Photo Finish at Blores Hill Checkpoint Race
The joint winners completed to course and all nine checkpoints correctly marked in 1:31. The finish line had multiple entry options and this made for an exciting finish with Graeme Trewern and Julian Thomas charging at the finish control from opposite directions only to reach it at the same moment.
Second place was equally hotly contested with Dean Morris and Terry Trewern coming in only 1 minute behind the leaders. However, Terry had incorrectly stamped one Checkpoint and incurred a 5 minute penalty which eventually dropped him down to 5th place in the overall standings. Ashley Higman finished the course third in a time of 1:34 with all Checkpoints successfully marked.
The first team home, and 4th outright honours went to Sharon Dilly and Andrew Brown with a time of 1:36. They were in the running for outright honours until the final Checkpoint when the map provided unfortunately proved to be not as accurate as expected and a bit of searching was required to locate it.
All competitors returned to the final control in under 2:30 and all with a story to tell of their day around the post ride BBQ and event presentation. The region lived up to its reputation for being the Land of Sunshine with perfect weather for riding and the tracks were as good as ever.
The club’s Championship has tightened up with joint winner Graeme Trewern taking the lead from fourth placed Ashley Higman and now holds a 2 point lead with 3 rounds remaining. Julian Thomas’ victory has him now join the group fighting for third with 5 riders now separated by only 6 points.
Big thanks to Lenny Van Berkel for designing and organising this event and to his setup team of Ian Johnston and Max Cook. Thanks also go to Cattanach Family Butchers for providing the BBQ meat and to Mallards Cycles for providing prizes for the day. The club would also like to thank their major sponsors McMillan Partners, Loy Yang Power, Colin Watson Motors, Latrobe Country Credit and Latrobe Community Health Service.
The clubs next event will be held on Sunday, September 27th with details to be posted on the clubs website (http://www.gippslandmtb.com.au) closer to the day.