Sunday dawned dry and bright but bitterly cold…good thing we were inside the velodrome for the third and final day of the Scottish National Track Championships. It was another mix of endurance and sprint events and the word was that more records might fall.
First up was the Open 1000m Time Trial and this event always seems to suit riders who can start slower and get faster towards the end. Only two riders went under 1 minute 7 seconds and these would fill the Gold and Silver medal positions. Tom Chandler (Metaltek Kuota RT) came from behind in his heat with Andrew Leveton (Ses Racing) to record a time of 1-06.305 to take Gold but Leveton’s time of 1-07.166 would see him take the Bronze…after a little lie-down afterwards such was the effort.
The other medal spot was filled by John Archibald (Pro Vision Scotland) who overcame Alistair Fielding (Black Line) to record a time of 1-06.930 and take Silver.
This was followed by the qualifying TT’s for the Women’s Sprint 200m and we saw our first record fall. The women were getting faster and faster and Glasgow CT’s Lusia Steele put in a huge effort and came home in 12.141 (59.3kph) to break the Scottish Junior record. Her teammate Lucy Grant went faster in 12.016 (59.9kph) and that set the draws for later on.
In Heat 1 Lucy Grant made sure of progressing by coming home ahead of Ines Barroca Rahtz of Glasgow University CC) in both matches. Heat 2 saw Lusia Steele up against Natalie Hunter of Fullarton Wheelers. Again the Glasgow CT rider made short work of her matches to move forward.
Heat 3 had Louise Haston (TORQ Performance) up against Georgia Young (Glasgow CT) and the more experienced Louise pushed through both matches to book her place.
In the final heat Rebecca Dornan (The Racers) won the first match against Lauryn Dawber (Swinnerton Cycles) but Lauryn Dawber fought back to take the second sprint. Into the decider and Rebecca Dornan was on the front but staying high. She took a flyer coming off the banking before the bell and held off Lauryn Dawber to move forward in the competition.
This set up semi’s between Lucy Grant and Rebecca Dornan with Louise Haston up against Lusia Steele.
In the first heat of the semifinal Rebecca Dornan dived to the inside just before the bell and although Lucy Grant was closing, Rebecca took the win by a wheel. She went on to secure the second match and proceed to the final. It was similar performance, and similar tactics from Lusia Steele as she held off Louise Haston in their first match.
In the second match between Louise Haston and Lusia Steele, the TORQ Performance rider kept it tighter and managed to overhaul Lusia Steele before the line. This meant a C match ride-off to book a place in the final. It was almost similar tactics with Louise Haston having to come around the Glasgow CT rider but this time Lusia Steele held her off all the way to the line.
This meant a final between Lusia Steele and Rebecca Dornan and a ride-off between Lucy Grant and Louise Haston for Bronze. In the first match between Lucy Grant and Louise Haston, the TORQ rider overhauled the Glasgow CT rider by no more than the width of a tyre to go one up. Into the second match and Lucy Grant was forced to come the long way but Louise Haston had it under control…Bronze medal for her!
In the first match between Lusia Steele and Rebecca Dornan, the riders were staying high on the track before Rebecca Dornan headed down and forced Lusia Steele to try and come round but she was unable to. Into the second match and Lusia Steele led it out and had just enough of a gap to stop Rebecca Dornan being able to come around. One each and onto a final match.
Different tactics as Rebecca Dornan headed out hard from the off and forced Lusia Steele to chase. At the bell, The Racers rider had a gap of several lengths and Lusia Steele began to close it down but by the final bend the gap was going back out as Rebecca Dornan knew she had taken the C match and secured Gold in this event. A great performance from both riders and a real treat for all the fans watching!
In the Women’s B Competition we had three competitors: Kathleen McCormac (Glasgow Wheelers), Carole Dick (Stirling BC) and Kirsteen Ellis (KinrossCC). The two more experienced track riders took it up but Carole Dick was not too troubled as she beat Kathleen McCormac to the line.
