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Location: Druridge Bay Country Park, Morpeth
Event: 7 October 2012
Report: Jon Caisley/Snowdon Sports
Tony Fawcett (Scott UK) battled for much of the race with Neal Crampton (Crosstrax), but got the better of his rival to secure another victory in the CXNE Rat Race Series.
The morning started off frosty but quickly warmed into a bright sunny day, with a 5mph westerly wind. The course conditions were made heavy by the recent torrential rain that the area has suffered.
Fawcett (pictured) and Crampton pulled out a significant gap on the chasing bunch and spent much of the race attacking and counter attacking each other.
At the bell lap Crampton put in a powerful attack on the hill but this was matched by Fawcett who counter attacked and pulled out a sufficient gap to win.
Special mention goes to Malcolm Lewis (MTS) who was riding strongly and catching the leading trio when a bout of cramp forced him to stop for around 50 seconds and losing several places whilst he stretched the cramp out. Lewis recovered from the cramp and chased hard, making his way through the field and finishing a creditable fifth overall.
Luke Parkin dominated the supporting race for veterans, juniors and women with the conditions suited to strong riders, he finished well clear of a chasing trio of V40 riders who battled each other throughout the race and ended in a sprint for the line was won by Richard Noble.
Rory Mellis (Ronde) won a close but hard-fought battle in tough conditions in the youth race. He was involved in a race-long battle with a group of five riders which slowly whittled down to three as Mellis showed his strength.
Mark Donovan also put in an impressive demonstration in the tough sticky conditions to win the under-14 category. Henrietta Colbourne (Beacon Wheelers) was the fastest female convincingly winning her category and finishing ninth overall.
Results:
Seniors:
1 Tony Fawcett (Scott UK)
2 Neal Crampton (Crosstrax)
3 Paul Cox (Pedal Power Loughborough)
4 Kenny Johnson (Scott UK)
5 Malcolm Lewis (MTS)
Veterans, Juniors and Women:
1 Luke Parkin (Hetton Hawks)
2 Richard Noble (TWFRS CC)
3 James Anderson (VC Cumbria)
Junior: Luke Parkin. Veterans: Richard Noble. Women: Beverley Blakeman (Infinity).
Youth:
1 Rory Mellis (Ronde)
2 Joe Mann (Derwentside CC)
3 Matthew Worton (Hetton Hawks)
Under-14s: Mark Donovan (Beacon Wheelers)
Under-14 Girl: Henrietta Colbourne (Beacon Wheelers)
Please credit www.britishcycling.org.uk and link back if you use any of our race results.
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.
