Eleven Banbury Star members travelled all the way down to Thruxton race circuit near Andover today to compete in the annual RTTC National Closed-Circuit Championships. Divided into 3 main categories, Men, Women and Junior/Juvenile, the total number of starters was around 350 riders.
Fortunately for this time of the year, it was a beautiful sunny day, with a dry track and although the usual wind at this venue was present, it wasn’t gusty. The race distance was 11.7 miles, comprising 5 laps of the circuit.
Louis Bushby, Peggy Simpkins and Isabella Boyles competed in the 83 rider Junior/Juvenile event, all putting in great performances. Louis finished 13th in 16 age group on 30.07, Peggy finished 5th in 15 age group on 31.55, with Isabella 3rd in 13 age group on 36.58.
Louis, Isabella and Peggy put on a great performance at Thruxton (photos Mark Davis)
The strong women’s category had a clear winner in Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald (Dooleys RT) on 24.06. Competing for Banbury Star in this category were three recent converts to time trialling – Amy Hinton, finished 32nd in her age group on 30.41, Sian Marsh 36th in age group on 36.55 and Hayley Holland 87th in age group on 39.22.
An entry of almost 200 riders made up the men’s field, with 5 Banbury Star riders entered. Keeping it in the family, Katie’s brother, John Archibald (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) was another clear category winner, with the fastest time of the day 21.06. Top Star performer of the day was again Luke Norris, who finished an excellent 15th overall and 13th in his age group, in this strong national field on a time of 23.20. Other times were Simon Bull on 25.58, Matt Norris 26.43 (8th in age group), Mark Davis 27.56 and Mark Boyles on 29.24