After a couple of disappointing performances – by his own, very high, standards – Matt Gittings of AW Cycles needed a confidence boost and things couldn’t have gone any better on a glorious sunny evening dominated by the drone of his beloved Derny motor pacers.
Full results and picture gallery
The opening Hare & Hounds saw the A riders quickly close down the Bs and dominate proceedings with, at one point, no less than eight AW Cycles riders at the head of the field with only Ian Greenstreet of Newbury RC able to run with them. Rob King, Stephen Bradbury and Gittings went for the win, but Greenstreet saw them go and latched on, passing King to take third with Gittings taking the win ahead of Bradbury.
Gittings dominated the Derny paced races, too – not to the extent he has of late, lapping the field inside ten laps – but comfortably enough. Only team mate Nick English could challenge him in the Final, but he faded in the later stages allowing Gittings to stretch away. Harry Strudley took third to make it an AW Cycles 1-2-3.
Gittings took a rest while the B’s contested a tight points race. James Pilgrim-Morris of GS Henley dominated early on, with Max Brown of Didcot Phoenix picking up five points along the way. Brown then went for a long one, taking the last sprint by half a lap from the field to take his points tally to 10. It wasn’t quite enough, though, with Pilgrim-Morris finishing on 11 to take the win, with newcomer Simon Dawson of Inverse RT securing third place.
A fast paced AW Cycles 20k Endurance saw the field still together at the bell but it was Gittings who stormed ahead to take a comfortable win – and a confidence boosting clean sweep on the night. Greenstreet followed him home for 2nd with Cam Swarbrick of AW Cycles – after suffering his third puncture of the evening and having changed a wheel with 15 laps to go – winning the bunch sprint to take third. Ellie Gilham of Bournemouth Arrow was first Lady with Max Stedman taking the Sonim Under 14-16 Endurance win. On-form Trevor Bradbury took the B win for AW Cycles, ahead of Pilgrim-Morris and Brown.
With three points separating the top three riders in the Senior A league and four points covering the top five in Senior B, the championship races are hotting up!
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Senior A & B
Hare & Hounds
1 Matt GITTINGS AW Cycles
2 Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles
3 Ian GREENSTREET Newbury RC
Senior A
Derny Paced Final
1 Matt GITTINGS AW Cycles
2 Nick ENGLISH AW Cycles
3 Harry STRUDLEY AW Cycles
AW Cycles 20k Endurance
1 Matt GITTINGS AW Cycles
2 Ian GREENSTREET Newbury RC
3 Cam SWARBRICK AW Cycles
Senior B
Points Race
1 James PILGRIM-MORRIS GS Henley 11 points
2 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix 10
3 Simon DAWSON Inverse RT 7
AW Cycles 20k Endurance
1 Trevor BRADBURY AW Cycles
2 James PILGRIM-MORRIS GS Henly
3 Max BROWN Didcot Phoenix
Ladies
AW Cycles 20k Endurance
1 Ellie Gilham Bournemouth Arrow
Sonim Under 14-Under 16 20k Endurance
1 Max STEDMAN Palmer Park Velo
