CYCLING N.Z. Record Broken At English Park Meeting

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27861, 9 January 1956, Page 7

CYCLING N.Z. Record Broken At English Park Meeting

W. Johnston (Waikato), holder of all the New Zealand track championships, broke the New Zealand record for the flying quarter-mile time trial at English Park on Saturday night during the special meeting organised by the Canterbury Amateur Cycling Centre at which the Australian champions. R. Ploog and F. Brazier, competed. Johnston’s time was 25.45ec. l-ssec better than the record held by C. Dickinson (Wanganui). The Canterbury record, of 26.8 sec. was beaten by five of the eight contestants and equalled by another. PI00& rode from scratch in the 1000 metres handicap to win in Imin llsec. This time was Isec faster than his record-breaking Imin 12sec at the last Empire Games, but at the games his was a solo ride. The New Zealand record for this event is Imin 10.6 sec. held by R. Mockridge (Australia). Ploog rode brilliantly to weave his

way through a field of nine riders and catch R. Fowler, who set a fast pace for the first lap. At the bell Ploog took the lead, and sprinted excellently over the last 440 yards to win. Much interest centred on the Omnium event, which was decided on : points gained by eight riders taking i part in three 4-mile races. The first! race was a scratch event, and W. John- i ston won in.3l.4sec. The second race; was run as individual time trials. In I this event Johnston established the new Dominion record. At the end of the second race Johnston had the highest number of points. The third race was a handicap event, the handicaps being decided by the number of points the contestants had gained in the first tw’o races. In this race Johnston was the only rider to start from scratch. In this high-class field he had a formidable task, for he was giving away as much as 50 yards in the

quarter-mile, and could gain only seventh place. A. Davie (Timaru), off 30yds, won. The ultimate winner was determined on points scored in the three races, Johnston and Davie sharing first place with 18 points. Third place went to R. Johnston, who gained 17 points. Attempts on Records Fail The Johnston brothers, who are the New Zealand tandem champions, failed in an attempt on the New Zealand record of 11.3 sec, which is held by J. Faulkner and D. Campbell, of Canterbury. The Johnstons’ time was 12sec. They did not use their own tandem. Another attempt was made on the race record lor five miles, but this again failed, by 2.6 sec A scorching pace was set from the start and was maintained for the first ; mile. Brazier increased the speed considerably, but after he came off his lap it t fell back a little. With half the journey 1 gone the riders were well within the ! record, and had covered the distance in ; smin 9sec. Brazier and P. Wylie led out after the tenth lap, and moved the field along smartly, and at the beginning of the next lap Brazier and L. Lock raced away from the field. They gained a good lead, but as the other riders did not respond they waited for the field. With one mile to go Brazier again made another bid, but the other riders did not follow, so he came back. At this stage the race had been in progress Bmin 34sec, and if the record was to be broken the last mile had to be ridden in less than 2min 6.4 sec, and it appeared that the riders would be very close to the record. In the last lap, each rider was seeking a

' good position for the final sprint, which f I was a long one, and over the last 100 ; yards there was a great battle for first s place, inches separating the first six. Wy- - lie he'd on to win from R. Johnston, ■ with Ploog third. The time was lOmin I 43sec. I On Saturday night, local riders fared much better than on Thursday night, and. their standard of riding was very high. r Riding in the B grade races, B. Brettell 1 was very prominent. Another young f l rider who is showing great promise is I. 1 Hazeldine. Hazeldine has only recently ■ 1 left novice ranks. He should soon be- * come one of the short-handicap riders. > Cash Events - Stirring finishes were seen among the [ cash riders. K. Kerr, who recently left L the novice ranks, is riding with distinc- ■ tion. On Saturday he won his heat in the L . four-lap event, but was unplaced in the ' final. i I The five mile scratch race was excelt ' lent. At the end of a mile V. Bond, who I has been riding extremely well this seaE son, moved the field along at a very fast i .pace. The pace was maintained very well j throughout the race, and the field was . well bunched, although some riders could j ! not match the others and withdrew. C. . Henderson led out at the bell, but the L others were close on his wheel, and in a » spectacular finish B. Woodgate slipped through to win from Henderson and Fer- > gusson by inches. 1 Abbreviations used in the results of the J main races .are:—Australia (Aust.), Waikato (Wai.), Timaru (T.), and Canterbury » (C.).

