Madison
The dynamic Wheelbase CabTech Castelli pairing of Tim Shoreman and Aaron King were crowned champions of the Open Madison after a dominant ride over the 100 laps of the track.
The duo swept up the maximum number of points from the first three sprints to build an early advantage.
A crash suffered by Fin Graham (Para-T) led to a lengthy delay in the action and ended his racing for the day.
After the delay, Liam Scott Douglas (JG Cycles) and Keir Gaffney (Vanelli-Project GO) were putting the pressure on the leading pair taking the fourth sprint, with Ribble-rechrg team of Sam Barbour and Robert Smart taking the following sprint to set up an interesting final 40 laps.
However, it was the Wheelbase duo that were able to power through in the final sprints winning three of them and finishing in second place in the other – to come home 18 points clear of their closest opponents.
An important sprint victory for Gaffney and Douglas was enough to secure the silver medal. While Barbour and Smart picked up six points in the final sprint, which was enough to pull them clear of the fourth-place team of Jason Roberts and Richard McDonald (Vanelli-Project GO).
Sunday’s Youth Madison saw a 15km – or 60 lap – race for the Youth A Open and Female.
Zach Barbour (SteppingStanes) and Brodie Duncan (West Lothian Clarion) won the final four sprints on their way to claiming the gold medal. They did not have it their own way, however, with Fraser Corfield and Ollie Mayes (Glasgow Riderz) taking the racing from the front and building a decent advantage in the first portion of race before the eventual winners went on their unbeaten run.
Corfield and Mayes were rewarded for their early exploits with a silver, ahead of Micah Myles and Andrew Levinson (Edinburgh RC) who took the bronze.
Meanwhile it was a dominant ride from Millie Boothman (Glasgow Riderz) and Melanie Rowe (Deeside Thistle) in the Female Championship with the duo winning every sprint. The strength of the team showed throughout.
Kasey Park (Edinburgh RC) and Eve Fairbairn (Discovery Junior CC) came home in silver medal position, with Emma Campbell (Deeside Thistle) and Abigail Chaplin (Discovery Junior CC) winning bronze.
Open Sprint and keirin
The Glasgow Track RC GP saw the first round of the British Sprinters Series with both Open and Female sprint and keirin events.
Lyall Craig (Glasgow Track Racing Team) was crowned Glasgow’s king of sprinting at the GTRC GP over the weekend, starting off with a flyer in the open sprint race to claim the John Paul Memorial Cup.
Facing fourth fastest Anthony Young (Glasgow Track Racing Team) in the semi-finals, Craig managed to push him all the way to the line on two occasions to ride straight through to the gold medal ride off against junior keirin national champion, Will Munday (Glasgow Track Racing Team).
Munday gave Craig a good battle over the two rides, but the more experienced Craig pipped him on both rides to take the overall title without losing a ride. Young took on Arthur in the bronze ride-off, with Arthur taking the medal in two straight rides after a tight finish to see a Glasgow Track Racing Team podium clean sweep.
On Sunday, Craig secured his second victory in the men’s keirin in a fierce final, facing off Arthur, Young, Munday, Harvey McNaughton (Wales Racing Academy) and Jack Pearson (HUUB BCC Race Team).
A tense start saw the riders already itching to race from behind the derny, with the six battling for position before the derny had made its way off the track. Fully up to speed, a chase ensued which saw Craig snatch the win and take his second victory of the weekend ahead of Arthur, who took his second silver medal, while Pearson came home in bronze.
Female sprint and keirin
Kirsty Johnson (Edinburgh RC) finished second in the sprint behind Belgian national Valerie Jenaer, after taking the victory in the female keirin the day before.
Johnson rode well through the keirin heats in the first day of competition to reach the final after some brilliant racing. In a bid for the gold, Johnson rode conservatively until the bell, storming over the top of the bunch and dropping in at incredible speed to take the victory ahead of Jenaer in silver and Amy Cole (Wales Racing Academy) in third.
The following day’s sprint saw Johnson’s battle with Jenear continue. Ellie Stone (Black Line) qualified fastest in a time of 11.220, with Jenear qualifying second and a disappointing start for Johnson saw her down in fourth.
But the Scot fought back, beating Stone over three rides in the semi-finals to reach the gold medal ride off against Jenear. A tough race saw Jenear take the win in two rides to give Johnson the silver, while Stone beat Cole in the bronze medal ride to round off the podium.
Dernyfest
Sunday also saw the Dernyfest – which is exactly what it sounds like – effectively a motorpaced scratch race, with 10km heats heading into 25km final.
Keir Gaffney (Vanelli Project GO) claimed the open victory from Matti Dobbins (Zappi RT) and Conal Davidson (Spokes RT) in third. The female event was won by Miriam Jesset (Loughborough), with Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development RT) close behind in second. This race wouldn’t be possible without our derny riders, a massive thanks to them, with some of them riding over 400 laps across the weekend.
A massive thanks to Jonny Mitchell, Ian Fraser, all the volunteers and officials as well as the whole team at Glasgow Track RC for making the weekend’s racing possible – it’s great to see our first Scottish National Championship of 2024 off and running.