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Location: Stainton, near Barnard Castle, County Durham
Event: 4 December 2011
Report: Snowdon Sports/Claire Crabtree
Hope Factory Racing’s Paul Oldham took victory at the North of England Championships at Barnard Castle, Stainton. Conditions were difficult as the race the previous day had cut up the course and with snow showers all day it was cold and muddy.
Oldham went to the front from the start of the race and increased his lead every lap to win with ease winning by over two minutes. Behind his team mate Jack Clarkson had to battle for second place, having taken a 15 second gap over Tony Fawsett and Lewis Craven he had looked in a good position for second but a hard working Craven had passed Fawsett and was hunting Clakson down and going into the last lap he had caught Clarkson but Craven made the decision to pit for a clean bike and Clarkson saw an opportunity to attack and took a small lead which looked to have settled the fight but with Clarkson making a mistake at a set of jumps Craven was back with him but Clarkson kept his cool to finish in second. Fawsett came through to finish in fourth with Keith Murray in fifth and with that Hope Factory Racing took the team prize.
Interview with Paul Oldham
“The race was wet, cold and muddy, I have had a cold this week so conditions were not the best for me but I wanting to come and win having taken the title four times previously and riding the race on the same course yesterday meant I did not need to pre ride the course this morning and get muddy twice!”
In the Veteran Race Wheelbase’s Noel Clough went off hard and took an impressive gap straight from the start which nobody else had an answer to. Chris Young tried to chase Clough down but he was marshaling the gap to finish comfortably with a 1:30 lead, behind Middleton was alone in third place with Ashbridge and Haygarth close for most of the race with Ashbridge getting the better of Haygarth to finish fourth.
Interview with Noel Clough
“I wanted to go really hard at the start knowing that Chris will come back to you, so I set off hard and on the first lap looked around and I had a larger gap then expected and was catching the juniors so backed I off a bit and kept him at the same pace and with two laps to go he had gone so just thought carry on and go as fast as you can”
Joe Moses took the junior title in a close-fought battle; Moses, Martin and Womersley working together at the front, each putting in attacks but non managing to get ahead. With half the race gone Moses put in an attack to gain a 20 second lap over Womersley who in turn had taken a small gap over Martin. In the closing stages Womersley started to tire and Martin came through for second and a strong last lap from Armstrong saw him come through for third.
In the Women's race Nikola Butler took the lead from the start with Bland keeping her in sight, with Butler having a coming together with a post Bland caught her back up but Butler managed to regain her advantage finishing with 27 seconds over Bland.
Interview with Nikola Butler
“I wanted to get a good start so the pressure would be off for the rest of the race but I had a coming together with a post and another rider and had a slip on a corner and dropped my chain which meant Lynn caught me but I managed to get away again by pushing on the tarmac sections and holding my nerve on the corners”
In the Youth race Paul Milnes team-mates Billy Harding and Seb Marsh set the early pace but early in the first lap Harding took control and quickly pulled out a 15 second gap with Hetton Hawks team mates Worton and Lee trying to stay in contention, with Edmond coming up to join them. As Lee dropped back it was a race for second between Edmond and Worton as Harding continued to pull away. Then in the last lap Edmond made a move and managed to pull out a good lead over Worton to finish second.
Results:
Seniors:
1 Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) 1:00:51
2 Jack Clarkson (Hope Factory Racing) @ 2:08
3 Lewis Craven (Wheelbase) @ 2:21
4 Tony Fawcett (Black Hawk Bikes)
5 Keith Murray (Hope Factory Racing)
6 Paul Young (Wheelbase)
7 Simon Maudsley (Crosstrax)
8 Vince Potter (Black Hawk Bikes)
9 Liam Glen (Bath university CC)
10 James Dalton (Pedalsport CC)
Veterans:
1 Noel Clough (Wheelbase) 44:17
2 Chris Young (Wheelbase) at 1:35
3 Pete Middleton (Zepnat RT) at 1:54
4 Keith Ashbridge (VC Cumbria)
5 Dave Haygarth (Planet X)
6 Mike Young (Pedalsport CC)
7 Kenny Johnson (Science in Sport.com)
8 Sean Beswick (Zepnat RT)
9 Mike Rowson (RVO Racing)
10 Richard Atkinson (Hambleton RC)
Over-50s: Mike Rowson. Over-60s: John Ginley (Condor RC).
Juniors:
1 Joe Moses (Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic) 43:25
2 Adam Martin (Cestria Cycles) @ 37sec
3 Thomas Armstrong (Wheelbase) @ 47sec
4 Jake Womersley (Aire Valley RT)
5 Ed McParland (GT Racing)
Women:
1 Nicola Butler (Inverse Cyclaim) 48:18
2 Lynn Bland (Norton Wheelers) @ 27sec
3 Dawn Sherrin (GS Metro) @ 2:02
4 Lucy Donnelly (Brecon Wheelers)
5 Hilary Bloor (Crosstrax)
Veteran women: Lynn Bland.
Youth:
1 Billy Harding (Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic)
2 James Edmond (Ferryhill Wheelers)
3 Matthew Worton (Hetton Hawks)
4 Stephen Lee (Hetton Hawks)
5 Jake Dobson (Newcastle Phoenix)
Girls: Abby-Mae Parkinson (RST RT). Under-14s: Jake Dobson.
Under-12s:
1 Jenson Young (Pedalsport CC)
2 Nathan Hawthorme (CS Pendle)
3 Euan Cameron (East Bradford CC)
Girls: Eva Oxley (Wakefield Junior Tri Club)
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
