R10 Friction Hydraulics Series: WCTTCA 50

Tomos Hales took his 6^th win from his eight Friction Hydraulics Series entries to pull clear solely at the top of the Series standings after Round 10 in a solid defence as reigning  champion. The last of the longer distance events for 2025 and bearing all-important bonus points saw West Cheshire TTCA promote their 50 mile event utilising the same Shawbirch – Hodnet – Shawbury triangle as the Anfield 100 held just 13 days previously; so it was a sense of déjà vu for Hales as he crossed the finish line on an equally windy morning in 1 hour 52 minutes and 28 seconds to pull away from Jonathan Mills-Keeling who he shared the Series lead with pre-event by the narrowest of margins possible – five points, in a battle that looks set to endure across the remaining rounds.

The Wrekinsport rider was delighted with his win, which saw a new 50 mile club team record of 5:51:19 set with great support from Phil Collins and Hayley Wells, the female winner who finished a strong 7^th overall. Hales commented: ”I enjoyed the 50 mile time trial around the very familiar triangular course. A tough breeze across the top section made going hard. I fuelled well and managed to push throughout the race. It was good to take the Wrekinsport double win, thanks WCTTCA for hosting and putting on a great event”.

Mills-Keeling took both the overall and Veterans runners-up spots in an actual time of 1:55:54 and a Veterans Standard of +23:15, still holding a comfortable 100 point advantage in the over-40’s competition; and despite the windy conditions appeared to be on for a personal best. However his comments show that he was stymied from that ambition: “Another two laps of the triangle and I was strangely motivated. Another tough headwind, I was on for a course personal best but was held up was traffic again. Another well organised race, thanks all involved”.

It was a close battle for the final podium spot with Rob McGregor pushing out Paramount team mate Chris Riley by 15 seconds with 1:58:19 – a personal best. He stated: “I’m super happy with the way the race went. I’ve been trying to break the two hour mark for a while now, and until this race I hadn’t managed to put everything together. It was a surprise on the day as the conditions didn’t seem great and I’d had a mid-season dip in form. I knew that I was on target at the halfway point, but I was held up by a tractor at the Shawbury turn, and again later in the lap. I knew that I had to ride hard all the way to the finish once I’d passed the tractor to make up for lost time, luckily I had enough left in my legs! The final leg from Espley Island to the finish was agonising due to the headwind, it felt like it took forever. It was a great feeling when I crossed the line though. Thank you to everyone involved in organising the event and for the excellent refreshments afterwards”.

Riley didn’t go home empty-handed however after taking the Veterans win in +23:39, 14 seconds ahead of Mills-Keeling when the age-related Standards were applied. This shaved a bare five points off Mills-Keeling’s Veterans Series lead. Riley’s comments were more about the standard of competition however rather than his own race: “Winning on the age card is fine enough. The Friction Hydraulics Series is buzzing this year with the road bikes, veterans and ladies, and loads of new faces. Brilliant to be a part of it and see the hard work of everyone involved making it a great competition”.

Female winner Hayley Wells also beat the magical two hour/25mph mark with a fabulous 1:59:50 to open up a superb 125 point lead in defence of her reigning Champion title. Like Hales, she was all too familiar with the circuit in use and showed the effect of not regularly taking sustenance at this distance: “Knowing this course quite well after the 100 I was excited to only have to do two laps! I felt really good on the first lap, holding a good speed, but half way through the second I started to fade due to a struggle with fuelling. Coming up to Hodnet for the last time I knew I was close to the sub-two hour mark, so gave everything I could and just about got it! Super chuffed, but know there is more in the tank – many thanks to the marshals for brilliant support”.

Whilst sustenance is one thing you have to get right for a long event, a good night’s sleep is another given an early morning start. However, Road Bike winner Jon Goh had rather surprising reasons for feeling under par: “After a night at the ballet, I was a little sleep deprived and turned up feeling a little tired. Judging by the expressions of other riders during the race, I got the feeling I was not the only one finding the windy conditions tough. Although I was some way off matching my time on the course in May, I was glad to enjoy a sunny morning out on the bike and feel lucky to have taken the Road Bike win. Coach Thacker says it’s time to rest and recover before my next event. Thank you to the organisers for a well run and testing event”. Despite that Goh extended his lead at the head of the Road Bike standings to 140 points with his 2:06:52 actual converting to 2:04:51 on handicap, pushing team mate David Cannell into the runner-up spot by an impressive 11:07.

