First track night of the season for me at Halesowen. I'd been up for it a fortnight ago but it rained; couldn't make last week. I was looking forward to racing in my new beacon kit for the first time. First race of the night for the B Cats was a 10 lap scratch. Noone tried anything very much during the first 8 laps so I loitered fairly near the back watching. Moved up with 2 to go. Came off a wheel in the home straight to take the win by the width of the rim.
Next race was a devil. I'm not a big fan of devils as it can get sketchy. I time trialled on the front and got 5th.
Next race was vets and ladies Hare and Hounds - essentially you have a slow and a fast group with the slower group given a 1/2 lap advantage. We caught the 'hare' group with three to go. I got 3rd in the sprint at the end.
Final race of the night - a mixed A and B Cat 25 lap scratch. I found myself on Jacob Tipper's wheel - if you're on Strava you'll at least know of him - as he launched off. I was the only B Cat in this break and we soon gained 1/2 lap on the chasing group which was thinning out by this point. Unfortunately I couldn't hold the pace long enough to gain a lap. I was in no-man's land inbetween the two groups and kept going for 5 or 6 laps, but it became clear that it was closing, so I swung up and latched back on. Not enough in the legs by this point to try anything so I hung on in until the bell and got 2nd B.
All in all a good night's racing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. It would be great to see some more red white and green shirts.
Friday Night Track League 26th June
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