Dirt Crits 5 January

Race Report

Thursday 5th Jan 2023 saw a return to the our weekly Dirt Crits at Stromlo Forest Park. Tonight’s course saw the F and E grade contestants race a short loop and the A/B and C/D graders had a challenging 1.3km climb up the Evolution climb.

It was particularly encouraging to see some new faces in every category at Crits tonight and we hope that all our newcomers had a fun time.  We look forward to seeing you again.

The evening started with the F grade kids taking to their course. All four riders finished incident free and with smiles all round, with first place honours going to Evlyn Fisher.  Excitement from the start is how the E grade race played out.  With our young shredders giving everything they had right from the start we saw lead changes on every lap.  Congratulations to Finn Van Kleef who crossed the line for the win, closely followed by Ella Bryant and Evelyn Fisher, backing up from a win in the previous race.

With the junior races completed we changed gears with 4 start waves for the C/D grade field lining up. After a 45 second hold, wave 2 were quickly on the wheels of the wave 1 group by the top of the climb.  Waves 3 and 4 were close behind and as we saw in the earlier race, we had lead changes on every lap, as those of us spectating and encouraging saw some great racing.

By the end of four laps, Paul Mason held off Mike Dunlop and Ali Mungoven for 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Last race of the evening was the A and B graders. Again, no shortage of excitement in this race.  As the field came racing up the hill to the first obstacle the pace was high and the jostling for lines and track position was clearly being fought out.  Experienced showed in this field with a range of different line choices being showcased by every rider.

With some choosing left, others choosing right, line choice at the top of the hill was appearing to be a critical factor.  Rob Alen led the first 3 laps before Eddie Mungoven used his skill and stamina to manoeuvre his way into first place on lap 4 and carried it home for the win, making good use of the fast, middle line through the main obstacle.

A full set of photos is available here: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AE9lRHbuO%2Dh5Ixc&id=595BEB8C23AAC880%21231603&cid=595BEB8C23AAC880

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