VMC Round 3

The 3rd Round of the VMC Series in Ballarat was a fantastic success with 78 riders making the start line. The course was dynamic with a few inclines to attack on and the wind provided plenty of gutter action.  The following points tally is preliminary only and require verification.  Northern only had 14 riders on the day but managed a very respectable 35 points.  Geelong started with 30 riders and their chargers amassed 115 points, While Eureka had the home ground advantage with numbers and course knowledge started with 34 riders and we were able to win the day with 141 points hopefully leapfrogging Northern on the points table and clawing back some much needed ground on Geelong.

The first wave of riders started at 9.30am while the temperature was still in single figures and the wind chill, well bloody cold, but fortunately is was dry and after the riders started racing, not many noticed the cold. 

B grade consisted of 20 riders doing 6 laps and there was attacks early with 1 rider from each club getting away. This ensured an almost “gentlemans” agreement to let that play out the race for the remainder of the points would come down to a bunch sprint.  In the end the 26 points went to Eureka with GSCC scoring 22 points and Northern 9 points. Congratulations to the podium positions:

1st - Simon Whelan (GSCC) - 10 point

2nd - Tim Sinclair (Eureka) - 8 points

3rd - Tim Anderson (Northern) - 7 points

4th - Jason Birch (Eureka) - 6 points

5th - Luke Grounds (GSCC) - 5 points

6th - Rob Forsyth (Eureka) - 4 points

7th - Brad McDermott (GSCC) - 3 points

8th - Andrew WIlson (Eureka) - 2 points

D grade had 10 riders doing 5 laps and with 2 GSCC riders missing the start (and subsequently a lap), they were left to roll around off the back of the bunch to at least get a work out. Eureka had a few DNS’s as well so the field was down to 2 Northern riders, 4 GSCC and 4 Eureka. Very tight racing in the end with the points reflecting the spread of riders. Eureka scored 24 points with Geelong getting 21 and Northern a couple of points. Congratulations to the podium positions:

1st - Peter Livitsanis (Eureka) - 10 points

2nd - Leszek Czerniszewski (GSCC) - 8 points

3rd - Daryl Brown (Eureka) - 7 points

4th - Gavin Gamble (GSCC) - 6 points

5th - Evan King (Eureka) - 5 points

6th - Mike Lean (GSCC) - 4 points

7th - Eugeniusz Czulij (GSCC) - 3 points

8th - Robert Parker (Eureka) - 2 points 

F Grade had smallest number of riders this round but the racing was no less challenging over the 4 laps these riders travelled. 2 riders to each of Eureka and GSCC with Northern presenting 1 rider. In the end it came down to a bunch sprint and winner threw up his breakfast prompting a quick response from the Moto rider to hold his hair back.  In the end Eureka took the honours with 15 points from GSCC who had 114 points and Northern 7. Congratulations to these podium positions:

1st - Shane Bamford (Eureka) - 10 points

2nd - Garry Day (GSCC) - 8 points

3rd - Sandra Prosencia (Northern) - 7 points

4th - Max Clayton (GSCC) - 6 points

5th - Adam Chalmers (Eureka) - 5 points

While the first wave of riders headed back to the Club Rooms to get warm, have some refreshments and hear the presentations, the second wave of riders left the start line at approximately 10.40am after the temperature had risen by a just a whisker.  The wind had not tapered off at all but the clouds stayed away and the roads remained dry for the entire race.

A Grade were first off the line with 12 riders and while the numbers between Eureka and Geelong were event, it was evident there was some differences in the quality of the riders. 2 riders (1 from each club) took a flier on the 1st lap not to be seen again.  There were a few more attacks and eventually on lap 3 the selection was made and 2 GSCC riders pushed over to join one of their clubmen and eventually real in another Eureka flier up the road. This put 3 groups on the road and this how they would finish and there was tactics aplenty within the 2 chasing bunches. Eventually the numbers would go to Eureka scoring 27 points and GSCC getting 22. Congratulations to the podium made up of:

