Team Tor 2000 Circuit Series – The Finale!

Jul 22, 2011

This was the seventh and final race in the series around the well-known circuit at Ilton. With the overall positions still undecided, there were plenty of riders looking to boost their race totals and climb the rankings.

Overall race leader James Williams (Primal Europe) was unable to attend the final race and defend the yellow jersey himself, but with a 9 point lead over fellow contender Greg Sandy (Somerset RC) the rest of Primal Europe still had a job to do. However, second placed rider Dan Cox (Somerset RC) was still in the 3rd category races and in prime contention to take the overall win if he finished 5th or better. Primal could do nothing to affect this result, so it was down to the grace of God and fingers crossed for James.

The E/1/2/3 race got underway in bleak overcast but dry conditions with a field of around 30 riders. The pace was slow to start as everyone eased into the opening lap. The first substantial attack came from Pete Haworth (Revo Racing) who stayed away solo for almost two laps while the rest of the bunch jostled for position. Next to go over the top was Rob Willcocks (Primal Europe) and Greg Sandy. They were followed by Will Bjergfelt (Motorpoint) and Graeme Lackford (Team Tor 2000). These 5 worked hard to maintain the gap which slowly grew to about 1 minute over the chasing pack.

The mid way prime was won by Greg Sandy but as the breakaway riders regrouped, the chasers looked to be closing in. From the corner it was clear to see a lone Motorpoint rider was trying to bridge across. It was the return of Marcin Bialoblocki after a 3 week absence after being knocked off his bike on a training ride. He joined the lead group to make six. The two Motorpoint riders sensed danger from the remnants of the chasing pack and put the hammer down.

First to go was Graham Lackford followed by Pete Haworth. The attacked continued and coming into the final lap Marcin launched a massive attack and only Will could follow leaving Rob and Greg in no-man’s-land. The Motorpoint guys had the winning gap now and the chasing pack was within 15 seconds of reeling Rob and Greg back in. The gap was maintained by the narrowest of margins at the line with Marcin taking the victory, team mate Will Bjergfelt second, Rob Willcocks third and Greg Sandy fourth.

The race over, everyone’s thoughts turned to the overall series positions. Had Primal Europe done enough? Where did Dan Cox finish in the 3rd category race? Anna Ellington and the Commissars had the results we’d been waiting 12 weeks for.

With no one to challenge him, Dan Cox did just enough in the 3rd Category race to secure the Yellow jersey and overall series win with James Williams missing out by a fraction in second place. Greg Sandy finished off the podium in third place overall.

However, not all was lost for Primal. A dominating performance in the sprints competition saw a resounding win for James Williams who did more than enough in previous weeks to secure the Green jersey title.

Thanks to Anna Ellington, Andrew Crocker, Jill Lackford and the rest of Team Tor 2000 for putting on the race series and to all the helpers and event officials who made racing at Ilton possible. See you next year!