In a good spirited, but competitive event the V-Sprint Club Championships were won by Gareth James and Fiona Turner.

The day started with a training session on cornering by Jim Varnish, giving riders more confidence, and speed, around the two sharp hairpin bends of the Stourport Circuit. Many riders were soon announcing how much faster they could approach and take corners, which made the days racing much more competitive.

Race 1 was a 1 lap time trial from a standing start. The 0.85 mile lap was covered by Gareth in 1 minute 58 seconds, the fastest time for the men. For the women Lis Gardner won in 2 minutes 20 seconds, with only 3 seconds splitting the top 3 riders.

Race 2 , a 10 lap (8.5 miles) Scratch race. 5 riders broke away (Gareth James, Mike Hopkins, Neil Wilkes, Dave Appleyard and Ricky Smith) making a very competitive break away, Gareth was the eventual winner with Fiona Turner the first Lady across the line.

Based on times for Race 1, riders were paired for a three lap time trial in Race 3. each rider in each pair had to lead for at least one complete lap, the final times being handicapped. The Fastest time for the 3 laps was 6.57 from Mike Turner and Ed Mitchel, 9 seconds in front of the next pairing, but after the Handicap only 3 seconds in front of Lawrence Cairns-Smith and Fiona Turner.

Race 4 was a points race. In the men’s race Mike Hopkins had to withdraw on Lap 1 with a puncture, The staggered start gave the opportunity for some of our new riders the chance to score some points, with the first winning 5 points taken by Paul Mawhinney. The Race was won by Gareth James, with Neil Wilkes sneaking second place thanks to double points on the final points lap. The Ladies race was won by Fiona Turner, with the bunch regrouping on each lap for a sprint to the line for the points.

Race 5 – All or nothing, the first part was a ‘win and out’ race, fiercely fought by the men on every lap, one of the closest ‘on the line’ decisions came in the ladies race, with sisters, Lis Gardner and Jackie Fowler battling it out for second place (Eventually taken by Lis).
Part 2 was an opportunity for the last rider to take all the points. Mike Dalton and Jo Tanner were given the opportunity to take maximum points. To win they had to come with in 10 seconds of their race 1 time trial time, a tall order considering it was flat out on fresh legs earlier in the day, but with maximum points on the line, they both achieved their target time. As a twist this meant that all points from the ‘win and out’ section being nullified. All the hard work leading to nothing (that why its called ALL OR NOTHING)

For Race 6 riders were split in to 2 teams (Based on race 1 results) for an Italian pursuit, the race was made more interesting as a rain shower hit the track, the Race began with Team 1 taking an early lead, but after 4 laps the lead switched to Team 2 who open up a sizable 10 second gap, but as the race continued the gap came back with the final split was less than 3 seconds, the win going to Team 2!