Ev4 Race Report – 20th April

I promised you a race report last month, and a race report is what you’ll get! 

Let me start by giving kudos to the boss, somehow he’s managed to book decent weather for Darley which was definitely appreciated. There was still a pretty hefty headwind on the back straight but we’ve got to keep you on your toes somehow! 

The racing was great all day, it was fast, competitive and fair. There were no crashes, very few mechanicals and everyone seemed to be in great spirits. It really does feel like we’re building a great community at the Haus races and we appreciate all your support. We’re particularly proud seeing the women’s events grow, and they’re often the most fiercely competitive races. 

What made the day extra special was having another amazing race sponsor join us. I hope you agree, having the team from Full Gas Coffee Co getting involved throughout the day and providing the prizes for primes added an extra element to the racing which definitely made things a little more spicy! 

Anyway, enough with the waffle, what happened in the races I hear you cry…… Well, we kicked off the day with the Open Cat 4. It was a fast start straight from the… whistle, and after a few early attacks, eventual race winner, Thomas Childs of Huub Wattshop, made the decisive move and broke away from the pack about 15mins in. Multiple valiant attempts were made to bridge across but to no avail, and the pack wasn’t organised enough to pull him back in. Thomas went on to win the race and claim the Full Gas Prime Prize. Second place was scooped up by Josh Todd of local mega club Ilkeston after escaping on the penultimate lap.  The bunch came hurtling in to sprint for places 3 to 10, with Oliver Wootton from Team Pau rounding out the podium places.

Next , it was the turn of the racing snakes in the E123 race. A slightly reduced field than normal didn’t stop the customary Kenway starters sprint, which strung out the race into a long line before the elastic finally snapped a third of the way in. Initially 4 separate groups formed, which later amalgamated into 3, however the front group of 5 was never caught. They were left to contest the Prime and Podium. Dean Watson (Wold Top), desperate for his caffeine fix claimed the Prime, and SPRNT’s Bernard Galea on fine from from the tour of Malta took the win. 

The chasing groups competed for the remaining points, but unfortunately fan favourite, and Velobavarian heartthrob Jcub, cramped with a few laps to go after he looked dead set to secure his first points of the season. 

The last open race of the day, was a cat 3/4 contest which provided the biggest field of the day. 55 riders lined up on the start line with a strong presence from Ashby Ivanhoe, South Normanton, Velobavarian and SPRNT teams. We even had two racers from Muckle CC who made the trip all the way down from Newcastle. 

The group dynamic made for a really interesting race, with lots of attacks and counter attacks, it meant a high pace was kept throughout the race. Despite numerous attempts from returning to fitness and youtube megastar, Triathlon Dan, none of the breaks managed to stick, and we watched the Ashby lads sprint amongst themselves for the Prime and then Kai Buckley from Beeston broke all of our hearts, winning a narrow sprint from Haus’ own rider Ollie Humphreys. 

Now I know I’m not meant to have favourite children (Pip, obvs!) or races, but I do have a soft spot for the women’s race which was the final race of the day. Again, theres some great team dynamics at play, and I’m hoping it’ll inspire my girls to one day follow in your footsteps. 

The field was dominated by Tactic WRT and Velobavarian although the race was ignited by a move that saw Melissa Denman (Stolen Goat) and Ella Tandy (Tofutai Everyone Active) force a breakaway. They were joined by Tactics Sarah Byrne.  While they remained in reach of the chasing pack, the gap was never fully closed and they battled amongst themselves for the podium pecking order.

We’ve seen Rebecca Woodvine’s (RR23)  sprint pedigree already this season, and it was her who led the bunch sprint for 4th, closing out a very entertaining race. 

As usual, we’ve listed the full race results below to the best of our ability and the points places are uploaded on the BC website. I have also included as many of the social media links you may be interested which includes new vlogger to the series, Laura Sheppard. 

Thanks as always, and don’t forget our next event is the 18th May (enter here). We hope to see you all there. Till next time.. 

Haus Race Team