Australia Day saw 20 riders turn up, keen to be put through a series of short handicap races by President Bullen, with points on offer for the top 5 in each race, with the rider earning the most point declared the overall winner on the day and the prestigious (if somewhat unofficial) title of ACC Australia Day Champion.

Unfortunately, only 14 paid the $3 race fee – please make sure that you fix this up when signing on to next race.

The one-lap TT saw the return of Clint Bourke – blitzing an all-star field to easily take out the fastest time of the day. We’re not sure what Clint has been up to over the Xmas break but his searing form certainly caught the eye!! Well done Clint.

The TT was followed by a two-lap handicap race with groups starting at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 second gaps. Carl Hooton won this from a 10 second handicap, second was Pete Harris making up 25 seconds to the front starters.

Next event was a 4 lap handicap – GO riders were Jacqui King, Wilf, Jo Wauch & Richard Wilkinson, stretching back to Tom Simmonds, Mick Harris, Clint, Paul Williams and Pete Harris at 1:05. The back markers stormed home, with only Wilko being able to stay with them for third place. Missile Mick took first, followed by Tom, with Hammy & Spartacus taking 4th
and 5th respectively for the final points.

The final event was a handicap scratch race with two groups separated by 20 seconds going for a six-lap race with sprint points on offer after laps 2, 4 and 6. The first group were caught just before the first sprint and the points ended up being shared by the usual speedsters – Mick, Tom, Pat Ferris, Paul and Pete.

Mark did some mystical number crunching and the overall results were:

Tom Simmonds 12 points
Mick Harris 10 points
Paul Williams 8 points
Pete Harris 6.5 points
Pat Ferris 4.5 points

Well done to all riders, and to our new Aussie Day Champion Tom! Thanks to Bullo for running the days racing. See you back at the TEC next week for more crit racing, and don’t forget your $3!

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