I knew it! Even before they started I knew they’d all finish together. It was just like a circus when all the acts come on the stage together; you don’t know where to look and when thirty riders thundered down to the finish around 40 miles per hour towards Walkington, the best that my helpers with recorders could do was get four numbers.

It did take a lot of sorting out but I think I’ve got everybody – my camera shots were just after the line but the video – at the other side of the road – looked down on it.

It started well enough, not much wind so everyone kept together, with gaps of three minutes for the first group and a scratch group comprising second cats, firsts and elite riders a further two minutes behind, with four laps to make up the difference.

In the first group were Dave Millson, Terry Parker, Paul Campbell,  Jason Young, Andy Cawley, Carl Martin, Tom MacDonald, Andrew Noble, Andrew Yeomans, Adam Yates, Ben Bell, Gareth Taylor, Colin Baldwin, Craig Medcalf, Paul Cutsworth, Paul Waddington

Daniel Wright, Mark Walker, Sam Dyason and Digby Rusling

The second group three minutes later comprised Steve Macklin, Peter Fielding-Smith, Chris Daddy, Mark Ollerenshaw

John Galway, Rob Powell, Lewis Jackson, Ben Roberts, Martin Cockerill, John Oldridge, Jason Benham, Matthew Enticknap, Paul Hickman, Paul Purdy, David Brearley, Rob Busby, Rob Brown and Lee Watson

Finally the scratch group composed of Adam Hardy, Tim Baldwin, Steve Ward, James Wagstaff, James Sampson, Martin Smith, Matthew Fenton, Alastair Kay, Dave Shackleton, Nathan Wilson and Mark Wordsworth

After the first lap the second group had taken a minute from the lead group and the scratch batch had taken a minute out of them, it was a still evening, few were being dropped and everyone was going around at a good pace, a little over two minutes between the front and the back. On lap two the lead group were still out in front, Mark Walker taking the prime sprint, and they still had a minute and half from the scratch and group two who had joined together.

All together for the prime sprint on lap three, taken by Dave Shackleton and I was hoping and hoping that this great block of riders was going to be broken up. This wasn’t to be, Adam Hardy had had a little off the front but was brought back, everyone was watching James Sampson who’d been a real instigator during the speed sessions, but he wasn’t playing. So it was left to the sprinters, and an easy win for Steve Ward.

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