Hendry, Campbell, Reekie and Cameron go three from three at Camperdown
Round three of the HUPcc Scottish Cyclocross Series took us to Camperdown Country Park in Dundee where it was a cold and damp day, but the weather didn’t stop a great display of racing across the board – in fact we had some of our closest fought battles of the series so far.
The first race of the day was the Master 50 & 60 Open race, where Dougie Cameron made it three wins from three in the 50s with another impressive victory, increasing his lead in the series. In the M60 race it was a battle royale – Jim Foulis forced the pace early doors with Neil Raitt following. Foulis would eventually start to suffer and fall away, whilst Brendan Roe would bridge across to Raitt and the duo would enjoy a titanic battle; in the end it came down to a sprint finish between Raitt and Roe, with latter winning out in his first SCX outing of the winter. The rest of the season is going to be very interesting!
In the Female Open it was a familiar story - no one could stop Harriet Hendry from taking her third win on the bounce. Lettie McDonald, winner of the Female 40s, put in a late charge to try and chase Hendry down, but couldn’t quite get there. Another rider to notch up a third straight victory was Emma Campbell in the Junior Female race whilst riding to sixth place overall. Sian Tovey and Helen Winton powered their way to win the F50 and F60 races respectively.
In the Youth B Female race Isla Reekie once again took the top spot with Eilidh Scally second, Emma Nicholson bettering last rounds fourth to round out the podium. Emie Smith took her second win in as many rounds in the Youth A race, blasting out of the blocks and never looking back.
The Youth A Open race flew off the start line for a fast and hard-fought race, with Gregor McNaught taking the victory. A second sprint finish of the day rounded out the podium with Henry Sharp beating Lewis McAusland to the line. In the Youth B Open Sam Kingan retook the top step after last rounds second place, with Knockburn winner Leo Walsh having to settle for 6th – safe to say the battle for the overall HUPcc SCX series crown is wide open and will go all the way to the wire.
The last race of the day was the Senior Open race where Reuben Oakley stormed to victory with a dominant display. Oakley made his break during lap one and didn’t see any of his competition again – this comes off the back of a top 10 ride in the Trophy at Falkirk last week – it’s great to see him back after a long battle with breathing issues. The remainder of the podium spots were closely contested between five riders for the majority of the race, before Charles Fletcher got clear for second and William Weatherill completing the top three.
The Master 40 Open race was closely fought between the in-form Richard McDonald and stalwart Davie Lines, unfortunately a puncture for Lines took the top step away from reach. In the Junior Open Joel Gillan dominated, like Campbell riding into sixth place overall with a very strong performance.
Big thanks to Martin Harris, Keith Stocker and everyone else who made today’s racing so successful. Remember, everyone who volunteers this season will be in the mix to win the HUPcc Spirit of Cross Award at the end of the season, with a full bike up for grabs!
Round four is at Gartmore House, Aberfoyle, on Sunday 9th November – entries close on Sunday 2nd at 23.55.
