On a hot day with a gusty north westerly wind, the rescheduled club TT Championship took place on the rolling Dangarsleigh course over the extended championship distance of 25km.
There was a splendid display of TT rigs on show, and with a number of riders also sporting clip-on bars, for the first time ever the number of specialist bikes outnumbered the road machines! With skinsuits and pointy helmets also abundant, it was clear there was some serious completion for the podium spots.
As riders hit the start ramp, Phil Hess brought a festive atmosphere to the start with a great selection of tunes to see riders off, along with an excellent commissionaire-style 5-4-3-2-1 hand countdown. First off was Jacqui King, and then riders followed at 1 minute intervals. An early casualty was current RROTY champ Richard Wilko who managed snap his chain in an impressive display of power! The remaining riders managed to complete the parcours without incident, and as riders hit the turn there were some tremendous battles unfolding.
Pat Ferris was setting a blazing early pace on his new clip-ons to record the fastest outward time 2 seconds ahead of ironman Mick Hoult, with Andy Robb only 20 seconds back in 3rd. In the women’s race TT expert Jo Watch turned first, and with Jacqui 3mins down, it would just need a solid return leg from Jo to hold on to top spot. The road-bike competition was also red-hot, with Paul “Hammy” Williams just 7 seconds ahead of Shaun Brennan at the turn, with Brent Weston snapping at their heels just 19 seconds further back.
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As riders crested Knobs Hill on the return leg Houlty had edged in front to take over the lead, with Pat and Andy neck-and-neck for second as they entered the final championship kilometres. It was this run for home that finalised the podium, and as the riders hit the finish line it was Houlty who took out the title of Club TT Champion for 2019…well done Mick!!! 30 seconds back Andy had produced a strong finish to edge out Pat for second by just 12 seconds, who took out 3rd place for the final podium spot. Jo Wauch comfortably held on to take out the women’s TT Club Champion…great work Jo! Hammy also kept up a strong effort to take out 8th place overall and the fastest time on a road bike…nice effort Paul!
Behind the top 3 there were a number of outstanding rides; Nick Pluimers, Alex Thomas, Hugh McKellar, Shaun Brennan & Paul Whitford, and Brent Weston all recorded PB’s, and all riders dug deep to make for a great day of competitive championship racing.
Thanks to Col, Phil Hess, and Wilf for running the race, and to Wilf for also doing the signs.
This brings an end the road racing campaign for 2019. Next week we return to the TEC to start our summer season of crit racing, and don’t forget to put Sunday avo 8th Dec in the diary for the club Xmas party…details to follow very shortly.
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