AUST. RIDERS DOMINATE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30635, 29 December 1964, Page 10

AUST. RIDERS DOMINATE

N.Z. Team Win 1 Race (N.Z. Press Association) INVERCARGILL, December 28. The Australian cycling team tonight beat a New Zealand team eight points to one in a test match at Kew Bowl, Invercargill. The Australian team. G. Johnston and D. Perkins, won every race except the two-mile team’s points race. Australia gained its first point when Perkins set a time of 25.8 sec in the quarter-mile time trial. Neither P. Robinson nor V. Newlove could better this, and Johnston did not bother trying. The Australians won all four of the 1000-metre sprints. Johnston, said to be the fastest 18-year-old in the world, came from behind to beat Newlove in a straight sprint, and, with neat tactics, jumped down in front of Robinson to lead all the way home in his second race. The thriller of the night was the two-mile points race. As much a battle of tactics as the sprints, the race was contested in team sprints every second lap. Points were awarded on the basis of five for first, three for second and one for third. The New Zealanders won by 31 points to 22. The final race in the test series, the six-lap team pursuit, went to the visitors after a straight-forward ride.

The next test in the series will be at New Plymouth on Saturday night.