SCCA:

Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Points
1	Tomos	Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	01:52:28	70
2	Jonathan	Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	01:55:54	65
3	Robert	McGregor	Paramount CRT	S	TT	01:58:19	60
4	Christopher	Riley	Paramount CRT	V	TT	01:58:34	55
5	Bryn	Davies	Hafren CC	V	TT	01:58:55	50
6	Phil	Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	01:59:01	45
7	Hayley	Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	01:59:50	40
8	Paul	Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	02:01:47	35
9	George	Coombes	Newport (Shropshire) CC	S	TT	02:04:34	30
10	Jonathan	Goh	Paramount CRT	V	RB	02:06:52	25
11	Clive	Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	02:07:52	20
12	Alex	Paulukiewicz	North Shropshire Wheelers	S	TT	02:14:25	15
13	Simon	Jones	Hafren CC	V	TT	02:20:12	10
14	Jamie	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	02:20:53	10
15	Gregg	Tayler	Paramount CRT	S	RB	02:22:20	10
16	Robert	Garbett	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	02:23:06	10
17	Tim	Evans	Newport (Shropshire) CC	V	TT	02:25:20	10
18	David	Cannell	Paramount CRT	V	RB	02:29:00	10
19	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	02:34:09	10
20	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	02:34:39	10
21	Rebecca	Pugh	Paramount CRT	F	RB	02:40:37	10
22	Ashley	Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	02:43:08	10
23	Terry	Price	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	02:53:48	10
24	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	RB	03:13:13	10
.	Les	Boughey	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	DNF	.
	Paul	Duncan	Paramount CRT	V	TT	DNS	.

Veterans:

Vets Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Vet +/-	Vets Points
1	Christopher	Riley	Paramount CRT	V	TT	+23:39	70
2	Jonathan	Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	+23:15	65
3	Bryn	Davies	Hafren CC	V	TT	+19:43	60
4	Phil	Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+18:39	55
5	Clive	Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+17:21	50
6	Paul	Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+13:13	45
7	Jonathan	Goh	Paramount CRT	V	RB	+9:57	40
8	Robert	Garbett	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+3:50	35
9	Jamie	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	+3:32	30
10	David	Cannell	Paramount CRT	V	RB	-1:10	25
11	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	-1:35	20
12	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	-2:23	15
13	Simon	Jones	Hafren CC	V	TT	-2:32	10
14	Tim	Evans	Newport (Shropshire) CC	V	TT	-5:38	10
15	Ashley	Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	-25:55	10
16	Terry	Price	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	-35:10	10
17	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	RB	-42:28	10

Females:

Female Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Female Points
1	Hayley	Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	01:59:50	70
2	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	02:34:09	65
3	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	02:34:39	60
4	Rebecca	Pugh	Paramount CRT	F	RB	02:40:37	55
5	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	RB	03:13:13	50

Road Bikes:

Road Bike Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	V	565
2	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	V	425
3	Mark Fenn	Shropshire CCA	V	365
4	Emma Brown	Paramount CRT	F	300
5	William Preston	Paramount CRT	S	220
6	David Scott	Paramount CRT	S	140
7	Claire Blackwell-Smyth	Paramount CRT	FV	110
7	David Cannell	Paramount CRT	V	110
9	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	85
9	Billy Panter	Paramount CRT	S	85

Top Club Award:

Pos’n	Club	Points
1	Wrekinsport CC	230
2	Paramount CRT	170
3	Aerologic RT Total	65
4	Hafren CC	60
5	North Shropshire Wheelers	55
6	Newport (Shropshire) CC	40
7	Oswestry Paragon CC	10

Cumulative Standings after ten rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	500
2	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	495
3	Christopher Riley	Paramount CRT	V	345
4	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	V	340
=5	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	275
=5	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	V	275
7	Robert McGregor	Paramount CRT	S	225
8	Bryn Davies	Hafren CC	V	170
9	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	145
10	Mark Fenn	Shropshire CCA	V	130

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Vets Position	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	520
2	Christopher Riley	Paramount CRT	420
3	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	345
4	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	335
5	Deb Hutson-Lumb	SCCA Private Member	250
6	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	230
7	Mark Fenn	Shropshire CCA	225
=8	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	195
=8	Bryn Davies	Hafren CC	195
10	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	140

Friction and Hydraulic Services Road Bike Championship

Vets Position	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	520
2	Christopher Riley	Paramount CRT	420
3	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	345
4	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	335
5	Deb Hutson-Lumb	SCCA Private Member	250
6	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	230
7	Mark Fenn	Shropshire CCA	225
8	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	195
8	Bryn Davies	Hafren CC	195
10	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	140

Friction and Hydraulic Services Female Championship

Female Pos’n	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	510
2	Helen Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	385
3	Emma Brown	Paramount CRT	355
4	Deb Hutson-Lumb	SCCA Private Member	240
5	Claire Blackwell-Smyth	Paramount CRT	145
6	Gill Snelson	Paramount CRT	125
=7	Kathryn Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	110
=7	Thea Osmund-Smith	Paramount CRT	110
9	Jan Davies	Hafren CC	105
10	Elaine Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	90

Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship

Junior Pos’n	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Jess Bufton	Hafren CC	60

Top Club Award

Position	Club	Total Points
1	Paramount CRT	1930
2	Wrekinsport CC	1415
3	Aerologic RT	650
4	Hafren CC	250
5	North Shropshire Wheelers	205
6	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	145
7	Newport (Shropshire) CC	135
8	Oswestry Paragon CC	80