Inter Regional Track Championships 2010 Day 2 Afternoon

The afternoon session saw Wales regain top spot on the overall leaderboard, thanks to a win, a second, and two thirds to North West’s two wins. It couldn’t be closer, though, with just a single point separating the two. A win and a second for East Midlands looks likely to have secured their third place, with only four points between Central in fourth and the West Midlands in fifth.

Full Results Picture gallery

The session opened with the 500m Time Trials which, as expected, were another North West benefit. With only the Team Sprint to go, would any one bet on them taking a clean sweep of the sprint events? Jess Crampton was the only rider to go below 38 seconds in the Girls event, clocking 38.489, with Rosie Blount of East Midlands in second with 38.489 and Sarah Crowley of Wales third at 38.622 – the only other riders to go below 40 seconds.

The Boys event wasn’t any closer, with Matt Rotherham the only rider under 35 seconds at 34.150. Second and third places went to Wales with Robbie Westwood at 35.444 and Zak May just behind on 35.790.

The Girls Madison was an epic battle between Wales and Central with one or the other taking the win in every sprint, with the other one second in all but two… where they were third. Hardly surprising, given that both teams took two laps on the field. In the end it came down to the last sprints and a couple of changes by the Central pair of Natalie Hill and Alice Barnes that weren’t quite as slick as their Welsh counterparts. Amy Roberts and Amy Hill took the lead, by a single point, on the penultimate sprint and sealed the win on the final lap. Jess Anderson and Melissa Bury took a couple of seconds and third in the sprints to finish 3^rd, two laps down on the leading teams.

The Boys Madison was both more one sided and more fragmented. The East Midlands duo of Alex Minting and Sam Lowe dominated the race, taking maximum points in every sprint and lapping the field twice. A determined charge through the field by South duo Jon Dibben and Will Stephenson saw them take a second lap in the closing stages to leap ahead of the Welsh pairing of Matt Cross and Owen James who had outscored them in the sprints – taking three seconds and a third – but who just ran out of time in their efforts to take a second lap.