Grant Perry achieved a clean sweep of all A grade races plus the mixed grade Team Scratch at the Burkes Cycles Speed League track racing meeting at Wellington Velodrome in Hataitai on Sunday November 9, 2014 to take the lead overall.
It’s only the second time a sweep in the A grade has been completed in the history of the Speed League – the other was by Louis Higgison last season. This time it was Higgison who had to settle for runner up, finishing second in the 10 lap Scratch and 12 lap Points Race, unable to match Perry’s startling early season form.
The final race of the afternoon, the 20 lap Team Scratch – where riders are randomly grouped together into teams and all score the same points as their highest finisher – again proved to be a thriller. Perry’s yellow team effectively shut down any attacks and he sealed the deal in the bunch gallop for the line.
Meanwhile Henry Tate won three D grade events to head up the under 13 table, edging out Amelia Taylor each time, with May Hodgkinson, Jake Leslie and Zoe Perry scooping up the minor placings. The D grade is expanding steadily and sure to provide more exciting racing as the season progresses.
Grace Saywell and Mark Coburn engaged in a number of close-fought battles in the C grade, with Saywell getting the better of her older rival in the Scratch and Points race but missing out in the Sprinters’ Scratch. Saywell now leads the under 15 overall league table.
In a large and lively B grade, under 15 rider George Jackson picked up two wins in his first Burkes Cycles Speed League outing of the season, but lost out to Jamie Thynne in the Sprinters’ Scratch. Sam Tillotson, also under 15, was third in the 8 lap Scratch and Sprinters’ Scratch and was part of Perry’s winning team in the Team Scratch.
Capital Cycles Dame Truth extended their lead in the Zeal Commercial Interiors Teams’ classification with the addition of George Jackson and Sam Tillotson to their roster.
Senior/ Under 19: Grant Perry (37 points)
Female: Lisa Hunkin (27 points)
Under 17: Sam Tillotson (21 points)
Under 15: George Jackson (17 points)
Under 13: Henry Tate (20 points)
Zeal Commercial Interiors Teams: Capital Cycles Dame Truth (71 points)
