Imperial Winter Series Race 9 - Saturday 12th January

Another friendly welcome received by all riders from the organisers of this popular winter series.

With cold but relatively clear and calm weather greeting the riders, it was likely that the race wouldn't split up too much.

I managed to start what was probably the most significant break of the day with series leader Paul Pickup (private member), second place in the series Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) and another rider who has been strong throughout the series Mike Hill (Team Quest). However, perhaps with the overall series in mind Moores and Hill were unable or unwilling to ride through and so it all came back together.

With a few km to ride I jumped away only to be caught by Moores and Pickup once again, who then sat on and refused to come through. With 3rd place being my best option in that situation I chose to ease up and chance it in the sprint. I had a good position coming into the final corner until someone else chanced it up the inside and cut me up a little. Finished in 7th, with team mate Steve Golla sprinting to another good 4th place and reinforcing his 3rd place in the series with me still in 4th place overall behind Pickup and Moores. Pickup looks set to pick up the series title at this point, although with 3 sigma riders planning to ride next week there should be some exciting racing action to come.

Results of the imperial winter series are all on their website: