Art Winter Series – Week 3
If week 2 of the Art Winter Crit Series at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon was windy. Then week 3 proved to be even worse with Storms Eunice and Franklin blowing across the country, bringing cold rain in on the gale on the airfield.
The 3rd week of the series, another 45mins + 3 laps of the flat circuit, bringing the riders into the teeth of the gale on the back straight.
Banbury Star had 3 riders entered, Richard Santhouse still recovering from his crash the previous week. Nick Nixon and Josh Lovell were the other Star riders
Battle commenced from the start with Nick driving a hard pace, trying to get a split in the field in an effort to reduce the likelihood of crashes. Josh and Richard, sitting in the bunch.
The race then began to string out, but no split and it eventually came back together. Nick Nixon attacked on lap 2, went away and stayed on the front until lap 7, when a group of 8 formed just behind Nick, making a tactical decision he dropped back into it and rode with them as they rotated on the front working together to get away from the rest of the field.
Josh and Richard were still in the field, Richard unfortunately tired and retired from the race. Keeping up a strong pace, Josh was in the top 10, carefully watching the bunch. As they came into the final 800m. Nick, driving hard on the pedals attacked again, got a small gap and went full gas for the line and crossed the line first. A great win for him and for Banbury Star. Josh, who had fought hard throughout the race, came in 10th.
Once again Banbury Star can be very proud of our race team and the individuals in it. We offer congratulations and applaud Nick, Josh and Richard for their efforts in this series, especially in the horrendous conditions of the weekend.