Picture: THOMAS MILES
THE Blue Lake velodrome was a hive of activity over the Australia Day weekend, with a joint meeting held between the Mount Gambier Cycling Club and the South Coast Cycling Club.
The Adelaide-based SCCC needed a venue to host its annual carnival, with its own velodrome undergoing refurbishment.
After last year’s successful carnival in Mount Gambier, the venue was again chosen, with Saturday set down for the club’s event.
Sunday saw MGCC host its own event to provide two days of top racing.
It included two riders from the South Australian Sports Institute – Mount Gambier’s Luke Wight and fellow rider Lewis Walker.
Overall the meeting was hailed a success, with more than 30 riders from the SCCC attending, plus cyclists from other metropolitan clubs, from Mount Gambier and from eastern Victoria, including Hamilton and Port Fairy.
A highlight was the 80-lap madison event on Sunday, where teams vie for points.
Along the way sprints are held every 10 laps for added points.
A team can earn an additional 20 points if they gain a lap on the field of riders or loose 20 points for every lap they loose on the field.
Teams of two competed, with the young SCCC duo of Ethan Birrane and Mitchell Natt gaining a lap on the field to offset their older and stronger rivals that collected the majority of sprint points.
Birrane and Natt’s accumulated 50 points, which was enough to secure the overall win.
It was also a good performance from Mount Gambier’s Amy Wight, who teamed up with Hamilton’s Nikki Menzel for a fourth-place finish, just two laps behind the winners.
Mount Gambier riders were prominent across the weekend in a variety of events.
Saturday saw the two SASI riders – Luke Wight and Walker – perform well in the events they entered.
For the MGCC riders, in the main races, Matthew Opperman claimed first place in the Australia Day Senior Wheelrace, ahead of Luke Wight, while Niel van Niekerk managed second place in the junior C/D wheelrace.
Van Niekerk also claimed wins in the Under 15 time trial, the Under 15 Heart Starter and second in the junior C Grade scratch race.
Harry Opperman was third in the Under 15 time trial, second in the Under 15 Heart Starter, second in the junior Under 15 handicap and first in the junior B Grade scratch race.
Matthew Opperman added to his first day with a third in the senior B Grade Heart Starter, second in the senior masters handicap and second in the senior B Grade scratch.
Luke Wight came home second in the senior Heart Starter and claimed the win in the senior Under 19/23 handicap.
Molly Opperman claimed a win in the junior Heart Starter, first in the handicap and third in the junior D Grade scratch, a solid performance in her first outing.
The Limestone Coast riders continued to perform on Sunday in their own hosted event, which kicked off with a junior D Grade scratch race, where Molly Opperman finished third.
A junior C Grade scratch race saw Harry Opperman in second place, while van Niekerk flew the flag for MGCC in the junior B Grade scratch race over eight laps, with a third position behind two SCCC riders.
The senior B Grade scratch saw Matthew Opperman home in second place and then go on to claim a win in the senior men’s four-lap handicap, along with a third place in the B Grade Motorpace.
Van Niekerk added to his weekend with a third place in heat one of the junior boy’s wheelrace, before claiming third place in the final.
Molly Opperman continued her strong debut with a second place in the junior girl’s wheelrace, then later claimed third place in the junior D Grade four-lap scratch.
Harry Opperman added to the family success with a win in the junior C Grade five-lap scratch race, while Matthew Opperman teamed up with Chris Eichler for third place in the madison.
Apart from one major incident the weekend went off without a hitch.
Saturday afternoon saw an accident between Luke Wight, Chris Kennett and Walker.
Kennett hit the fence hard, Wight rolled and slid over the concrete surface of the velodrome and Walker was catapulted over the railing, landing safely on the grass.
No riders suffered any serious injury and Walker was able to recover and compete in the Sunday morning events.
With some superficial injuries, Wight did not continue, deciding to look after his abrasions, with more SASI events on the horizon.
