Houge Bie Road Race 18th March 2007
A cold wind, rain, and a wet road made for challenging conditions and reduced numbers for this years first visit to the Hougue Bie circuit. Great to see Richard back on the island for his first race of the season and giving Chris Spence some serious competition, as the two of them battled it out, pulling well ahead of the chasing group of three after making the break on the 5th lap. Good performances byDave Jardine and Jim Garrett hanging onto Sam and remain in contention for Island Games selection. Feedback from all taking part was positive and the 3 division system worked out well despite the lower numbers.
Fourteen riders lined up for their Div 2 race over 9 laps. No great excitement during the race as the pack stayed together with one or two stragglers falling out of the back. Well done to Jim Davis working hard to hang on for as long as possible, it may be tough, but good training for the island games. At the bell a group of five riders were just ahead of the rest of the group with Mike Mitch sitting in and looking strong. All was going to plan until young Rob Coutanche spoilt the party just pipping Mike on the line. Bill Buist, Mike Keighrey, Pascal Ybert all finished strongly in the dash for the line with Alan Irving not far behind.
It was an all Velo affair in Div 3 after Mike Heald crashed out on the first lap. Simon Young was looking good until a puncture on the penultimate lap finished his race. At the bell Andrew Davis had a good lead but Alex Blampied, conserving his strength by keeping off the front during the rest of the race, caught him on the last lap and sprinted clear to take first place. A close fought contest between Des and Tony Pushman saw Tony just outgun Des on the line, there’s always next time mate.
Results
Division 1
|
Pos’n
|
Name
|
Club
|
|
1st
|
Chris Spence
|
CCC
|
|
2nd
|
Richard Tanguy
|
VSJ
|
|
3rd
|
Sam Firby
|
CCC
|
|
4th
|
Dave Jardine
|
VSJ
|
|
5th
|
Jim Garrett
|
VSJ
|
|
6th
|
Robin Ovenden
|
CCC
|
|
7th
|
Adam Wojtkiewicz
|
CCC
|
Division 2
|
Pos’n
|
Name
|
Club
|
|
1st
|
Rob Coutanche
|
CCC
|
|
2nd
|
Mike Mitchinson
|
VSJ
|
|
3rd
|
Kevin Pilley
|
CCC
|
|
4th
|
Chris Serviour
|
CCC
|
|
5th
|
Dave Mayman
|
CCC
|
|
6th
|
Mike Keighrey
|
VSJ
|
|
7th
|
Bill Buist
|
VSJ
|
|
8th
|
John Derrien
|
CCC
|
|
9th
|
Pascal Ybert
|
VSJ
|
|
10th
|
Alan Irving
|
VSJ
|
|
11th
|
Lee Wells
|
CCC
|
|
12th
|
Jim Davis
|
VSJ
|
|
DNF
|
Stephen King
|
VSJ
|
|
DNF
|
Peter Hubert
|
CCC
|
Division 3
|
Pos’n
|
Name
|
Club
|
|
1st
|
Alex Blampied
|
VSJ
|
|
2nd
|
Andrew Davis
|
VSJ
|
|
3rd
|
Tony Pushman
|
VSJ
|
|
4th
|
Des McClelland
|
VSJ
|
|
5th
|
Pete Mitchell
|
VSJ
|
|
DNF
|
Simon Perchard
|
VSJ
|
|
DNF
|
Mick Heald
|
CCC
|