Now we began the heats for the Men’s 4000m Team Pursuit and this is where we thought records might go. And true to form, the final squad went the fastest…and how! The Pro Vision Scotland team of Jason Roberts, Kyle Johnston, Rob Friel and John Archibald smashed the existing record by 10 seconds to come home in 4-23.284. This was 13 seconds quicker than the second fastest team from RT23 of David Blockley, Kyle Gordon, Peter Ettles and Alan Thomson and these teams would ride off for Gold and Silver.
In the Bronze medal ride it was the young guns from Glasgow CT (Euan Sutherland, Douglas Crawford, Innes Johnston, Fraser Macdougall) up against VC Glasgow South (Karl Farmer, Kenny Morrice, David Morrison, Alexander Wilson). The Glasgow CT riders posted a 4-41.769 to secure the Bronze.
In the final, after a false start, the Pro Vision Team appeared to be on another planet as they caught their opponents from RT23 within a few laps. RT23 had made a replacement as Alan Thomson had felt too unwell to continue and Danny Hedley had been drafted in. They would eventually post a 4-41.070 to take Silver but the Pro Vision Scotland riders flew home in a time of 4-22.822 to break their own Scottish record set in the morning. A fantastic performance from a super squad!
We now had a ride-off in the Open VI Tandem Non-Championship 1000m TT and the pairing of Emma Baird (Glasgow Wheelers) and Laura Cluxton (Rock and Road) absolutely buried themselves to post a time of 1-13.433. This was nine seconds quicker than Laura Cammidge piloted by Morven Brown (Dales Cycles RT Scotland) who came home in 1-22.656.
It was excellent to see five tandems in this event and a great boost for tandem racing.
Open Team Sprint time and it took a bit to get going as a rider came down and then there was a pulled pedal. Up and running and the three fastest teams all came in with 51s. Fastest in the heats was SR Albannach (Colin Davenport, Craig Hamilton, James Wright) with 0-51.246. Next was Team Azur (Jamie Alexander, Stuart Donaghy, Jon Gillies) in 0-51.782 with Pro Vision Scotland (Kyle Johnston, Jason Roberts, Alexander MacRae) in 0-51.785…mighty close!
This set up the Gold/Silver ride with SR Albannach against Team Azur and the Bronze ride-off with Pro Vision Scotland up against the trio of Jim Barr, Ian Barton and Karl Farmer of VC Glasgow South.
The Pro Vision Scotland riders Jason Roberts and Kyle Johnston had only just completed helping to break their own Team Pursuit record when they were called to the track for the Team Sprint ride-off for Bronze…and they delivered by beating the VC Glasgow squad in a time of 0-52.312.
Onto the final and a great performance from SR Albannach but Team Azur held the off in a time of 0-51.300 to take the Gold medal! And it couldn’t have been closer!
Team Azur came to the line in a time of 0-51.300 with SR Albannach posting 0-51.380…a great performance from both squads and an evolution of the Albannach club which up until now has been regarded as a cyclocross-oriented team.
The final event on the scorecard was the Women’s 25km Points race and Sarah Walker (EDCO) took the first sprint. Flora Gillies (Team 22) took the second sprint with the bunch remaining largely together and well-matched. Gemma Penman (Glasgow CT) took the third sprint with Sarah Walker and Flora Gillies fighting it out for second and staying high overall…Walker winning on that occasion.
An now Gemma Penman began to dominate in the sprints. Lulu Bartlett (The Racers) and Louise Borthwick (Edinburgh RC) tried to get away and gained a quarter of a lap but Georgia Mansfield (RT23), almost singled-handedly, brought the bunch back.
This caused a split and Sarah Walker, Anna Fairweather (Spokes RT) and Flora Gillies suffered for their earlier efforts and eventually lost a lap. Gemma Penman could now control the race and Anna Shackley (Glasgow Riderz) took a couple of sprints including the final dash for the line but the Glasgow CT rider had the race in her pocket scoring an overall points haul of 34 to Anna Shackley’s 16 and Lulu Bartlett’s 11…Gold, Silver and Bronze decided!
So, one more Championship on the track with the Madison Champs on 9th December and then it’s back to mud at Knockburn. See you then!
