A weekend of hotly contested racing

The weekend's racing started with the State Keirin Championships. In the U/19 female division, Teegan Morton grabbed the motorbike and swung off shortly after the motorbike did. There was a little bit of stalling and with just over a lap to go Holly Williams caught the bunch by surprise diving down the track to take the win. For me, it was my second ever Keirin race. The senior field wasn't as large as it has been for the last couple of championships which I was grateful for. Starting at the bottom of the track I had a good chance to grab the motorbike and did so. Sarah Kent was on my wheel followed by Danielle Longworth, Anna Kauffmann and finally Bec Halliday. Anna had a bit too much speed when she joined the train and swung up losing her position to Bec. I was a little bit unsure of what to do tactics wise as I didn't feel confident that I could overtake Sarah Kent and thought my best option was to try and keep in front of her. With just over a lap to go she kicked and I went with it but it didn't take her long to overtake me. I went with her acceleration and then lost her wheel. Bec passed me with half a lap to go but I held on for third.

Results State Keirin Championship

U/19 Women
1. Holly Williams (WAIS)
2. Teegan Morton (JETS)
3. Mel Hoskins (WAIS/Plan B)

Senior Women
1. Sarah Kent (WAIS/Plan B)
2. Bec Halliday (Fleet Elite)
3. Holly McClellan (Fleet Elite)

Joondalup City Classic (NDCC)

A Grade Women
A huge field of racers turned out to contest the last road race of the year. A grade women had 17 starters listed and the new B grade women division had 11 listed.
It may have been our first hot summer day - It felt like it was 35 degrees before we even started.

A Grade women were racing 8 laps of a 9km circuit that included 2 short steeper climbs and several gradual climbs. The pace was reasonable from the start with Sarah Fraser, Sue Johnstone and some others keeping it high. It didn't take long for the attacks to start with Sarah Kent having a decent crack before Josie Tomic and Sarah Fraser made it away.

Shortly after their attack the bunch was starting to get organised when a split second of inattention resulted in a touching of wheels and several girls coming down. Mel Hoskins and Clare McLean had some decent cuts and bruises. Sue Johnstone and Micheala Anderson must have also acquired injuries as well as they did not rejoin the race. It took half a lap for the chase group to rejoin fully and start working to catch the break. Working to chase were Anna, Sally, Sharon Suckling, Bec and myself.

The heat was getting unbearable for me and as I've been unwell I decided to pull the pin on the race after 3 laps. Several other riders had the same idea leaving less than 10 women in the race after the crash. Sarah Kent attacked the chase group and made a good job of bridging the gap during the fourth lap. I'm unsure of whether she made it across because Josie was still out the front but on her own after the fourth lap, followed by Sarah K then Sarah F. Sally Robbins then attacked and attempted to bridge across. She passed Sarah F but never got across to the front markers. Bec H and Liz Leyden worked together and passed Sarah F and looked like they may catch Sally. In the end the order stayed the same and Bec out sprinted Liz for fourth.

B Grade Women
The B grade women's race was just as exciting as A grade and it was great to see such a large field of new faces. The bunch mainly stayed together until the second lap when Lorraine Hartland attacked, which may have seemed early to the rest of the group but proved to be the winning move. A few laps later Emma Giles and Jillan Scanlan attacked, unfortunately another touching of wheels and Jillian was down. Emma stayed away to take 2nd and there was a bunch sprint for third. It was great to see Jillian complete the race after coming down.

Results - Joondalup City Classic

A Grade Women -
1. Josie Tomic (WAIS/Plan B)
2. Sarah Kent (WAIS/Plan B)
3. Sally Robbins (WAIS/Plan B)
4. Bec Halliday (Fleet Elite)
5. Liz Leyden (Hub Racing)

B Grade Women -
1. Lorraine Hartland (South Perth Roulers)
2. Emma Giles