National Trophy Round 2

Ashton Court Park, Bristol - 15 Nov 1998

Locals Dominate National Trophy Series in all Classes

YOUTH

Previous round winner at Ipswich, Matlock's 15 year old Phil Spencer convincingly won last Sunday's race at Bristol on a fast course requiring serious hill climbing ability.

" I really set out to win by 2 minutes over Chris Skinner (2nd) but I was pleased to do so by 1 minutes and 21 seconds," concluded Phil afterwards.

The main climb, followed by a twisting descent into woodland which then looped upwards to climb the hill again from the other side was the deciding factor for most of the riders. Needless to say, this was where the large and enthusiasticcrowd had gathered along this slope.

Phil and Chris Skinner (Norwich) led the 30+ field which had already strung out as the race had started from the bottom of the hill and as the riders emerged from the loop in the woods, it was Phil who was on his own, never to be caught again. Each lap his lead increased until his margin of 1 minute 21 seconds was achieved. A most decisive win.

Phil is now clear at the top of the National Trophy table with 80 points, a margin of 12 over next placed Chris Skinner with 2 more rounds to go.

Hazel Wakefield (Derwent Valley ATC) won the Youth Girls race on the same course and Double A Cycles's Nikki Harris won the Under-14s Girls race as well.

OTHER RACES

Chesterfield's Shaun Snodden (Ace RT) wins the Junior, Martin Booth (Ace RT) wins the Veterans with Bob Wood-Anderson (Matlock CC) 3rd, and Tim Gould 3rd in Elite, and little Jamie Harris won the Under-12's support race by lapping all the other riders.

JUNIORS

As in the Youth event, 17 year old Shaun Snodden (Ace RT) took an early lead by flying up the hill from the start and for a while it appeared he would have the race to himself but Southampton rider Ben Saunders also used the hill as a springboard to detach himself from the field and begin a lone chase which proved successful as he eventually caught Snodden. Shaun was surprised to be caught as it was the first time this season that another Junior has done so, and for a while the spectators thought they were in for a sprint finish. Shaun had other ideas! Attacking at the foot of the climb with 2 miles to go he left Saunders and crossed the line awinner by 16 seconds.

VETERANS

Ace's Martin Booth climbed the hill from the start like a man 20 years younger and he too took a lone lead but never enough to guarantee a win. Chevin Chasers's Peter Harris looked like catching him whilst the spectators wondered where Matlock's Bob Wood-Anderson had got to - Bob suffered mechanical problems requiring two changes of bike before the crowd could see that he was to pass Harris but he'd lost too much time and so finished 3rd at 34 seconds behind Booth. Peter Harris was 5th at 2 mins 18 seconds

ELITE AND ESPOIRS (Combined)

With locals dominating so much of what had gone before there was much anticipation of what the Elite event might provice and this race proved to be one of the most exciting seen for years for both local supporters and others alike.

The hill where the main crowd had gathered proved to be the focal point of the whole race and in the trio of National MTB Champion Barrie Clarke (Raleigh) and team mate Carl Sturgeon was Ace's amateur Stuart Blunt, they managed to open a small gap over the rest of the 70+ field from the start and widened it as they climbed back towards the crowd.

They had 16 seconds lead as the 1st lap of 2 miles was completed and at that point the crowd was cheering on National Cyclo-Cross Champion Nick Craig as he climbed towards them up the hill with Richard Thackray (Pace) stuck to his back wheel and on the descent to the 2nd set of woods Craig and Thackray took the group to 5 and their speed increased to widen the gap over the chasing bunch.

Then as they climbed the hill to complete the third lap they realised that the crowd wasn't cheering their efforts but that of a lone rider in red and black who was climbing the hill so fast it made it look as if the quintet was standing still. Realising the danger of less prize money for them, Clarke and Craig put in a special effort, losing Sturgeon, Blunt, and Thackray in the process but their efforts were of no avail because as they completed their next lap a smiling Tim Gould (Toyota-Schwinn) joined them to immediately attack only to be caught on an easier section of the course.

The crowd sensed a war of attrition and that was what they got. Gould would attach up the hill every lap to show no-one was going to beat him there but each time the other pair recovered their losses and since the race finished at the top of the hill, the strategy for Craig and Clarke was to lose Gould before the hill and on the last lap they succeeded. This is how it was done:

In the last section of woods before the main hill, 2 logs had to be traversed. Gould usually dismounted and ran over them and this is what he did on the last lap but Craig and Clarke took the risky option of 'Bunny Hopping'. It paid off, they were quicker, all of them were tired and Gould couldn't close the gap the final time up the hill. The spectators were delighted with a race to remember.

Other placings

POSITIONS AND TOTAL POINTS IN SERIES AT HALFWAY

YOUTH

1st	Phil Spencer	Matlock CC	80 pts
11th	Steve Minshull	Matlock CC	20 pts
19th	Hazel Wakefield	Derwent Valley	8 pts - 1st Youth Lady
JUNIORS
1st	Shaun Snodden	Ace RT	80 pts
19th	Matt Wakefield	Derwent Valley	4 pts
VETERANS
1st	Martin Booth	Ace RT	80 pts
3rd	Peter harris	Chevin Chasers	57 pts
4th	Bob Wood-Anderson	Matlock CC	53 pts
ESPOIRS - THIS IS THE COMPETITION FOR RIDERS UNDER 23 YEARS
1st	Gavin Hardwicke	Beauvale CC	70 pts
6th	Daniel Booth	Ace RT	38 pts
7th	Leigh Fearn	Matlock CC	25 pts
18th	Alex Forrester	Matlock CC	10 pts
ELITE
1st	Barrie Clarke	Raleigh Cycles	100 pts
4th	Stuart Blunt	Ace RT	61 pts
5th	Tim Gould	Schwinn-Toyota	58 pts
21st	Carl Buckle	Ace RT	20 pts
26th	Martin Seddon	Ace RT	13 pts
35th	Julian Gould	Ace RT	3 pts
38th	Vin Cox	South Pennine	1 pt