The 2016/17 Teams Championship

 

Last year’s series went right down to the wire with the Albany boys smashing it in the final event (the TTT) to just edge out Black Spoke Racing by one point. ​ As defending Category 3 Champions it would have been rude of us not to try and defend our title.

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For the 2016/17 series we even entered a category 4 team so more of us could participate.

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With Black Spoke moving up to category two, nobody knew where the next challengers were to come from. Well, round one certainly provided that. This year the intensity seems to have increased by about 20% and the races are a lot more aggressive.  

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Round 1 started off with a repeat of round one from last year with Steve soloing off the front with 40Km to go. Not satisfied with a handy lead he managed to drop his last water bottle just after he made his break and then managed to hold off the chasing bunch to cross the finish line with first place and a flat front tire. Darrell finished 4 seconds back in 5th place.

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That seems to have been the highlight for Cat 3 in this series apart from Darrell’s 10th place in round 2 and Steve’s 9th place in round 4.

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However, Cat 4 has provided some much better results for ABC. After a couple of quiet rounds, the Cat 4 boys bounced back in round three when Kirk and Dean got into a breakaway of five which eventually saw Kirk cross the line in first place with Dean just behind in fourth.

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​Round four produced mixed results with a slight coming together for two of the team, but a third place for our newest recruit Young Matt Riches. Even Kirk managed a top 20 finish on 3 hours sleep.

Round 5 in Onewhero was next up, the hilly course would suit the Cat 4 boys, albeit with a brutal uphill finish.

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Well Super Matt came through again and went one better to finish second overall in Cat 4. This leaves him only one point behind third place (and this is after he has only entered two events)

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With a good overall showing from all of the Cat 4 team they have now lifted themselves to third overall with one round to go.

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Cat 3 results,  well not so flash.  Despite huge efforts by Darryl, who was well in the front bunch until he dropped a chain and a somewhat hungover Steve. Who as always towed a bunch of freeloaders up the last hill only to have one muppet sprint past him on the line.  And Jacksie who rode strongly all day and turned in probably his best performance since Taupo.

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Next up is the  final round in Tokoroa which includes  a road race and the Team Time Trial.

 

A good showing by Matt and Kirk could see them on the podium for overall  individual results and the Cat 4 team already in third place, can potentially grab that second spot from Team Republik.

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Cat 3, unfortunately we're just making up the numbers with both individual and team podiums now out of reach.

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Tokoroa – Final round of the 2017 series

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After a long series that involved some intense racing we arrived at the final round in Tokoroa with the road race and TTT to wrap it all up.

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While Cat 3 were out of the teams and individual contention, the story was far from complete in Cat 4. The team were in third place and Matt pushing for the podium in the individual placings.

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With half the ABC team having competed at the Rotorua to Taupo flyer the day before, today’s event was always going to be a challenge.

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Gloomy skies welcomed us when we arrived in Tokoroa and weather forecasters looked as though they had predictions correct as the rain started while we queued up on the start line.

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For ABC, Cat 3 set off first and with the rain starting to really set in it wasn’t long before the contenders (Penrose Dental and Tauranga Road Racing) took control and started to wind up the pressure.

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With it all to play for and combined with the rain, it only a matter of time before the carnage begun. It was at this time the Cat 3 boys rode for safety rather than position.

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Cat 4 on the other hand needed a good showing in order to cement individual and team podiums. Despite giving it their all and trying to break up the bunch, the course just didn’t allow them any leeway and it was all headed for a sprint finish in the end.

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However, only minutes earlier the red mist descended over some of the Cat 3 contenders and a front wheel wash out with 300 metres to go caused a major pile up that took out about 20 riders.

Luckily all ABC still running were able avoid the crash and finished safely.

The ensuing carnage meant that there was no way the organisers were able to clear the way before Cat 4 came storming into the finish. With no other option the organisers had to declare the Cat 4 (and all races following) a no result. With it any chance to add to the teams’ points tally.

All that remained was the TTT where the Cat 4 team finished in a very credible 5th place. While this meant the team ended up on equal points with Speedworks Panthers overall, the count back of results gave the third place to the Speedworks team.

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Again in the so close department, it meant that in the individual results, Matt finished just the one point off the podium.

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While the results were not as satisfactory as last years for the Cat 3 team, Cat 4 showed what a great place ABC is at, with not only some super quick boys with experience, the club also has some huge potential coming through from our younger riders.

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We may have missed out on the overall podiums, but let’s congratulate the guys on some great results

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Steve 1st and Darrell 4th in round one, Darrell 10th in Round two, Kirk 1st and Dean 4th in round three, Steve 9th and Matt 3rd in round four, Matt 2nd in round five.

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Well done lads...

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