Results Amateur Events 1000 Metres A Grade Handicap.—R. Ploog (Aust.), scr, 1: W. Johnston (Wai.), 1 scr, 2; P. Wylie (C.), scr, 3. Time, : Imin llsec. Five Miles A Grade Scratch.—P. Wylie : (C.) 1. R. Johnston (Wai.) 2, R. Ploog (Aust.) 3. Time, lOmin 43sec. Quarter-mile Omnium Event.—First round (scratch race): W. Johnston (Wai.) 1, R. Ploog (Aust.) 2, R. Johnston (Wai.) 3. A. Davie (T.), 4, L. Lock (C.) 5, F. Brazier (Aust.) 6, N. Fisher (T.) 7, P. Wylie (C.) 8. Time. 31.4 sec. Second round (flying time trial): Johnston. 25.4 sec, 1: Ploog, 25.65ec. 2; Johnston. 26sec. 3; Davie 26.25ec, 4; Wylie, 26.6 sec, 5; Fisher. 26.8 sec, 6: Lock. 27sec, 7; Brazier, 27.25ec, 8. Third round (handicap): Davie (30yds) 1, Lock (50yds) 2, Brazier (50yds) 3, R. Johnston (20yds) 4. Wylie (50yds) 5, Fisher (50yds) 6, W. Johnston (scr) 7, Ploog (10yds) 8. Time. 28sec. Final: W. Johnston and A. Davie (equal) 1, R. Johnston 3. Half-mile Mairehau Novice Handicap.— B. Yelland (20yds) 1. L. Bishop (70yds) 2, 1 Melhopt (50yds) 3. Time. 61sec. Mile B Grade Handicap.—l. Hazeldine (60yds) 1, F. Fuller (15yds) 2. D. Raines (15yds) 3. Time, 2min s.6sec. Mile Mairehau Novice Scratch.—B. Hazeldine 1. T. Weir 2, T. Sheppherd 3. Time. 2min 12.2 sec. Quarter-mile B Grade Scratch.—First heat: F. Fuller 1, T. Holland 2. G. Mugford 3. Time. 32sec. Second heat: I. Hazeldine 1. B. Brettell 2, G. Duff 3. Time.

32.8 sec. Final: Hazeldine 1. Brettell 2, I Mugford 3. Time, 32sec. Half-mile Scratch.—D. Raines 1. G. Painter 2, I. Hazeldine 3. Time. Imin 6sec. Two Miles B Grade Points Race.—L. Lambert. 10 points, 1; R. Bryant. 8 points, 2; B. Brettell. 7 points, 3. Time, 4min 19sec. Cash Events Two Laps Handicap.—First heat: K. Giles (10yds) 1, V. Bond (scr) 2, F. Chapman (55yds) 3, A. Ayers (90yds) 4. Time, 59sec. Second heat: M. Hertnon (scr) 1. B. Woodgate (syds) 2. K. Kerr (105yds) 3, H. Binney (110yds) 4. Time. 58.4 sec. Final: Ayers 1, Chapman 2, Kerr 3. Time. 59.8 sec. Four Laps Handicap.—First heat: V. Bond (scr) 1. B. Woodgate (10yds) 2. S. McCracken (30yds) 3. R. Woodgate (100yds) 4. W. Ryan (50yds) 5. Time. 2min 4.4 sec. Second heat: K. Kerr (185 yds) 1. A. Bates (175yds) 2, C. Fergusson (20yds) 3, M. Hertnon (scr) 4. K. Giles (15yds) 5. Time, 2min 4.2 sec. Final: Bond 1, McCracken 2. B. Woodgate 3. Time, 2min s.2sec. Five Miles Scratch Race.—B. Woodgate 1, C. Henderson 2, C. Fergusson 3. Time. lOmin 56.25ec. One Lap Novice Handicap.—A. Stamper (30yds) 1, P. Smith (10yds) 2, N. Woodgate (syds) 3. Time, 33.25ec. Athletics 440 Yards Handicap.—B. King (17yds) 1, G. Reid (12yds) 2. S. Stevens (12yds) 3. Time, 49.45ec. 220 Yards Scratch.—E. Ward 1, G. Reid 2, N. Ward 3. Time, 23sec.