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Event Six - Etton Course - 70 Km - club T Rex

Over the years we've run the road race league in some pretty bad weather from time to time. Tonight was the worst ever. It was such a good day - warm with not too much wind. There were a few spots of rain in the air when the groups set off but the skies darkened rapidly and we had to endure a heavy persistant rainfall for the next one and a half hours. God knows how much rain fell but the roads were soon flooded and this was accompanied by frequent flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. If that wasn't enough we were treated to a convoy of pea biners who had vacuumed up the peas in one of the fields around the course and then set off, all six of them, towards the riders along the narrow road out of South Dalton. Riders squeezed by but supporting cars couldn't. And there were punctures - lots of them.

Eight laps tonight but it wouldn't have made any difference to have had less. It really was a battle between group three and the scratch group; and group three came out on top.

Group one started with only two riders and a four minute start, they were Anthony Weston and Andy Blanchard.

Group two were 17 riders: Andy Abbott, Mark Perry, Nathan Wilson, Andy Peers, Derek Palmer, Andy Barnes, Simon Collins, Tony Washbrook, Chris Brearley, Dan Ashman, Kyle Byers, Daniel Wright, Steve Waterall, Mel Blackford, Bill Hodgson, David Allen and Mark McKeown. They had the first puncture victim of the night - Dan Ashman didn't get to the end of the first straight before his tyre went down. This group caught group one by lap three - the prime lap - which was taken by Andy Peers. They contested the prime sprint on lap four also which was won by David Allen and this was shortly before they were caught by group three.

Group three comprised Tony Pearson, Steve Macklin, Gary Fulstow, Dave Hudson, Martin Grantham, Dave Lacey, Patrick Clarke Martin Cockerill, John Hopper, Martin Ruepp, Tony Boynton, Chris Burton, Ben Roberts, Matthew Fenton, Stewart Pickard, Tim White and Alan Cooper. This group worked well together - ie most consistently, and the scratch group never looked like catching them. For the record their lap times (including the confrontation with the six pea-biners) were 10.50, 10.26, 10.24, 10.45, 11.15, 12.20, 11.15 and 10.55. Apart from the front two riders who had a four minute lead, there were one and a half minute gaps between each of the other groups.

Group four was a small group: Mark Bateman, Ryan MacLachlan, Paul Purdy, Paul Noton and Zak Thackray, and they had mixed fortunes. Mark Bateman was the first to puncture - he indicated he could get back but he had a lap out in his dad's car and rode off the front at the finish after joining group three. Not counted of course. Paul Noton tried to go alone to bridge the gap but wasn't really making anything. Ryan punctured and the rest waited for the scratch group which got to them on lap six.

Group five, the scratch group seemed quite a formidable bunch but they made no impression. They were Chris Daddy, Mike Moss, Adam Duggleby, Alistair Kay, Steve Ward, Dave Shackleton and Jason Benham. Dave Shack was the first to punture and Mike Moss got about half way before he suffered a similar fate. Lap times were 10.40, 10.31, 10.39, 11.00, 11.20, 11.55, 11.00, 12.45. More importantly the time gaps between group three and them were 3.00, 3.00, 3.05, 3.20, 3.35, 3.40, 3.15, and 4.50. Not a good night - spoiled enormously by the conditions but that's road racing. There's always a bit of luck needed.

A good bunch sprint at the end won by Patrick Clarke, a young Irish lad, still a junior. His parents said the conditions suited him, wet and narrow roads and the involvement of farm vehicles.

Interesting battle in the points race - Matthew Fenton has come out on top again but Ali Kayis only5 points behind. The Bridlington crew have a strong interest also and only Ryan MacLachlan lies between them. Let's hope for good weather for the last in the series.

