A Team of nine SKCC riders lined up for the Tom Probert A Grade Teams Challenge last Sunday at Calder Raceway. Captained by Rowan Dever, team members were Luigi Vecchio, Lachlan Davidson, Sam Pickering, Sam Gifford, Daniel Strauss, Brian Darby, Jamie Nightingale & Ritchard Longmire.

It was an overcast day which threatened to rain but thankfully the wet weather held off, allowing this 20 lap event to be run on the seldom-used Calder Park race circuit. While the rain stayed away the wind was certainly blowing hard with a strong tailwind down the front straight and a brutal headwind along the back straight. The SKCC team wanted to make the race really aggressive from the start and make sure that every early break that tried to get away in the first half of the race had at least two of our riders in it.

Just as it looked like it would be a final bunch sprint, Rowan Dever (SKCC) and a rider from Hawthorn and Sunbury jumped away with about nine laps to go. With the bunch seemingly happy to let the three riders gain a slight advantage, the break of three worked well together and eventually went to the line to contest the finish ahead of a rampaging bunch.

In the end Rowan finished second while Sam Pickering and Richard Longmire also rounded out the top 10 to ensure that the SKCC team picked up as many points as possible. In the final wash up, SKCC won overall by three points ahead of Hawthorn CC.

A special thanks to Gaelene for helping to organise and pull together the SKCC team and to all the Northern Combine volunteers who braved the cold and windy conditions.

Contributor: Rowan Dever