Vital Tandem Omnium
Photo; Mary GillVital Open Tandem Track Meeting 14 May 2007
A fantastic night of tandem racing was had at the Vital Open Tandem Track meeting with tandem teams from Australia, Great Britain and Ireland competing. The evening kicked off with a live band – System Fault which is the name of the band not a description - in the centre of the track to fire up the 16 tandem pairings consisting of men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
The first event of the evening was the flying 200m where Anthony Kappes, piloted by Jon Norfolk posted a blistering 10.531 seconds, just a few hundredths of a second off the Paralympic World Record time of 10.4 set last week by Anthony Kappes with his regular pilot Barney Storey. The Aussie pairing of Ben Demery and Shaun Hopkins came a close second with a time of 10.812. But perhaps the highlight in this round was the unofficial National Record time of 11.804 posted by Ellen Hunter and Aileen McGlynn, taking 8 hundredths of a second off the National Record set by them last week at the Newport Grand Prix. It was great to see a few visiting Irish tandem teams and looking fast too with their coach Brian Nugent in command of things. One pair, not quite used to the bends of Manchester did the fastest 250m on record during their 200m qualifying – although word had it that the pilot was only trying to impress a young lady stood at the top of the last banking !
The next round of the evening’s tandem omnium was the sprint ladder where points were gained over 3 races, with the fastest tandem pairing riding against the second fastest and so on. There was some brilliant tandem-craft by Barny Storey and Ben Elliot with their respective partners creating a lot of excitement in the quality crowd and winning their races too. Norfolk / Kappes pairing made the move of the meeting though when the Aussies they were riding against moved just above the sprinters line with a lap to go allowing Norfolk to sneak up the inside like a ferret up a drainpipe to take the heat win with visually impaired Kappes left wondering what all the oohs and ahhs was all about. Ellen Hunter and Aileen McGlynn were not to be outdone against one of the Irish men’s pairings riding them all over the track as is Ellen’s way and giving them a good lesson in tactics as they smiled their way to the line.
After three rounds Norfolk/Kappes were leading with another Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital Churton/Gill team in second place with just the 2 km pursuit to come – something most of the sprinters hate. A lot.
The Aussie women tandem sprinters Felicity Johnson/ Katie Parker were heard nervously joking about a mistake on the lap boards “surely it should be 3 laps?” before going on the record a fast 2m 33s and then collapsing on the floor giggling between recovery swigs of something nice. 16 year old Joanne Wilman riding with Christine Higgs posted a close time to them – impressing everyone then on came the big guns. Aussies Shaun Hopkins and Ben Demery shot round – to the surprise of their coach to a fantastic time of 2m 17secs then proceeded to fall around as if on their last legs. We were not fooled having got used to such sympathy inducing tactics of Antipodeans at the Velodrome over the years on the coaching staff! Then Storey/Dawson rode an excellent pursuit but just missed the top mark with a 2m 20. Athens bronze medal tandem pursuiter Paul Hunter flew round with his sprinter-stoker Gwyn Carless [both Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital] looking decidedly uncomfortable on the back and posted a fine 2m 19sec. Hunter /McGlynn, most used to 4 laps tried to topple the Aussies with 2m 28sec – a fine time for any women’s pairings. Yasumitsu-Schlapp pirates paring of Paul Johnson/Mark Fleming looked happier here than they did in the sprints. But Ben Elliott /Cheryl Owen [VC St Raphael] seemed like they were going to beat the top time till Ben’s legs fell off leaving Cheryl to pick up the pieces – so to speak. Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital’s over-muscled pairing Churton/Gill huffed and puffed their way around making notes never to do another pursuit and finished having been lapped at least 14 times by the super-fast and sleek looking Sprinter-dudes on the Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital A tandem - Norfolk/Kappes who finished with a brilliant and almost unbelievable time of 2m 11 secs to become the fastest, making them top tandem-dudes for the night! Seeing they won the 200m tt, all their sprint races and the pursuit who could doubt their supremacy?
All the pairings from home and abroad seemed to have enjoyed this unique event with more tandems you can shake a stick at – and hope to come back for another next year.