RR League Event 6 Etton 22^nd July 2003

*Pos*	*Name*	*Club/Team*	*Group*	*Points*	*70 Km*
1	Patrick Clarke	G/Bar Cycles	3	15	in 1:29:30
2	Matthew Fenton	City RC (Hull)	3	12	s.t.
3	Steve Macklin	Hull Thursday RC	3	10	s.t.
4	Ben Roberts	Bridlington CC	3	8	s.t.
5	Alan Cooper	Wolverhampton Wheelers	3	7	s.t.
6	David Allen	Scunthorpe Poly	2	8	s.t.
7	Garry Fulstow	City RC (Hull)	3	5	s.t.
8	Dave Hudson	City RC (Hull)	3	4	s.t.
9	Stewart Pickard	Bridlington CC	3	3	s.t.
10	Mark Perry	Leeds RRC	2	2	s.t.
11	Nathan Wilson	Hull Thursday RC	2	1	s.t.
12	Paul Noton	Cottingham Coureurs	4	3	@ 1:15
13	Andy Barnes	Hull Thursday RC	2	1	@ 1:35
14	Chris Burton	Hull Thursday RC	3	1	@ 2:04
15	Tony Boynton	T Rex	3	1	@ 2:08
16	Derek Palmer	Hull Thursday RC	2	1	@ 4:50
17	Andy Peers	Hull Thursday RC	2	1	s.t.
18	Alistair Kay	York Cycleworks	5	3	@ 5:00
19	Adam Duggleby	Steve Goff Cycles	5	1	s.t.
20	Zak Thackray	Yorkshire RC	4	1	s.t.
21	Jason Benham	Scunthorpe Poly	5		s.t.
22	Chris Daddy		5		s.t.
23	Mel Blackford	Bridlington CC	2		s.t.
24	Paul Purdy	Star Bikes	4		s.t.
25	Steve Ward	Pete Read Racing	5		s.t.
26	Chris Brearley	City RC (Hull)	2		s.t.
27	Tony Washbrook	City RC (Hull)	2		@ 8:35

Points to Date

*Pos*	*Rider*	*Club*	*Ev1*	*Ev2*	*Ev3*	*Ev4*	*Ev5*	*Ev6*	*Ev7*	*Total*
1	Matthew Fenton	City RC (Hull)		14	6	14	4	12		50
2	Alastair Kay	York Cycleworks			12	15	15	3		45
3	Martin Cockerill	Bridlington CC	14	15		2	5			36
4	Ryan MacLachlan	Cottingham Coureurs	2	10	2	10	8			32
5	Stewart Pickard	Bridlington CC	7	4	8	6		3		28
6	David Compston	Bridlington CC	10	10	6					26
7	Ben Roberts	Bridlington CC	8	7				8		23
8	John Hopper	T Rex	15				6			21
9	Steve Macklin	Hull Thursday RC	3			7	1	10		21
10	Paul Purdy	Star Bikes			7		12			19
10	Chris Burton	Hull Thursday RC	4	3	1	8	2	1		19
12	Stephen Ward	Pete Read Racing			15					15
12	Patrick Clarke	G/Bar Cycles						15		15
14	Mark Bateman	Triangle RT			12					12
14	Mike Moss	Cottingham Coureurs					12			12
16	Dave Hudson	City RC (Hull)		1	3		3	4		11
16	David Allen	Scunthorpe Poly			3			8		11
18	John Galway	Keswick MTB	5	5						10
18	Andy Barnes	Hull Thursday RC	1	1		4	3	1		10
20	Andy Peers	Hull Thursday RC		6		1	1	1		9
21	Garry Fulstow	City RC (Hull)	1	2				5		8
22	Adam Duggleby	Steve Goff Frames					7			7
22	Dave Shackleton	Hull Thursday RC	2		5					7
22	Martin Ruepp	Private				7				7
22	Alan Cooper	Wolverhampton Whs						7		7
26	Kevin Holmes	Yorvik	6							6
27	Lee Cairns	Pete Read Racing	1		1	3				5
27	Mark McKeown	Bridlington CC				3	2			5
27	Zak Thackray	Yorkshire	2		1		1	1		5
30	Paul Noton	Cottingham Coureurs					1	3		4
31	Chris Brearley	City RC (Hull)		1		1	1			3
31	Mel Blackford	Bridlington CC			3					3
31	Mike Gill	Team Chevin	1	2						3
31	Paul Rooney	Race Scene	1	1		1				3
31	Steven Waterall	Bridlington CC	1	2						3
31	Nathan Wilson	Hull Thursday RC	1			1		1		3
31	Tony Boynton	T Rex		1			1	1		3
31	Mark Perry	Leeds RRC			1			2		3
39	Alistair Watson	Knaresborough RT		1	1					2
39	Andrew Abbott	Bridlington CC		1			1			2
39	Anthony Weston	Huddersfield RC	2							2
39	Lee Watson	Pete Read Racing	1	1						2
39	Simon Nicholls	Knaresborough RT	1			1				2
44	Dan Keena	Cottingham Coureurs			1					1
44	Jason Benham	Scunthorpe Poly			1					1
44	Jeremy Ireland	Caygill Frames			1					1
44	Jim Baker	Leeds RRC		1						1
44	John Brearley	City RC (Hull)	1							1
44	Martin Grantham	Dale Racing		1						1
44	Martin Haworth	Barton Wheelers					1			1
44	Phil Bateman	Triangle RT			1					1
44	Simon Collins	Bridlington CC				1				1
44	Bill Hodgson	Selby CC					1			1
44	Derek Palmer	Hull Thursday RC						1		1
44	Adam Duggleby	Steve Goff Frames						1		1

RR League Event 6 Etton 22nd July 2003

RR League Event 6 Etton 22^nd July 2003