The first bonus point round of the SB Sports Injuries Series saw Dean Callister take the plaudits in Round 7, North Shropshire Wheelers Battlefield 25. Held on the tough, rolling Prees – Battlefield course entirely on the A49 Callister took the maximum 26 points available with a dominant performance that saw the Nova Raider take victory by nearly four minutes in a fabulous time of 54 minutes 37 seconds. This moved Callister up to within two points off the Series lead as he closed the gap to Series leader Henri Bedford on a fine evening. Anything under the hour on this sporting course is a real plus, and Callister was pleased with his effort, stating: “A nice evening of racing with the weather, although I expected the event to be a bit more popular. The course had low traffic which was nice. A great tail wind on the way out, but very tough in places on the return. I’m happy with my time on the night – thanks to North Shropshire Wheelers for putting the event on”.

Callister’s comments referred to the turn out, with just a dozen riders trying their skills out on a hard course, with Callister’s team mate Mark Pritchard making it a Nova Raiders’ 1-2. Pritchard lifted himself into the Top 10 on the strength of his 58:26 ride; one of only three riders to dip below the hour, with Market Drayton CC’s Phil Birch taking the remaining podium spot in 59:26. Pritchard’s post-race comments echoed Callister’s sentiments: “A great night for racing, the weather was perfect and the roads were quiet. This was my first ‘25’ of the season so I was happy to pick up second place within the small field of riders and was happy with my time – thanks all involved with the running of the event”.

In the SB Veterans Series North Shropshire Wheelers took a home victory with 71 year-old Gino Trasatti scoring a fine win in +10:24, seeing off the attentions of another Nova Raider, Andy Rose by +1:52. Trasatti moved up to fourth in the Veterans Championship thanks to his actual time of 1:04:28 and a positional amendment seemed to pay dividends: “I always enjoy the challenge of this course. This was my first race with my new tri bars which helped my aerodynamic position and I managed to improve my time by over a minute on last year, which I’m very happy with. There was a bit of headwind on the return leg but no rain – a big thank you to everyone for all their hard work to make these events possible”. Rose added: “Not my favourite course but I gave it my all to try and get under the hour and ended up just 10 seconds off this time. Overall I was pleased with a course personal best, hopefully sub-hour next time – thanks to North Shropshire Wheelers for putting on a good event”.

It was a straight head-to-head between Nova Raiders in the SB Women’s Championship with Series leader Marie Llewellyn surprised by a strong challenge from Jenny Newton, who won the day in 1:08:52, 2:16 ahead of Llewellyn who still consolidated her overall Series lead. Newton moved up into the Silver medal position thanks to her ride, although she seemed not to have endured rather than enjoyed her evening’s sport, stating: “It was really tough, I didn’t like one second of it – except the finish line! It took some mental chat to keep going, but it was all made worthwhile for a course personal best and the win – thank you to all involved”.

Full result:

PosnNameClubCatTimePoints
1Dean CallisterNova RaidersS54:3726
2Mark PritchardNova RaidersS58:2624
3Phil BirchMarket Drayton CCV59:5622
4Andy RoseNova RaidersV1:00:0520
5James NealeTeam BottrillV1:02:23.
6Gareth BrookesNorth Shropshire WheelersV1:03:5118
7Gino TrasattiNorth Shropshire WheelersV1:04:2816
8Al HorriganArmy CyclingV1:04:41.
9George CoombesSCCA 1st ClaimS1:05:4714
10Les BougheyNorth Shropshire WheelersV1:07:3312
11Jenny NewtonNova RaidersWV1:08:5210
12Marie LlewellynNova Raiders1:11:088

Veterans:

Vets PosnNameClubCatVet +/-Vets Points
1Gino TrasattiNorth Shropshire WheelersV+10:2426
2Andy RoseNova RaidersV+8:3224
3Phil BirchMarket Drayton CCV+8:0022
4Jenny NewtonNova RaidersWV+5:4620
5Gareth BrookesNorth Shropshire WheelersV+4:4618
6James NealeTeam BottrillV+3:48.
7Al HorriganArmy CyclingV+2:26.
8Les BougheyNorth Shropshire WheelersV+2:2316

Women:

Women’s PosnNameClubCatTimeWomen’s Points
1Jenny NewtonNova RaidersWV1:08:5226
2Marie LlewellynNova Raiders1:11:0824

Cumulative Standings after seven rounds

Overall

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Henri Bedford Revolutions Racing J 114
2 Dean Callister Nova Raiders S 112
=3 David Griffiths Oswestry Paragon CC S 52
=3 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 52
=5 Chris Halford Wrekinsport CC V 38
=5 James Satoor Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 38
7 Mark Pritchard Nova Raiders S 30
8 Adam Baker SCCA Private Member S 28
=9 Gareth Brookes North Shropshire Wheelers V 28
=9 George Coombes SCCA 1st Claim S 28

Veterans

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Chris Halford Wrekinsport CC V 78
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 60
3 Andy Rose Nova Raiders V 56
4 Gino Trasatti North Shropshire Wheelers V 46
5 Rob Jackson Wrekinsport CC V 44
6 Jenny Newton Nova Raiders WV 34
7 Gareth Brookes North Shropshire Wheelers V 32
8 Jenny York Mid Shropshire Wheelers WV 30
9 Oliver Rodwell Wrekinsport CC V 28
=10 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 26
=10 Pete Mulloy Wrekinsport CC V 26

Women

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Marie Llewellyn Nova Raiders W 92
2 Jenny Newton Nova Raiders WV 58
3 Clare Cotterill Wrekinsport CC WV 54
4 Deb Hutson-Lumb Nova Raiders WV 36
5 Jenny York Mid Shropshire Wheelers WV 34
6 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 32
7 Pauline Hughes Revolutions Racing WV 24
8 Clare O’Donnell Wrekinsport CC WV 22
=9 Alison Dockney Market Drayton CC W 20
=9 Alison Salthouse SCCA Private Member WV 20
=9 Charlotte Chapman Nova Raiders W 20
=9 Emma Horne Wrekinsport CC WV 20

Juniors

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Henri Bedford Revolutions Racing J 120
2 Harry Corney Market Drayton CC J 80
3 James Satoor Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 52
4 Ethan Campbell Newport Shropshire CC J 38
=5 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 18
=5 Nathan Fullwood Bridgnorth CC J 18
=7 Cerys Blowers Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 14
=7 Luka Stolic Wrekinsport CC J 14
9 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 12