This event — a three-stage race held entirely on the circuit — would have been right up Jono’s street.

 

He loved racing, and the prospect of three very different races, each requiring a strategic approach if you wanted to take the overall crown, would have ticked all his boxes. A thinking man’s race, testing both mind and body, and providing three opportunities to win, lose or change the overall picture.

 

We kicked off the day in glorious sunshine and light winds. The line judges and commissaires had an easy job of keeping an eye on the racing, with the excellent Will Foster providing his usual first-class timing services.

The first event was exactly as described: 45 minutes of hard charging crit racing.

 

The question, as always, was whether to go all in for maximum points or conserve some energy, knowing that two more races were still to come. Ten riders clearly decided that thinking about the future was someone else’s problem and went flat out from the gun.

 

It was a good job we had Bas on the finish-line slow-motion camera, with Commissaires Graham Price and John McCay paying close attention to the finish. The leading ten riders had managed to catch and lap a small group just as they reached the line, creating a finish that needed some serious detective work.

 

A super close battle between Adam Kenway and Joshua Horsfield for second place had the line judges triple-checking the timing, video footage and, when all else failed, good old fashioned visual opinion.

 

The final result saw Phil Large take the win, with Adam Kenway in second.

 

Stephanie Wheatley was the only entrant in the women’s race but chose to race alongside the men, showing plenty of grit and determination from start to finish — not just in the Sprint, but across all three events.

 

After a well-earned lunch break to refuel, the riders returned to the circuit for the final 90-minute Endurance race.

 

By now, the sun was beating down and the wind had reached its peak. With two hard races already in the legs, the riders faced the prospect of another hour and a half of suffering.

 

We expected the pace to settle into something manageable.

 

We were wrong.

 

The top ten riders, all still with a mathematical chance of taking the overall title, set off at an almighty pace.

 

The first casualty of the day was Oliver Searle, who had put together two excellent performances at the sharp end of both the Sprint and TT. In his own words, he was making moves at the hairpin when he overcooked the turn and hit the deck.

 

To his credit, Oliver was straight back on his feet and back on the bike. Unfortunately, his bike had other ideas, and damage meant he was unable to continue.

 

The crash helped create a split, with six riders working hard together at the front. The remaining three riders put in a Herculean effort to close the gap, but with the advantage growing to 30 seconds, they eventually had to admit defeat.

 

With just a couple of laps remaining, it looked like the race would come down to a bunch sprint.

 

Then came the move.

 

Bernard Galea, Ben Pease and Ben Goodwin launched their attack, putting everything on the line in the closing stages.

 

Adam Kenway and Phil Large knew exactly what was at stake. With the overall result in their hands, neither was willing to chase the other’s rivals and risk handing the overall victory to their closest competitor. Instead, they marked each other, knowing that the battle for the stage win was secondary to the bigger prize.

 

The final result saw Bernard Galea take the Endurance victory, followed by Ben Pease and Ben Goodwin.

 

Phil Large won the battle between himself and Adam to take the overall victory.

 

Adam finished second in the overall competition, with Ben Pease completing the overall podium.

The Jono Hornblow Memorial Trophy delivered exactly the kind of racing we had hoped for: fast, tactical, unpredictable and incredibly close.

 

With just a handful of points separating the leaders throughout the day, every attack, every position and every second counted.

 

Most importantly, though, it was a cracking day of racing held in memory of someone who loved the sport and everything that came with it.

 

A fitting tribute to Jono, and one we hope he would have thoroughly enjoyed.

 

The raffle will continue until the next round, with all proceeds going to Jono’s Trust.

 

Thank you to everyone who raced, volunteered, officiated, supported and contributed to making the event such a memorable day.