It was a closely fought battle at the top of standings in Round 11 of the Friction Hydraulics Series with the second ever use of a new 50 mile circuit of Hodnet – Shawbury – Shawbirch as Victor Chetta made a great comeback, shaking off the ring rust of his Round 6 event to take the County win in the West Cheshire TTCA 50. With the top three split by just 2 minutes 44 seconds the Mid Shropshire Wheeler stormed around the course in 1 hour 52 minutes 4 seconds, a full eight minutes faster than his effort in May on a close to perfect morning. Chetta has had time away from time trialling to concentrate on a new motorbike, but clearly enjoyed finding his form, with muscle memory coming good. He stated: “In the 50 on the same course a few weeks ago I was merely trying to survive it. This time around I felt much more like I was firing on all cylinders and was able to treat it like a race, and was rewarded with a time a full eight minutes faster – looking forward to the next race now”.

Chetta’s closest challenge came from Wrekinsport’s Tomos Hales, who was getting his first taste of the course albeit on familiar roads – and he was rewarded with a personal best 1:53:41. This elevated him into third spot in the Friction Series, with a light easterly wind helping down the rolling A53 to Shawbury. Hales commented: “Happy with my 50 mile time and a personal best. I had a good tail wind on the top section of the course which helps. Well done to Victor for the Shropshire win, and thanks to everyone that helped out to hold the event”.

By his own admission reigning Friction Series Champion Tim Beardmore has been suffering as the mileage has crept up due to back problems. Holding a fixed position over so many miles can be difficult, as can keeping to an efficient pacing strategy; with Beardmore having won Round 6 with a strikingly similar time nine seconds faster in similar conditions having to settle for third spot in 1:54:48. Agonisingly the Bridgnorth CC rider also lost out to Chetta by a narrow five seconds in the Friction Veterans Series with Chetta setting +24:26 against Beardmore’s +24:21. Beardmore was not happy with how things went despite trying to mimic his earlier stragtegy around the same course, stating: “I aimed to ride the same power as I had done three weeks earlier on the same course. However I was not on a great day, and realised too late that I had gone out too hard. I paid a heavy price in the last 20 miles and lost a lot of time, just glad to finish in the end”.

In the Friction Women’s Series Paramount CRT’s Hayley Wells took the win with an excellent effort of 2:11:58 to move to 75 points off the top of the standings. Like Beardmore her post-race comments concerned working out how to pace the race – always an issue as the distance creeps up, and something that can easily catch out the unwary. Thankfully Wells hung on, using similar thinking to Beardmore: “A beautiful day for a 50, minimal wind and warm temperatures meant the conditions were good. I was unsure how to pace this one but I went out quite hard from the start and hoped I could hold on! Thankfully I did – thank you as always to the organisers and marshals”.

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series – Round 11

Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Points
1 Victor Chetta Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 1:52:04 70
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 1:53:41 65
3 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 1:54:48 60
4 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 1:59:46 55
5 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 2:07:54 50
6 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 2:11:58 45
7 Philip Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 2:13:06 40
8 John Westhead Paramount CRT V 2:13:25 35
9 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 2:21:08 30
10 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV 2:55:24 25
. Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV DNF .
. Geoff Edgerton North Shropshire Wheelers V DNS-A .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship – Round 11

Vets Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Vet +/- Vets Points
1 Victor Chetta Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +24:26 70
2 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +24:21 65
3 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V +21:26 60
4 John Westhead Paramount CRT V +15:19 55
5 Philip Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +8:06 50
6 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V +7:49 45
7 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V +3:05 40
8 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV -24:05 35

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship – Round 11

Women’s Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 2:11:58 70
2 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV 2:55:24 65
. Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV DNF .

Top Club Award – Round 11

Pos’n Club Points
1 Paramount CRT 135
2 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 110
3 North Shropshire Wheelers 105
4 Wrekinsport CC 65
5 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 60

Cumulative Standings after eleven rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 575
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 415
3 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 275
4 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 255
5 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 235
6 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 215
7 Robbie Disney Ludlow CC S 205
8 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 180
9 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 175
10 Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S 155

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Vets Position Name Club Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club 590
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club 420
3 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 365
4 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT 290
5 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers 255
6 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 230
7 John Westhead Paramount CRT 215
8 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers 210
9 Bryn Davies Hafren CC 130
10 Victor Chetta Mid Shropshire Wheelers 125

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 370
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 355
3 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT 295
4 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC 160
5 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers 155
6 Bethan Till Wrekinsport CC 115
7 Catherine Coley Bridgnorth CC 60
8 Helen Blake Wrekinsport CC 50

Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship

Junior Pos’n Name Club Best 12
=1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC 60
=1 Chester Romei Paramount CRT 60
=1 Tristan Harvey Ludlow CC 60

Top Club Award

Position Club Total Points
1 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 1065
2 Wrekinsport CC 845
3 Paramount CRT 815
4 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 480
6 North Shropshire Wheelers 380
5 Ludlow CC 300
7 Hafren CC 240
8 Oswestry Paragon CC 195
9 Revolutions Racing 180