Location: Bardney, near Lincoln
Event: 22 January 2012
Report: John Cotton
Rick Lister (Ace RT) took a hard thought victory at the end of season Lincolnshire award race at Abbey Farm, Bardney, beating Lincolnshire Champion Mark Cotton (Bycka Sport Racing) over the final lap of a cut and thrust contest where these two dominated proceedings.
Conditions were brutal, the howling wind beat the riders up on the open farm land leaving nowhere to hide and the course itself was wet and muddy as well as having some tough bumpy ground to negotiate.
Lister and Cotton led from the gun into the wind and soon opened up a gap on promoting club rider Jon Wells (VC Lincoln). They were soon lapping up the difficult conditions and riding away at a rate of knots.
Although run as a normal race, the final prizes for the traditional end of season event are given on handicap and these two were giving themselves a good chance of regaining their deficit with Cotton as the scratch rider.
With such a strong wind neither rider could make a decisive move, Lister, without a win all season, moved clear by a few bike lengths on a few occasions over a tricky hump and through a boggy part of the course, only to get pegged back by Cotton each time. Coming up to the bell Lister again had a gap on Cotton of around 25 meters but it was again clawed back.
The race looked like it would come down to a big sprint finish but Lister had other ideas. Into the hardest part of the course directly into the wind he put in a huge attack and finally broke clear of his rival.
Cotton could not respond and Lister quickly gained a 10 second advantage. Lister just had to maintain this lead to the finish which he did to take a deserved victory. Cotton was fighting hard to get back every second he could but rolled a tub ensured Cotton was well and truly beaten as he was forced to run the final 200 meters to come in 47 seconds down.
Jon Wells came home in 3rd place 6:04 down. Jordan Gell (VC Lincoln) put in a great performance in 4th place and 1st Junior just ahead of Adam Ellis (Spalding CC) in 5th and 1st Vet. For Lister it was a big win after an injury plagued season, he was thrilled to end the season off with a win after a “nightmare season.”
Once the riders had finished and the result on handicap had been worked out, it was Stephen Collins (Bourne Wheelers) who took 1st prize with just a 5 second gap to Rick Lister who had got himself up to 2nd. Jordan Gell took 3rd, Mark Botteley 4th and Mark Cotton 5th.
The youth race was won by Tim James (Bourne Wheelers) who led from start to finish and never looked troubled, gaining a big gap on 2nd placed Sam Bentley (Spalding CC) over 1 minute behind. Sian Botteley put in a fantastic performance in 3rd place over 2 minutes down and first girl. Maddie Gammons (Bourne Wheelers) won the race on handicap just 6 seconds ahead of Alex Poole (Heanor Calrion) and Tim James clawed his way to 3rd with the overall win.
In the under 12 event, county champion for the last 2 years Matt Ellis (Spalding CC) dominated and won by 46 seconds. The field was blown apart in the wind early on with Kerrigan Robb (Witham Wheelers) coming 2nd and Robert McAndrew (Spalding CC) in 3rd and the only other rider to stay on the same lap as the winner. Kerrigan Robb won the event on handicap with Daniel Turner(VC Lincoln) in 2nd and Matt Ellis in 3rd.
Results:
Seniors:
1st Rick Lister Ace Racing Team 7 laps in 57: 37
2nd Mark Cotton Bycka Sport Racing at 0:47
3rd Jon Wells VC Lincoln at 6:04
4th Jordan Gell VC Lincoln 1st Junior at 6:44
5th Adam Ellis Spalding CC 1st Vet at 6:50
6th Duncan Walmsley Zepnat RT 2nd Vet at 7:00
7th Graham Clark Time RT 3rd Vet at 7:18
8th Mark Botteley Bourne Wheelers 4th Vet at 7:27
9th David Perry Gabby Day Cyclesport RT 5th Vet at 1 lap
10th Mark Preston VC Lincoln
11th Martin McGregor VC Lincoln
12th Andrew Barnard Gabby Day Cyclesport RT 6th Vet
13th Bart Kieres Bourne Wheelers
14th Mervyn Dudley Sherwood Pines 1st 50+
15th Henry Heyes Skegness Wheelers
16th Phil Malt VC Lincoln 7th Vet
17th Gavin Waite Hornsea 8th Vet
18th Jon Clarke Lincoln Wheelers 9th Vet
19th Diane Lee Zepnat Racing 1st Lady
20th George Hackney Lincoln Wheelers
21st Shane Norton Spalding CC 10th Vet
22nd Doug Malcolm RAF CC 11th Vet
23rd Paul Clarke Lincoln Wheelers
24th Stephen Collins Bourne Wheelers 12th Vet
25th Sean East Witham Wheelers 13th Vet at 2 laps
26th Craig Turner Sherwood Pines 2nd 50+
27th Clayton Maltby VC Lincoln
28th Simon Santry Spalding CC 14th Vet
29th Karl Brown N/A 3rd 50+
30th Graham McAndrew Spalding CC 15th Vet
31st Nik Appleyard Lincsquad
32nd Andy Stewart N/A
33rd Terry Biesty Scunthorpe Ply 1st 60+
34th Barry Robinson N/A 4th 50+
35th Samantha Thoy VC Lincoln 2nd lady
36th M Wait CRC Hull
37th Steve Potter Lindsey Roads 5th 50+ at 3 laps
38th Raymond Quench N/A
Youth:
1st Tim James Bourne Wheelers 1st U14 5 laps in 27:00
2nd Sam Bentley Spalding CC at 1:16
3rd Sian Botteley Bourne Wheelers 1st Girl at 2:26
4th Jake Peel Spalding CC at 2:45
5th Ben Wait Lincsquad 2nd U14 at 2:54
6th Elliot Dudley Sherwood Pines 4rd U14 at 3:17
7th Alex Poole Heanor Clarion 4th U14 at 3:58
8th Max Williamson Lincsquad 5th U14 at 4:34
9th Maddie Gammons Bourne Wheelers 2nd Girl, 6th U14 at 4:52
10th Aaron Bateman Bourne Wheelers 7th U14 at 5:51
11th James Armstrong VC Lincoln 8th U14 at 6:48
12th Tilly Wilkes VC Lincoln 3rd Girl at 1 lap
13th Robbie Sturdy Lincsquad 9th U14
14th Daniel Burton Bourne Wheelers 10th U14
15th Louise Beedham Lincsquad 4th Girl, 11th U14
16th Joseph Collins Bourne Wheelers 12th U14
Under-12s:
1st Matt Ellis Spalding CC 7 laps in 15:00
2nd Kerrigan Robb Witham Wheelers at 0:46
3rd Robert McAndrew Spalding CC at 2:40
4th Bradley Sprogis VC Lincoln at 1 lap
5th Jake Norton Spalding CC
6th Max Poole Lincsquad
7th Abigail Armstrong VC Lincoln 1st Girl
8th Alex Armstrong VC Lincoln at 2 laps
9th Daniel Turner VC Lincoln
10th James Broughton VC Lincoln
11th Alex Gammons Bourne Wheelers at 3 laps
12th George Waite Hornsea
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
