By Lachlan Onions
THE human-powered-vehicles returned to the Limestone Coast on Saturday as competitors took on the McNamara Park circuit in the first race of the 2022 UniSA Australian HPV series.
From lights out, riders were tested, as they pedalled to the max and the vehicles were pushed to their limits across the 2.4km track.
Schools in the region were out in full force and raced alongside some of the the state’s best HPV teams.
Australian International Pedal Prix CEO Marcus Lacey was delighted with the series to be back underway for 2022.
“The fact we were able to get on the track this weekend, after what’s happened in the last two years with COVID, is a real big plus for us,” he said.
“We normally have a really good contingent of school teams as that goes back to our roots of when we started, and many of the community teams are students that have continued with us after they have finished school.”
Millicent High School HPV Team took part with RIPT Reloaded for the first race of the series.
The team finished the race in 55th position and 28th in their category.
RIPT Reloaded completed 93 laps across the eight hours.
Mount Gambier High School finished the day in 67th position, 10th in their category.
They completed 55 laps on the day, with a best lap time of four minutes, 28 seconds.
The day was dominated by Aurora Racing who won the race and completed 165 laps with a best lap time of 2:41:96.
Aurora’s dominance in the HPV series continued, making it back-to-back victories at Mount Gambier and further asserted themselves as one of the best HPV teams in the competition.
The race came down to the wire, as the Wattle Racing entry, Gunyah, provided close competition for Aurora.
However, the defending champions ultimately proved too strong and held on to win by three laps at the completion of the eight hours.
A total of 71 entries took part in the first race at Mount Gambier in what was a great success for the HPV series, after the last two years were ravaged by Covid-19, which resulted in numerous events being cancelled.
Round two of the HPV series will take place on Saturday, May 26 at Tailem Bend where upwards of 180 entrants are expected to take the grid.