1. Jon Norfolk / Anthony Kappes Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
2. Shaun Hopkins / Ben Demery Australia
3. Simon Churton/Anthony Gill Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
4. Barney Storey / Iain Dawson VC St Raphael/Waite
5. Paul Hunter / Gwyn Carless Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
6. Michael Delaney (Stoker) & David Peelo Ireland
7. Ben Elliott/Cheryl Owens VC St Raphael/Waite
8. Paul Johnson/Mark Fleming Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
9. Aileen McGlynn / Ellen Hunter Johnson Whlrs/ Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
10. Andrew Fitzgerald (Stoker) & John Lynch Ireland
11. Felicity Johnson / Katie Parker Australia
12. Jon Gribbin / Mal Mckinhia Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital-Ireland
13. Jo Wilman/Chris Higgs Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
14. Gavin Allman (Stoker) & Niall Jenkins Ireland
15. Evelyn Dunstan/Neil Orrell Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital – Zodiac CC
dnf. Ben MacFie / Ben Holmes Australia
A fantastic night of tandem racing was had at the Vital Open Tandem Track meeting with tandem teams from Australia, Great Britain and Ireland competing. The evening kicked off with a live band – System Fault which is the name of the band not a description - in the centre of the track to fire up the 16 tandem pairings consisting of men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
The first event of the evening was the flying 200m where Anthony Kappes, piloted by Jon Norfolk posted a blistering 10.531 seconds, just a few hundredths of a second off the Paralympic World Record time of 10.4 set last week by Anthony Kappes with his regular pilot Barney Storey. The Aussie pairing of Ben Demery and Shaun Hopkins came a close second with a time of 10.812. But perhaps the highlight in this round was the unofficial National Record time of 11.804 posted by Ellen Hunter and Aileen McGlynn, taking 8 hundredths of a second off the National Record set by them last week at the Newport Grand Prix. It was great to see a few visiting Irish tandem teams and looking fast too with their coach Brian Nugent in command of things. One pair, not quite used to the bends of Manchester did the fastest 250m on record during their 200m qualifying – although word had it that the pilot was only trying to impress a young lady stood at the top of the last banking !
The next round of the evening’s tandem omnium was the sprint ladder where points were gained over 3 races, with the fastest tandem pairing riding against the second fastest and so on. There was some brilliant tandem-craft by Barny Storey and Ben Elliot with their respective partners creating a lot of excitement in the quality crowd and winning their races too. Norfolk / Kappes pairing made the move of the meeting though when the Aussies they were riding against moved just above the sprinters line with a lap to go allowing Norfolk to sneak up the inside like a ferret up a drainpipe to take the heat win with visually impaired Kappes left wondering what all the oohs and ahhs was all about. Ellen Hunter and Aileen McGlynn were not to be outdone against one of the Irish men’s pairings riding them all over the track as is Ellen’s way and giving them a good lesson in tactics as they smiled their way to the line.
After three rounds Norfolk/Kappes were leading with another Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital Churton/Gill team in second place with just the 2 km pursuit to come – something most of the sprinters hate. A lot.
The Aussie women tandem sprinters Felicity Johnson/ Katie Parker were heard nervously joking about a mistake on the lap boards “surely it should be 3 laps?” before going on the record a fast 2m 33s and then collapsing on the floor giggling between recovery swigs of something nice. 16 year old Joanne Wilman riding with Christine Higgs posted a close time to them – impressing everyone then on came the big guns. Aussies Shaun Hopkins and Ben Demery shot round – to the surprise of their coach to a fantastic time of 2m 17secs then proceeded to fall around as if on their last legs. We were not fooled having got used to such sympathy inducing tactics of Antipodeans at the Velodrome over the years on the coaching staff! Then Storey/Dawson rode an excellent pursuit but just missed the top mark with a 2m 20. Athens bronze medal tandem pursuiter Paul Hunter flew round with his sprinter-stoker Gwyn Carless [both Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital] looking decidedly uncomfortable on the back and posted a fine 2m 19sec. Hunter /McGlynn, most used to 4 laps tried to topple the Aussies with 2m 28sec – a fine time for any women’s pairings. Yasumitsu-Schlapp pirates paring of Paul Johnson/Mark Fleming looked happier here than they did in the sprints. But Ben Elliott /Cheryl Owen [VC St Raphael] seemed like they were going to beat the top time till Ben’s legs fell off leaving Cheryl to pick up the pieces – so to speak. Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital’s over-muscled pairing Churton/Gill huffed and puffed their way around making notes never to do another pursuit and finished having been lapped at least 14 times by the super-fast and sleek looking Sprinter-dudes on the Yasumitsu-Schlapp/Vital A tandem - Norfolk/Kappes who finished with a brilliant and almost unbelievable time of 2m 11 secs to become the fastest, making them top tandem-dudes for the night! Seeing they won the 200m tt, all their sprint races and the pursuit who could doubt their supremacy?
All the pairings from home and abroad seemed to have enjoyed this unique event with more tandems you can shake a stick at – and hope to come back for another next year.
1. Jon Norfolk / Anthony Kappes Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
2. Shaun Hopkins / Ben Demery Australia
3. Simon Churton/Anthony Gill Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
4. Barney Storey / Iain Dawson VC St Raphael/Waite
5. Paul Hunter / Gwyn Carless Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
6. Michael Delaney (Stoker) & David Peelo Ireland
7. Ben Elliott/Cheryl Owens VC St Raphael/Waite
8. Paul Johnson/Mark Fleming Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
9. Aileen McGlynn / Ellen Hunter Johnson Whlrs/ Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
10. Andrew Fitzgerald (Stoker) & John Lynch Ireland
11. Felicity Johnson / Katie Parker Australia
12. Jon Gribbin / Mal Mckinhia Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital-Ireland
13. Jo Wilman/Chris Higgs Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital
14. Gavin Allman (Stoker) & Niall Jenkins Ireland
15. Evelyn Dunstan/Neil Orrell Yasumtisu-Schlapp/Vital – Zodiac CC
dnf. Ben MacFie / Ben Holmes Australia
posted by Andrea Ingram at 8:55 AM
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