue to put time into Elizabeth Clayton to take Bronze.

In the final, it couldn’t have been closer with Carole Dick triumphing in the end to take Gold in 2-47.683 to Patricia Baird’s 2-47.797…top effort!

In the Open Keirin we had some excitement in the second heat when Craig Lewis Hamilton (SR Albannach) crashed heavily. Kallum Stewart (Univ of Nottingham SCC) was judged at fault for not holding his line in the final 200 and was relegated.

This set up a final with winner of the first heat Jamie Alexander (Team Azur), winner of the second heat Alistair Fielding (Black Line), Andrew Leveton (Ses Racing), Jeremy Franks (City of Edinburgh RC), Rory Oliver (VC St Raphael) and Craig Hamilton. The minor final was between Ian Barton (VC Glasgow South), Stuart Donaghy (Team Azur) and Kallum Stewart.

In the minor final, Stuart Donaghy was well tucked in behind the derny with the other two closing up as the motorbike pulled off. Kallum Stewart attacked from the bell and Ian Barton tried to chase but the University of Nottingham rider was never challenged.

In the final, Jamie Alexander was looking composed but there was a superb sprint around the last lap with Alistair Fielding taking the win in a time of 11.024 for the final 200. Jamie Alexander held on for Silver with Andrew Leveton taking Bronze.

With the Open Keirin completed, it was now the turn of the Women…and the six fastest qualifiers were Rebecca Dornan (The Racers), Louise Haston (TORQ Performance) Lusia Steele (Glasgow CT), Lauryn Dawber (Swinnerton Cycles), Georgia Young (Glasgow CT) and Janette Hazlett (Glasgow Ivy CC).

In the final, Janette Hazlett took a flyer with 3 laps to go and this provided a lot of smiles around the velodrome. She was soon overhauled however and Rebecca Dornan produced a fine sprint to hold off Louise Haston, with Lusia Steele taking the Bronze medal spot. The winning time was 12.923.

The Women’s 3000m Pursuit saw Lynsey Curran (Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk) post the fastest time in the heats in 3-57.666 with Lulu Bartlett (The Racers) in second spot with 3-57.997. This set a closely-matched final with the Bronze medal ride-off between Anna Fairweather (Spokes RT) and Georgia Mansfield (RT 23).

The Hill Climb champion would triumph with Anna Fairweather posting a time off 4-6.778 to take the Bronze with Georgia Mansfield recording 4-9.915.

In the final, there was nothing between Lulu Bartlett and Lynsey Curran at the halfway point. With 3 laps to go, the Dooleys rider began to move ahead but it was still incredibly close. In the end, it was a well-judged performance by Lynsey Curran as she took the win in a time of 3-59.993 to take Gold. Lulu Bartlett came home in a time of 4-1.482 to claim Silver.

The Tandem Open Pursuit 3000m non-championship title went to Laura Cammidge and her pilot Morven Brown (Dales Cycles RT Scotland) in a time of 4-17.794.

The last event of this first night of competition was the Open 30km Points race and Tom Chandler (Metaltek Kuota RT) took the first sprint to move into the lead. In the second sprint, Chandler was again active but Finn Harrod (Cyclism Cycling) edged him on the line.

This was a super fast race, but one of real attrition! Fifteen riders started but only nine finished, and only the strongest would survive. Ultimately, Ross Clark (Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk) would be the most consistent, scoring highly in almost all of the sprints. He was also one of only three riders not to lose any laps and his tally of 29 points saw him triumph over Fraser Martin (Raleigh- GAC) who placed second in the final sprint and ended with 24 points to take Silver. Euan Sutherland (Glasgow CT) secured Bronze with a final score of 13 points…everyone looked totally worn out by the finish and it was a well-deserved win for the Dooleys rider.

On to tomorrow’s programme…see you then!