Smith makes it two on the bounce!
The fifth round of the Ian Brown’s XC series attracted sixth eight entrants to La Pomare, where the riders found themselves having to cope with narrow single track racing, berms, tabletops and a lot of climbing on this very well laid out track.
Utmost & Ian Brown's Academy Youth rider Zach Smith looked to make it two wins on the bounce in the experts class. However, Island Games rider Mark Le Page and downhill maestro John Mapley were out to scupper the youngsters plans. Le Page led the pack from the start and quickly formed a gap with Smith. Le Page looked strong over five laps with Smith sitting in behind him. Smith made his move on lap six with a fast time of 5.56 and despite a crash, cruised to victory, registering his third win in the series, with Le Page having to settle for second. The single track and downhill sections certainly suited John Mapley as he made the final step of the podium with Adam Torode and Mark De La Mare taking the fourth and fifth spots respectively, having been locked in a battle for the whole race!
Joe Collenette was on great form as he took the win in the Advanced category from Ben Langlois who took a well-deserved second. Pete Sargent took the honours in the Veterans, however it would be Pete Miller getting himself back in the mix taking the second spot ahead of Tristan Robilliard who once again beat rival Wayne Piercey (albeit by 9 seconds) to take third with Piercey having to settle for fourth.
Mark Naftel and Tom Fotheringham took the wins in the Super Vets & Grand Vet categories with Jamy Petit-Fulgoni taking the win in the Lady’s race.
Following a successful 1st round enduro at the Guet, the popular women’s challenge series (which now has nineteen competitors overall) saw fourteen riders on a short, but challenging course. Izzie Grierson took the lead after offering support to others throughout the race. An exciting sprint for the next position saw only a few seconds between the next three riders with Donna Smith taking second place from Alex Costen in third. A great ride from Rachel Ferbrache would see her take the fourth spot from Kayleigh Johnson (following in her sons Hugo’s footsteps!) in fifth. Racing with the ladies on a shorter track allowed Amy & Holly Smith space to go up a notch and focus on racing hard, both U16 girls giving their all with Holly taking the win from her sister by just over 2 minutes.
Organiser of the Women’s series Franky Middleton commented that it was great to see so many new faces trying out this series, which she hopes will attract more female riders to join future events.
The next ladies race is at L’Ancresse on 28th June. Go to GVC for more info. https://gvc.gg
In the Youth classes, Utmost & Ian Brown’s Academy rider Harry Manning secured the Under-16 victory after a strong four-lap performance. In the Under-14s, Luca Robilliard clocked an impressive 6:26 final lap to clinch his maiden win. Freddie Martel battled through after a heavy fall to claim second, while Jacob Piercey and Arun Scales rounded out the podium in third and fourth, respectively.
Hugo Johnston and Ethan Shorto continue to be riders to catch in the U12’s and U10’s, both registering more wins in the junior boys categories. Freya Harvey was the stand-out rider in the U12 girls category this week with Orla Pipet once again dominating the U10’s with her fifth win on the bounce.
Guernsey cycling sees eight academy and GVC riders competing at the Southern Regional Championships in Basingstoke this weekend. Locally, the Adventure Cycles Gravity Series Round 4 takes place on 21 May, with the next XC round being held on 28th May at L’Ancresse.
Written by Roon Smith
