Aggressive, exciting racing marked another superbly run edition of the Steve Gutteridge Memorial Road Race that took place today amongst sunshine and showers.
Driving the lead car for the first group on the road the A,B categories gave me ample oppurtunity to witness some exciting and towards the end nail biting action.
The race started with a bang as John Cosgrove (Bioracer) exploded up the road like a rocket, closely followed by Paul Grindley (Liverpool Century) in what was surely a shock to the system for the other racers. This small break was eventually caught and without pause a second attack was launched by Steve Davis (Bioracer), Andy Bennett (Bioracer), Steve Stoneman (FP Mailing), Roy Sumner (Port Sunlight) and one other rider (R.Whitfield). This group had a sense of purpose about it and soon saw daylight come between themselves and the bunch. Steve Davis picked up a puncture and Bennett was quick to offer his wheel to allow the in form Davis to rejoin the bunch before they passed. This left Sumner and Stoneman to work away on there own (Other rider must have dropped back??) this alliance of 2 worked flawlessly with the previous years winner looking evenly matched to Sumner, and this carried on for 3 laps until the hard efforts of the bunch in a long chase finally caught the intrepid pair.
The next breakaway was the one that would stick and comprised of the ever present Stoneman, John Cosgrove, Paul (Stone Wheelers) and 2 others (to be confirmed). This group worked tirelessly until the created what looked like an unassailable lead. As we rounded the last bend towards the finish Stoneman made his move and clinched the win. The victory was just in time as the bunch rounded the corner with only seconds to spare for the break.
Vince Bennett was the highest place LCRC rider in all groups with 5th place in the B category and 12th overall
Race reports directly from LVRC and results here A,B C,D E,F,G
More to follow, including a full roster of Centurians racing
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