The top two made the most of superb conditions despite absentees in Round 6 of the SB Sports Injuries Series as personal bests were set in North Shropshire Wheelers Battlefield 25. Held on the roller coaster A49 between Prees and Battlefield with the only flat road to be had passing through Hadnall; the first bonus points were awarded for the longest distance in this Series as Dean Callister recorded a fabulous effort of 52 minutes 28 seconds to take the maximum 26 points on offer. This gives him clear space in the Bronze medal position in the SB Series with a 34 point advantage as he looks to make up ground after missing two rounds. The Revolutions Racing rider stated: “A very nice, warm evening gave great conditions. My legs felt good on the night, so I pushed hard on the return and were really pleased with my time. It was great to get a personal best – thanks for everyone involved on the evening”.

Callister pushed out a strong challenge from Wrekinsport’s Tomos Hales, setting the evening’s other personal best with 55:30 and heading to the top of the SB Series as a result, taking over from Jonathan Mills-Keeling by six points. Hales clearly enjoyed his evening and was full of praise for Callister’s effort, stating: “A lovely warm evening for the Battlefield 25 saw me beat my personal best by a minute on that course. Well done to Dean who flew around that course in a super impressive time; and thanks to North Shropshire Wheelers for organising as it’s a great course to do on a summer evening”.

These two were the only riders to beat the magical hour mark on a tough as old boots out and back course, with North Shropshire Wheelers James Neale taking the honours for the promoting club to take third spot in 1:01:16. Neale also took the win in the age-adjusted SB Veterans Series with a fine +5:16, pushing out club mate Dave Drew by a narrow eight seconds. Neale commented: “I really enjoyed the race. It feels like I have finally overcome some technical and fitness issues that have hampered some of my performances in recent weeks. Conditions were near perfect for once too. I’m still not maxing on the descents and this is reflected in the time, but hopefully there’s more to come. Well done to the guys ahead of me, they were flying. Thanks too to all the volunteers”.

In the Women’s race it was a straight head-to-head between Oswestry Paragon’s Helen Tudor and North Shropshire Wheelers’ Kathryn Rossiter, making her debut in the SB Series. Tudor took the win by 4:12 with a good effort of 1:12:04 – and headed back to the top of the SB Women’s standings after displacing Deb Hutson-Lumb. Tudor reflected on the dichotomy between an ideal racing evening and the disappointing turnout for a classic testing course: “A perfect mid-summer evening and certainly a lot warmer than last time I rode it, just a shame there were so few riders – thanks to all from North Shropshire Wheelers for putting it on”.

Result:

Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Points
1 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 52:28 26
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 55:30 24
3 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:01:16 22
4 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:07:04 20
5 Dave Drew North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:08:20 18
6 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 1:12:04 16
7 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers WV 1:16:16 14
8 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:22:25 12

Veterans:

Vet Pos’n Name Club Cat Vet +/- Vet Points
1 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V +5:16 26
2 Dave Drew North Shropshire Wheelers V +5:08 24
3 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V +3:28 22
4 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV +3:21 20
5 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers WV -1:53 18
6 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers V -14:42 16

Women:

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 01:12:04 26
2 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers WV 01:16:16 24

Cumulative Standings after six rounds

Overall

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 96
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 90
3 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 74
4 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 40
5 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 38
6 Rob McGregor Paramount CRT S 26
7 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 24
8 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 22
9 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon WV 20
=10 Dave Drew North Shropshire Wheelers V 18
=10 Jack Wilson Ludlow Brewery RT V 18
=10 James Satoor Bridgnorth CC S 18
=10 Rich Smith Wrekinsport CC V 18

Veterans

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 100
2 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 66
3 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon WV 50
4 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 46
5 Mark Stocks Newport Shropshire CC V 32
5 Rich Smith Wrekinsport CC V 32
7 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 30
8 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 28
9 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 26
10 Dave Drew North Shropshire Wheelers V 24

Women’s

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 62
2 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 38
3 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 32
4 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers WV 24
=5 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 20
=5 Thea Osmund-Smith Paramount CRT W 20

Juniors

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 80
2 Chester Romei Paramount CRT J 18