This is the race report for the BHPC event in York (a bit late)
As usual everything is @Copyright LordHostis
Today we are in York for the 4th BHPC event of the season It is very hot and sunny The track has a challenging hairpin and quite a few turns So It is not the fastest for velomobiles The first race is the slower race for 50 minutes plus one lap
That race has all kinds of bikes velomobiles, lowracers, trikes, handcycles and even mountain bikes After the first lap, Tim McDonald in his Milan SL velomobile is leading the race Nigel Slee on his Chalenge Jester lowracer is not far behind John Learmonth in his Waw velomobile is in third place
Followed by James Baldison on his Windcheetah trike Peter Hodgson on his “Proto Tad” trike is in fifth place There is already a huge distance between the leaders and the back of the field Tim Macdonald in his Milan SL velomobile is flying ahead Closely followed by Nigel Slee
John Learmonth in his WAW velomobile is third The WAW velomobile is an interesting design as the nose and the tail of the vehicle can be detached Don Shackley is riding an Alpha 9 velomobile Tim McDonald in his Milan SL velomobile is still leading ahead of Nigel Slee
It is hard to race against velomobiles as the draft from them is very limited If I was not living in a big city, I would probably ride a velomobile although the price for those has risen dramatically here in the UK Spencer Moon here is riding a seemingly lightweight carbon mountain bike
Nigel Slee on his Challenge Jester has now caught up with Tim McDonald This is a very tight race for the lead Everybody else is scattered far behind The difference in speed between the riders is huge Difficult to say who is going to win
This is the hairpin, the most challenging turn of the track Spencer Moon on his mountain bike has no issue with it but he is not riding fast enough for it to be an issue The trikes have no issue either The faster riders can’t really pedal here as they would be going too fast
Nigel Slee has taken a sizeable lead John Learmont in his WAW velomobile is still in third place as he is lapping James Ebblewhite on his Fujin SL 2 The riders here are on different laps Nigel Slee is overtaking the backmarkers
He is still followed by Tim McDonald in his yellow Milan SL velomobile Nigel Slee on his Challenge Jester High Racer is still flying ahead He is quite a distance away from Tim McDonald James Learmont in his Waw velomobile is in third place, one lap behind
Nigel Slee now seems to have an unassaillable lead But it is still only less than 30 seconds The finish here is challenging as the finish line is right after a fast turn It is hardly possible to overtake if the rider in front takes a wide turn
That’s going to be interesting in the fast race But you wouldn’t believe it Tim Mcdonald has overtaken Nigel Slee in the last lap and wins the race Now is the time for the fast race John Lucian on his Pelso brevet is on the left
Lee Wakesfield in his Milan SL velomobilde is slightly ahead I am having a good start and I am taking the lead ahead of Lee Wakefield in his Snoek Velomobile and Jochen Farwer on his m5 lowracer Lee Wakesfield in his Snoek Velomobile is now on my tail
It currently said to be the most aerodynamic velomobile I am expecting him to overtake me easily That’s it. Lee Wakefield in the Snoek velomobile is overtaking me and is taking the lead of the race He is slowly vanishing in the distance Jochen on his m5 lowracer has now caught up with me
We are lapping Kim Wall on her Optima Baron Lowracer Jochen on his m5 lowracer is now overtaking me He is currently leading the championship so I can’t let him go We are lapping Pete Watson on his Spelkee midracer Now we are lapping Gerry Charleswood on his ratracer
We can still see the Snoek velomobile in the distance Now we are lapping the Watsons in their streamliners They tend to have a very inconsistent performance Sometimes incredibly fast, other times plagued by technical issues Now we are lapping Dan Bergonzi on his lowracer and John Lucian on his Pelso Brevet
And we are lapping Kim Wall on her Optima Baron We have now caught up with Lee Wakesfield in his Milan SL velomobile It is quite unusual We are visibly taking the hairpin faster than him He should still have the upper hand in the straight
I am launching an acceleration as I don’t want to be stuck behind a backmarker in the upcoming turn I can see I am not going fast enough to get away so I am backing off Yet again I am taking the hairpin faster than the Snoek velomobile and I am taking the lead
Lee Wakesfield in the Snoek velomobile overtakes me back Jochen Farwer on his m5 lowracer is accelerating I am taking his wheel Lee Wakesfield is taking my wheel He is backing off as we are approaching the turn We have finally dropped Lee Wakesfield
Maybe he is suffering from the heat in the velomobile as it is very hot today We are now lapping Russel Bridge in his Snoopy half streamliner which is more like a canoe on wheels Now the battle is on for the win between me and Jochen
I am usually the favourite if I am still in the lead group at the end of the race but I have not performed well so far this year I have to be careful not to let a group of slower riders between him and me
Here we are lapping Dan Bergonzi, John Lucian and Jack Watson Now we are lapping Pete Watson again We are lapping Kim Wall on her Optima Baron again We are lapping Simon Watson again It is very unusual that two unfaired bikes are leading a BHPC race that way
Maybe it is caused by the sharp turns or the hot weather Jochen seems to be getting away as I am losing time in a turn But he is slowed down by Lee Wakesfield in the Snoek Velomobile so I am safely back on his wheel We can’t really accelerate right before the hairpin
We are now lapping Lee Wakesfield in the Snoek velomobile I think he must be overheating as there is no way we could take as much distance if he was going at the usual speed In the end the camera ran out of battery. and I won the race
Ahead of Jochen on his m5 lowracer Now is the time for the second slower race I have missed the start John Learmonth in his white WAW velomobile is leading the race ahead of Tim McDonald in his Milan SL velomobile Nigel Slee on his Challenge Low Racer is in third place
James Baldison on his Windcheetah recumbent is in fourth place Which means he is leading the unfaired multitrack classification for that race as there are no trike in the faster race The two velomobiles are still leading the race But James Learmonth in his WAW velomobile has an ever so slightly faster pace
Nigel Slee on his lowracer is quite a long way behind in third place John Learmonth in his WAW velomobile is much faster than in the first race Maybe he had issues with the heat in the longish first race in the same way as Lee Wakesfield in his Snoek velomobile
This is the final lap Tim MacDonald is more than 10 seconds behind the leader It is going to be hard to win Sherif Harding will take the maximum points for the handcycles classification Peter Hodgson has overtaken James Baldson to take the lead of the unfaired trikes and the fourth place
James Learmonth in his WAW velomobile has won the race Tim MacDonald in his Milan SL velomobile is in second place Now his the time for the final race 15 minutes + 1 lap This time it is probably to short to make the Snoek Velomobile overheat
I am having a good start like in the first race although Lee Wakesfield in the Snoek velomobile is ahead Jochen on his M5 low racer is right behind I am attacking straight away It seems to be working as the gap with Jochen is growing
After a few Kilometers, Jochen on his m5 lowracer is coming back He is overtaking me We are lapping Gerry Charleswood on his Ratracer We are lapping Pete Watson We are lapping Gerry Charleswood on his Ratracer yet again We are lapping Kim Wall on her Optima Baron Lowracer
I am launching an attack at the hairpin exit I am actually not sure when the end of the race is I might have attacked to early Jochen on his m5 lowracer is overtaking me back as I am running out of power He is launching an attack
And it looks as if I am dropped This is the final straight, which is not that straight I am having a last ditch attempt to get the second place behind Lee Wakesfield This is going to be very tight I am getting the second place