1st - Richard Younger (Eureka) - 10 points

2nd - Branden Mason (GSCC) - 8 points

3rd - Nick Locandro (Eureka) - 7 points

4th  - Cameron Tomlinson (GSCC) - 6 points

5th - Jesse Cropley (GSCC) - 5 points

6th - Paul Brick (Eureka) - 4 points

7th - Jason Hendry (Eureka) - 3 points

8th - Stu Brien (Eureka) - 2 points

C Grade had the largest group on the day doing 6 laps and the competition reflected the evenness of this group (so we thought). As it turns out, there was 3 man breakaway which got so far ahead of the field, their results got missed off the finishing sheet before being rectified at presentations after an embarrassing omission. Thanks for your understanding guys and congratulations on a stellar result.  Eureka started with 9 riders and finished with 22 points. Geelong had 6 riders start and totalled 17 points where as Northern presented with their biggest field of the day with 8 riders starting and finishing with 19 points. The podium positions were:

1st - Nigel Pearson (GSCC) - 10 points

2nd - John McKinnon (Northern) - 8 points

3rd - Peter Lamb (Eureka) - 7 points

4th - Dale Clune (GSCC) - 6 points

5th - Josh Harvey (Eureka) - 5 points

6th - Nick Drew (Eureka) - 4 points

7th - CHris Cahill (GSCC) - 3 points

8th - Graeme Walker (GSCC) - 2 points

E Grade were the final group on the road doing 5 laps and without any Northern rider here, the points were to be shared between Eureka (6 starters) and GSCC (4 starters). The wind seemed to take it toll across the field and the but in the end, only 1 rider did not finish. Eureka took the points with 27 and Geelong fought well to tally 19 points.  In the end it was fantastic to see a few women take some podium positions which were:

1st - Stephen Britton (Eureka) - 10 points

2nd - Renee Clapham (Eureka) - 8 points

3rd - Alice Kelly (GSCC) - 7 points

4th - Mark Rossiter (GSCC) - 6 points

5th - Neil Maurer (GSCC) - 5 points

6th - Roger Mc Millan (Eureka) - 4 points

7th - Adrian Kenny (Eureka) - 3 points

8th - Patrick Cashin (Eureka) - 2 points

All other FINISHERS tallied 1 point toward the aggregate. Unfortunately a DNF does not earn a point, so finishing is crucial.

A huge thank you to Adam Rasmussen from Racers Bar & Cafe for the fantastic spread of sandwiches and fruit loaf (a big hit) kindly donated. Also, thank you to all of the corner Marshall’s who helped out on the day. Thank you to Graeme Parker and Bill Goldfinch for giving up their Sunday to run the race. Also thank you to Graeme and Bills beautiful wives Lois and Elaine for helping manage registrations and ensuring the riders were fed and watered when they returned. Your assistance always appreciated but not often enough recongnised, so thank you!!

To Phil Robinson and his brother who are the guardian angles that monitor the course on their motorcycles. These guys give up their time for nothing more than small contribution to their fuel and they perform an unbelievable job and I for one feel a lot safer knowing they are there to protect us. Show these dudes some love when you see them next!

Dean Wells was there this morning at 7.30am doing the set up and was one of the last to leave doing the pack up, he created and printed off maps for the riders helped conduct the presentations for the first wave of riders. 

The cooperation across the clubs for this event along with the handicapping was an important process of this event and to my counterparts at Geelong & Surf Coast Cycling Club Tina Tober Stenos and Tim Anderson and Albert Rains from Northern Cycling thank you for you help and support to our team. It’s a thankless job to handicap a race and while we’ll struggle to please everyone, it seemed that the majority were satisfied.

Finally to my co-committee members Ricky Calvert, Jeremy Humber, Peter Livitsanis, Julie Connellan (who crawled out of her sick bed man a corner and supply the Raffle Prizes), Graeme Parker, Steven Crowe & Tim Sinclair. Tim went above and beyond with organising of the marshals eventually recruiting his family members to stand on corners so the rest of us could race. We are indebted to those who are not even members who came to assist us all race.  But the behind the scenes efforts of these people that most people don’t see is monumental and you each have my personal gratitude, thank you.

There are 3 more races in the series after July, so get behind your club and register for the next race in August at Paraparap. The final aggregate points tally will be posted after we’ve verified and agreed on the results so consider these as being preliminary and may change slightly.

Stu Brien

Eureka Club President