Organiser's Report
Round 3 of Manchester Midweek Madness was upon us and the course remained dry all day as the race returned to its roots. 52 riders descended upon Clayton Vale where they tackled a redesigned course taking riders over the arches and down a much requested descent known as the Dragons Back.
Usual suspects set off from the gun and by the end of the first lap Dan Wells had opened up a 16 second gap to newcomer, Matt Mountford, and Midweek Madness regular Ady Lawrence. A small group behind was hard on their heels containing Chris Lever and Shaun Wells, Jason Tonge, Roy Hunt and another new face, Simon Harding.
Dan Wells was to endure another lonely race with Ady Lawrence in hot pursuit. Roy Hunt, at 57, was just behind after distancing some of the young guns on Lap 2. Mountford had slipped into a small group behind with Tonge, Wells and Harding, who were also joined by Anthony Morris and junior, Robert Rogers. Only female entrant, Becky Preece, was working her way through the field and finished lap 2 in 17th after a poor start.
The race was a scheduled 8 lap and by lap 5 the positions began to settle with Dan Wells extending his lead over Ady Lawrence. Shaun Wells had slipped past Roy Hunt who was having chainsuck issues, and less than a minute separated the next 4 riders with Morris, Mountford, Lever and Rogers in that order.
The course, running quicker than expected, welcomed Dan Wells in for the victory in 57 minutes. Ady Lawrence finished some 2 minutes later on the only 26” bike in the top 5 as Shaun Wells rolled in to complete the podium. Roy Hunt held off the chasers for 4th and Mountford overhauled Morris on the last lap to take 5th spot.
The course proved tougher than expected with the redesign keeping things fresh for the riders.
The race now moves onto another popular venue for round 4, at Chorlton Water Park, in 2 weeks where we hope for another great local turnout and more great racing.
Results
1 Daniel Wells
2 Adrian Lawrence
3 Shaun Wells
4 Roy Hunt
5 Matt Mouthfood
6 Anthony Morris
7 Chris Lever
8 Robert Rogers
9 Simon Harding
10 Jason Tonge
11 Phil Simcock
12 Dave Headon
13 John Shaw
14 Mick Style
15 Ally Wight
16 Darren O'Toole
17 Tom Fraser
18 Mark Boston
19 Paul Kelsall
20 Sean Besuard
21 Nick Bladhire
22 Becky Preece
23 Simon Varqu
24 Des Thorpe
25 Greg Mcnally
26 Thomas Fraser
27 Unknown
28 Michael Vickers
29 Rob Allen
30 Keith Bailey
31 Greg Vallance
32 Michael Briggs
33 Dean Harwood
34 Pat Rowland
35 Charles Beech
36 Mike Cheary
37 Robert Armstrong
38 Andy King
39 Mark Spittlehouse
40 Geoff Robinson
41 Mark Hamilton
42 Colin Yeo
43 Dave Eastham
44 Dunc Askill
45 Pete Middleton
46 Richard Gaskill
47 Martin Sutton
48 Alan Kirk
49 Richard Barclay
50 Stuart Baines
