Club Races
Daryl Elliott Takes out A Grade Scratch Race Fyans Creek - Sunday 20th January 2008

	Daryl Elliott

Horsham cyclist Daryl Elliott snatched victory right on the line to take out the Grampians Vets A grade scratch race, held over the 44km Fyans Creek circuit last Sunday.

Fifteen riders fronted for the first race of the year, and were divided into A, B and C grades for the scratch events.

The A grade riders left first, with Garry Rice showing his strength and attacking up the first of the hills. Several riders slipped off the back, but regained the group soon after.

The pace was solid for the hilly section along Sandbar Road, but it wasn’t until the group turned for home with about 12km to go that the attacks really started. Rice once again attacked repeatedly, with Chris Scott and Alan Barnett also trying to break away, but the head wind made the job difficult, and all breaks were short lived.

It came down to a cat and mouse game over the final 2kms, until Scott made a break, taking Barnett, Elliott and Peter Parnaby with him. Heading into the final straight, these riders jockeyed for position, until Parnaby finally broke clear.

With 50 metres to go Peter Parnaby looked to have it won, but Elliott was close behind and just managed to lunge ahead right on the line, to win by half a wheel. Alan Barnett crossed the line in third place

The B grade event was dominated by Steve Monks, who broke clear in the later stages of the race, and won by a convincing margin. Stuart King also broke free of the other riders to come home second, with Leon Gibson third ahead of Frank Stokes and Tom Eldridge.

The C grade riders split about half way through the race, loosing Larry Bales and Roger Williams on the hills. Merv Thompson, Meg Parnaby and Shauna Heard battled out the finish, with Heard making a dash a long way from home, but ran out of puff into the head wind. Thompson streaked past to win, with Meg Parnaby second and Heard third.

Riders are asked to note that next Sunday’s race has been cancelled, as most riders are involved with the Horsham Triathlon. Racing will resume on the 3rd March at Quarry Road.