After the lovely weather at the beginning of the week there was a disappointing return to wind and rain for last night’s racing at Carlisle Cycle Circuit.
The poor weather, no doubt, put off some of the younger riders this week as entries were low, but those who did brave the elements were full of smiles despite battling a strong headwind down the back straight.
It was a great night for Scotland with all the winners in the Youth races hailing from north of the Border. Izzy Barbour, riding for Edinburgh Road Club, won the Under-14 girls’ race; Zoe Martin from Lanarkshire took the Under-10 girls and the four Stewart siblings of Castle Douglas – Josh, Cobey, Mitch and Skye – all won their age groups.
There was a good turnout for the adult race with a strong field of Category 2, 3 and 4 riders. For the bulk of the race most of the riders kept together in a bunch leading to an exciting sprint for the line.
It was another Scottish victory with Sam Barbour, of the Ribble rchrg Race Team, crossing the line first.
But the riders had to wait for the other podium positions to be announced as the electronic timing system struggled to split Wolf Cycles’ Adam Bent and Moonglu Race Team’s Jack Rees.
The race Commisaires studied the finish line video for some time before awarding second to Bent by the narrowest of margins.
Carlisle-based Bent also rode the fastest lap of the evening, completing the kilometre in just over 1 minute 16 seconds, a very creditable time in the blustery conditions.
Just three weeks of the series remain and next week’s event sees racing for all adult categories.
