The fastest 10 mile course in Shropshire saw Jonathan Mills-Keeling take the opportunity to stretch his lead at the top of both the SB Sports Injuries Series and the SB Veterans Series as riders headed to the south of Shropshire for a chance to hurl themselves off the top of Brimfield Bank in Round 7 of the SB Sports Injuries Series. After a speedy 1.8 mile start much of the Ludlow bypass-based course is flat, with just a small matter of digging in to the turn at Sheet island to test the stamina. Won overall by Aerocoach rider Richard Bussell in a fabulous and untouchable time of 18 minutes 50 seconds, Bridgnorth CC’s Mills-Keeling stretched his lead to 26 points over Tomos Hales in the Overall and 48 points over Deb Hutson-Lumb in the Veterans thanks to adding 18 points in the former and the full 20 on offer to SCCA-affiliated County riders in the latter with a 21:31 actual and +5:15 Veteran’s Standard – exactly a minute behind Team Echelon’s Jon Howard.
Reflecting on a good evenings racing Mills-Keeling stated: “I always enjoy this course, but the wind was all over the place. It was great to have two new Bridgnorth members race – thanks to Ludlow cc for putting the event on”. Mills-Keeling’s comment referred to Rob Childs and Scott Palmer, both making first appearances in the 2022 SB Series with Childs posting a 22:23 effort and involved in a thrilling four rider melee bunched from 22:21-21:24.
Mills-Keeling didn’t have it all his own way with Revolutions Racing’s Dean Callister taking the 20 points offered to lift himself to third in the Overall standings thanks to a fine effort of 20:09, just missing out on a 30mph average. His anticipation of getting a long-awaited try at this course which routinely registers personal bests was high, as he explained: “I’ve been waiting to ride this course again for two years, really happy with my effort which resulted in a course PB and County win. Look forward to doing it again – thanks Ludlow for a great night of racing”.
A first-timer took the third County spot with Revolutions Racing’s Mark Pritchard enjoying his trip south. Pritchard posted a fine time of 21:42, stating: “My first time riding this course and I really enjoyed it. I was happy with my ride with very little warm up. Thanks to Ludlow CC for organising; hopefully I’ll be back again this season to ride it”.
In the Women’s race it was a first time entrant to the SB Series who took the honours, with Ludlow CC’s Nicki Doherty recording a good effort of 27:56 to win by over four minutes and enter the SB Women’s standings at joint fifth.
Full:
| Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Points |
| 1 | Richard Bussell | Aerocoach | S | 00:18:50 | . |
| 2 | Dean Callister | Revolutions Racing | S | 00:20:09 | 20 |
| 3 | Jon Howard | Team Echelon | V | 00:20:52 | . |
| 4 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth CC | V | 00:21:31 | 18 |
| 5 | Mark Pritchard | Revolutions Racing | S | 00:21:42 | 16 |
| 6 | Jack Wilson | Ludlow Brewery Race Team | S | 00:22:21 | . |
| 7 | Ian Taylor | Beacon RCC | V | 00:22:22 | . |
| 8 | Rob Childs | Bridgnorth CC | V | 00:22:23 | 14 |
| 9 | Steve Minton | Ludlow Brewery Race Team | V | 00:22:24 | . |
| 10 | Scott Palmer | Bridgnorth CC | V | 00:23:01 | 12 |
| 11 | Robbie Disney | Ludlow CC | S | 00:23:25 | 10 |
| 12 | Richard Coleman | Stourbridge Velo | V | 00:23:46 | . |
| 13 | Ian Connolly | Ludlow CC | V | 00:24:27 | 8 |
| 14 | William Baugh | Ludlow CC | V | 00:25:04 | 6 |
| 15 | Julian Church | Worcester St Johns CC | V | 00:26:10 | . |
| 16 | Nicki Doherty | Ludlow CC | W | 00:27:56 | 4 |
| 17 | Lesley Morris | Redditch Road & Path Cycling Club | WV | 00:32:13 | . |
Veterans:
| Vets Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Vet +/- | Vets Points |
| 1 | Jon Howard | Team Echelon | V | +6:15 | . |
| 2 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth CC | V | +5:15 | 20 |
| 3 | Rob Childs | Bridgnorth CC | V | +5:14 | 18 |
| 4 | Richard Coleman | Stourbridge Velo | V | +5:12 | . |
| 5 | Steve Minton | Ludlow Brewery Race Team | V | +4:37 | . |
| 6 | Ian Taylor | Beacon RCC | V | +4:29 | . |
| 7 | Scott Palmer | Bridgnorth CC | V | +3:13 | 16 |
| 8 | Ian Connolly | Ludlow CC | V | +2:40 | 14 |
| 9 | William Baugh | Ludlow CC | V | +2:08 | 12 |
| 10 | Julian Church | Worcester St Johns CC | V | +0:46 | . |
| 11 | Lesley Morris | Redditch Road & Path Cycling Club | WV | -2:12 | . |
Women:
| Women’s Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Women’s Points |
| 1 | Nicki Doherty | Ludlow CC | W | 00:27:56 | 20 |
| 2 | Lesley Morris | Redditch Road & Path Cycling Club | WV | 00:32:13 | . |
Cumulative Standings after seven Rounds
Overall:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth CC | V | 116 |
| 2 | Tomos Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 90 |
| 3 | Dean Callister | Revolutions Racing | S | 54 |
| 4 | Darren Shaw | SCCA Private Member | V | 42 |
| 5 | Mark Pritchard | Revolutions Racing | S | 40 |
| 6 | Tim Beardmore | Bridgnorth CC | V | 38 |
| 7 | Dan Watts | SCCA Private Member | S | 36 |
| 8 | Oliver Rodwell | Wrekinsport CC | V | 32 |
| 9 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 28 |
| 10 | Bryn Davies | Hafren CC | V | 26 |
| 10 | Deb Hutson-Lumb | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 26 |
Veterans:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth CC | V | 128 |
| 2 | Deb Hutson-Lumb | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 80 |
| 3 | Darren Shaw | SCCA Private Member | V | 58 |
| 4 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 50 |
| 5 | Tim Beardmore | Bridgnorth CC | V | 38 |
| 6 | Bryn Davies | Hafren CC | V | 30 |
| 6 | Oliver Rodwell | Wrekinsport CC | V | 30 |
| 8 | Rich Smith | Wrekinsport CC | V | 26 |
| 9 | James Powell | North Shropshire Wheelers | V | 18 |
| 9 | Rob Childs | Bridgnorth CC | V | 18 |
Women:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Deb Hutson-Lumb | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 80 |
| 2 | Clare O’Donnell | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 36 |
| 3 | Helen Tudor | Oswestry Paragon CC | WV | 32 |
| 4 | Jan Davies | Hafren CC | WV | 28 |
| 5 | Clare Cotterill | Wrekinsport CC | WV | 20 |
| 5 | Nicki Doherty | Ludlow CC | W | 20 |
| 7 | Bethan Till | Wrekinsport CC | W | 18 |
| 7 | Cerys Greaves | SCCA Private Member | WJ | 18 |
| 7 | Jenny Newton | Nova Raiders | WV | 18 |
| 7 | Marie Llewellyn | Nova Raiders | W | 18 |
Juniors:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 58 |
| 2 | Cerys Greaves | SCCA Private Member | WJ | 20 |
| 2 | Chester Romei | North Shropshire Wheelers | J | 20 |
| 2 | Harry Corney | North Shropshire Wheelers | J | 20 |