Six seconds separated first from second in a closely fought contest in the Chester RC 25, Round 9 of the Friction Hydraulics Series as Tim Beardmore stretched his defence of the Friction Series – and took a seven second victory to double down on protecting his Friction Veterans Series title too in a great morning for the Bridgnorth CC rider on the Tern Hill – Shawbirch course. Beardmore stopped the watch on 54 minutes 3 seconds, a sniff over 27¾mph around the 25 mile course, beating off the attentions of Dan Watts, making his first appearance of the season in the Series. The reigning double champion clearly enjoyed his morning in the sun, stating: “Another lovely morning for racing. I went out quite conservatively for the first five miles to see how my legs were having raced the day before. I felt good and pushed on. I felt strong all the way back to Espley Island, and then hung on to the finish – very pleased with the County and Veterans win”.

Watts, the 2020 Friction Champion made an immediate impact upon his return with a superb effort of 54:09 to take the runner-up spot, seeing off a strong challenge from Paramount CRT’s Simon Romei. Watts had mixed feelings of being pleased with his comeback and philosophical about the narrow margin needed to assure victory, stating: “My first race of the season on the time trial bike – I’d almost forgotten what the suffering felt like. I was happy to have it under my belt and ready for the next one after a good battle with Tim. At such a narrow margin you often wonder ‘Should I have just pedalled harder’”

Romei took the final podium spot in 55:01, pushing out Beardmore’s team mate Jonathan Mills-Keeling by 47 seconds, with Bridgnorth extending their Top Club Award lead to 195 as a result. Romei enjoyed his race and cited the favourable conditions as his reason to push hard from the start: “I was very pleased with my result, weather conditions were good, so I decided to go hard from the gun which paid off. I was extremely surprised went I got to the last three miles and saw my time, shame that one second stopped me going under 55 minutes – big thanks to Paul Modern and all marshals, an extremely well organised race”.

Beardmore took the win in the Veterans Series with a fine +14:07 in a rare upset for Deb Hutson-Lumb who had beaten Beardmore in this Series in their four previous head-to-heads. The Wrekinsport rider recorded +14:00 for Veterans runner-up, but took the win in the Women’s Series with an actual time of 1:02:37, outpacing Paramount’s Hayley Wells by 2:25. This elevated her to the top of the Friction Women’s Series by the narrowest of margins – five points. Hutson-Lumb commented: “A lovely morning for it and I started off well. With 10 miles to go I was struggling to maintain any power and grovelled my way to the finish. Pleased to take the Women’s win, and hopefully the next 25 will hold together better – many thanks to Chester RC.

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series – Round 9

Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Points
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 54:03 60
2 Dan Watts SCCA Private Member S 54:09 55
3 Simon Romei Paramount CRT V 55:01 50
4 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 55:48 45
5 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 57:35 40
6 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 58:42 35
7 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:01:10 30
8 Ian Connolly Ludlow CC V 1:02:26 25
9 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 1:02:37 20
10 John Westhead Paramount CRT V 1:04:50 15
11 Philip Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 1:05:00 10
12 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 1:05:02 5
13 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:07:30 5
14 Robert Garbett Wrekinsport CC V 1:11:48 5
15 Colin Wells Paramount CRT V 1:17:32 5
16 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV 1:18:18 5
17 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:21:48 5
. Geoff Edgerton North Shropshire Wheelers V DNS-A .
. Gino Trasatti North Shropshire Wheelers V DNS-A .
. Chester Romei Paramount CRT J DNS-A .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship – Round 9

Vets Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Vet +/- Vets Points
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +14:07 60
2 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV +14:00 55
3 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +12:08 50
4 Simon Romei Paramount CRT V +12:06 45
5 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V +10:10 40
6 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +9:20 35
7 John Westhead Paramount CRT V +7:48 30
8 Ian Connolly Ludlow CC V +6:26 25
9 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V +5:22 20
10 Philip Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +4:07 15
11 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V +3:02 10
12 Robert Garbett Wrekinsport CC V -0:57 5
13 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV -4:10 5
14 Colin Wells Paramount CRT V -5:39 5
15 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers V -14:05 5

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship – Round 9

Women’s Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 1:02:37 60
2 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 1:05:02 55
3 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV 1:18:18 50

Top Club Award – Round 9

Pos’n Club Points
1 Paramount CRT 110
2 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 105
3 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 50
4 North Shropshire Wheelers 45
=5 Ludlow CC 25
=5 Wrekinsport CC 25

Cumulative Standings after nine rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 460
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 365
3 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 215
4 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 210
5 Robbie Disney Ludlow CC S 205
6 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 190
7 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 180
8 Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S 155
9 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 145
10 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 135

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Vets Position Name Club Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club 470
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club 370
3 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 305
4 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers 210
5 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 190
=6 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT 185
=6 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers 185
8 John Westhead Paramount CRT 160
9 Bryn Davies Hafren CC 130
10 Simon Romei Paramount CRT 110

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 310
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 305
3 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT 170
4 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC 160
5 Bethan Till Wrekinsport CC 115
6 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers 90
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 900
2 Wrekinsport CC 705
3 Paramount CRT 605
4 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 365
5 Ludlow CC 300
6 North Shropshire Wheelers 250
7 Hafren CC 205
8 Revolutions Racing 180
9 Oswestry Paragon CC 110