May 23/05 8:40 am - Forest City Velodrome results and report

Posted by Editoress on 05/23/05
 

Forest City Velodrome London ON, May 21st
Courtesy Rob Good

It did not take long for the track record to be smashed by Vancouver racer Keith Thorarinson, who lowered the Lap record at the 138m indoor Velodrome in London Ontario to 8.43 seconds a speed of 58.93 KPH. It will not take very much longer before the 60 KPH barrier is broken, the magic time is 8.27 seconds.

Thorarinson set quick time in the 6 man sprint competition that continued throughout the evening program. Riders from across Canada took part in the night of speed. Jeff Bakal (Kingston) put in a strong effort throughout the night and was the eventual winner of the competition. Beating Thorarinson in a hard battle in the final. Bakal who only started riding on the track less than a year ago, will be a contender at the Ontario Track Championships in June. Other sprinters who had great rides during the evening were Martin Laforest (Montreal) & 22 year old Taylor Martin (Hamilton) who had a knock down drag'm out ( elbow to elbow) fight in the finals for 3rd and 4th place, Martin came out on top for 3rd.

In London Track League action, local London racers Amy Maher, Simon Dearing & Chris Hauk had very impressive nights winning the Scratch races, Sprints and points races. Multi Laser team member Ken Reid rode very well in the points race and the scratch race at the end of the night.

The Forest City Velodrome had 4 new racers taking part in the program on Saturday. John Murray only started on the track a week ago, and was all smiles after his final race of the night. with a big grin on his face, John said "This is a lot of fun, I still don't know what I'm doing, and everyone gave me a lot of room. I'll be back". Veteran racers Martin Gledhill (Hamilton) and brothers Tim & Terry Detheridge (Brantford) were racing for the first time in over 20 years. Tim who was at the top of Ontario racing in the Mid 70's, came out of retirement to lose a few pounds and get back in shape for a healthier lifestyle. We will see how quick he can get over the next few weeks. Rumour has it, Tim wants to compete in a couple of Madisons by the end of the summer.

7 year old Harry Gledhill broke his unofficial lap record by .2 seconds to 15.3 seconds. Again the crowd cheered him on during his 3 Flying lap attempts.

Also in action during the program were 5 BMX racers who put on 5 races during the night. These were demonstration races to introduce the local race fans to new Olympic Category for 2008. The FCVA wishes to thank all the BMX riders and families for coming out to the Velodrome. We hope they can come back once their season winds down later in the summer.

In Madison action on the night, the powerhouse Orange team of Thorarinson & Martin put a lap on the field in the first Madison and won both sprints to take a commanding lead. Going in to the Miss & Out, the strategy for the Red Team Vince DeJong (Junior, Brantford) who were in second place was to go to the front and hold off all the challengers. The teamwork was successful as we made it to the final 4 before my legs gave up. Todd Chesky (Rochester NY) stuck it out to finish 3rd.

That left Thorarinson and DeJong to sprint for the win, coming out of the final turn, Thorarinson came over the top to beat the Junior by inches. All the teams were pretty much smashed with all the racing they had done on the night but the race must go on, The Blue Team of Peirs Davidge and Kurt Schreiter put the early pressure on the field, their attack took almost 10 minutes to be brought back. With less than 10 laps to go in the race an accident took Thorarinson on the side lines for the final sprint. Martin edged Mike Louther of Buffalo to the line to cement the win.

Racing continues this Saturday night at 7 PM. Winterborne Custom Cycles from Guelph are Sponsoring the program. During the events the draw for a new track bike will take place. The value of the bike is over $1,900. All Boy Scouts are encouraged to attend.

General Admission Tickets can be purchased at the door. Adults $10.00, Seniors $5.00 Children under 8 are free.

For more information on Learn to ride programs go to www.ForestCityVeldorome.ca

10 Lap Scratch Race
1. Amy Maher
2. David Bryer
3. Tim Detheridge

1.David Bryer
2. Ken Reid
3. Terry Detheridge
4. Tim Detheridge
5. John Murray

7 Lap Scratch Race
1. Jeffrey Bakal
2. Simon Dearing
3. Martin Gledhill

28 Lap Race (Points 6,5,4,3,2,1)
1. Jeffrey Bakal, 24 Points
2. Simon Dearing, 19
3. Amy Maher, 17
4. Ken Reid, 12
5. Martin Gledhill, 8
6. Tim Detheridge, 4

5 Lap Race
1. Amy Maher
2. Tim Detheridge
3. David Bryer
4. Terry Detheridge
5. John Murray

5 Lap Race
1. Simon Dearing
2. Chris Hauk
3. Martin Gledhill

5 Lap Race
1. Keith Thorarison
2. Rob Good

Sprints
1. Jeffrey Bakal
2. Keith Thorarison
3. Taylor Martin
4. Martin Laforet