Footscray CC Graded Scratch Races @ You Yangs – 30 Sept 2012

The 25th and last race of the Footscray Cycling Club’s Winter Road Season took place in perfect racing conditions out around the You Yangs near Little River, with riders keen to take the last points on offer for both the Road Aggregate and the Salter Cycles Winter Series. 34 year old Jason Costin took the A-Grade race as well as clinching the Salter Cycles Winter Series with clever positioning and a gun sprint in the final few kilometers. ‘It was a good field today; we had the bikebug.com crew out in force and a bunch from Caulfield Carnegie added a nice dimension to the day- all out in preparation for the Melbourne to Warny, so Adam Murchie and his boys were putting it into the gutter at every opportunity. It was definitely a race about being smart and being in the right position, if wheels were dropped you just had to bridge across and hold on. There were about ten to fifteen left at the end and Murchie gave a lead out from about 1500 meters away and I was sitting third wheel so I had a great sit whilst everyone was getting spat out the back and I peeled off with about 500 meters to go and that was it.’ Costin took the win well clear of Geelong’s Tom Paton and David Woolsey in second and third respectively.

B-Grade’s race had a fair few A-Grade refugees added to the mix of the usual suspects so the pace was very high and the pressure on from the start, with riders being subjected to repeated attacks and sustained runs in the gutter. Surprisingly, most riders weathered all that was dished out and were there for the final run to the line. As riders approached the finish, it was 48 year old Werribee resident Mark Micallef who had the best sit in the pack; Micallef jumping first and establishing a gap with about 300 meters to go. ‘I have had such a run of second places lately that last month I completely rethought my strategy- be decisive and make the first move; if it fails then I won’t die wondering. So I got myself into a good position in the bunch and judged the distance to the line pretty well.’ Micallef maintained his lead over the strung-out chasers all the way to the line, crossing a few bike lengths clear of Simon Hurn and Bob Shannon, and clinching the B-Grade Salter Cycles Winter Series to boot. ‘It has been a great week, taking Gold at the Victorian Teacher Games on Monday and now getting this win today; I think I’ll stick with my new tactics.’

In C-Grade, 43 year old Yarraville resident Jeremy Canny-Smith took the race with a daring late race move. ‘It was a fairly measured race; not many attacks so I stayed in the bunch and when we came to the last corner I felt pretty good so I thought I’d go for an attack. The bunch took a while to organise themselves so I took my chances and managed to stay away. I’m very happy with that as I took a bit of a gamble and it paid off. I’m looking forward to B-Grade now!’ Second place and the bunch sprint was taken by Andrew Schieseck who also bagged enough points to take the win in the C-Grade Salter Winter Series.

52 year old Pt Cook resident Leigh Pridmore took out D-Grade’s race, with newcomer Andrew Bonnello impressing the veteran with his strength. ‘We had a really steady race all of the way through and on the last lap the new lad Andrew got on the front and he dragged us all of the way home; we waited for him to run out of steam but he just never did. He only faded about 300 meters from the line. I had an interrupted sprint as I was boxed in a little and when Johnny Paxton jumped I was lucky enough the grab his wheel and got a good tow to the line; in the last 20 meters I was lucky enough to get over the top of him and win. Paxton could console himself however with the win in the D-Grade Salter Winter Series.

A: 1st Jason Costin, 2nd Tom Paton (GCC), 3rd David Woolsey, 4th TBA, 5th TBA.

B: 1st Mark Micallef, 2nd Simon Hurn, 3rd Bob Shannon, 4th Darren Ward, 5th Daryl Burns.

C: 1st Jeremy Canny-Smith, 2nd Andrew Schieseck, 3rd Colin Morris, 4th Shane McGuirk, 5th Simon Maddison.

D: 1st Leigh Pridmore, 2nd John Paxton, 3rd Mick Wells, 4th Rob Stonehouse, 5th Andrew Bonnello.