Anna McArdle has claimed her 2nd club competition of the season by winning the John Maxwell Cup handicapped TT. The race was promoted as part of the Banbridge Inter-Club Race League, which seen 38 riders compete over the rolling Moneyslane circuit TT in the shadows of the Mourne Mountains. McArdle’s latest win adds to her victory earlier in the season when she also claimed the Quinn Cup handicapped TT. A very successful club racing debut season!
With the handicapped factors applied Anna McArdle bettered her target time by 1min 59sec, recording an actual time of 30:40 . It was more than enough to beat Richard Nicholl into 2nd place, with Richard recording an actual time of 30:13 which was enough to beat his target time by 1min 11sec. Trevor Martin rounded out the podium, recording an actual time of 27:19 on home roads. Trevor beat his target time by exactly 1 minute.
4th place on handicap, but also fastest rider on the night was Philip Castles. Philip stopped the clock at 22:40. It’s another high scoring round for Castles who has shown great consistency all season which has been rewarded with a now commanding lead in the Banbridge CC Club League. He now has a total tally of 271 points which he has collected over 11 rounds, missing only a single counting round this year. Currently sitting in 2nd place in the Club League is early leader Mick Martin with 218 points. Mick’s missing of 4 rounds means that he will need a strong end of season finish, which given his performance in the first half of the season is certainly achievable. Ruth McKee is 3rd in the league table and leading woman with 214 points.
With 13 of the 16 points scoring rounds counting toward the final league score, it allows competitors to drop 3 rounds over the season for mishaps or holidays. It also allows riders to improve on their lowest scores if they have managed to avoid missing too many rounds – something that could add to Philip Castles already healthy advantage!
Leading youth rider in the Club League is Riley Smith with 156 points, no doubt helped along by his 2 recent wins in both the Dennison Cup and Gilchrist Cup. Riley’s overall victory in the King of the Hills competition at last weekend’s Ulster 3-Day International Youth Tour demonstrates the great form he is showing and indicates he could still be hungry for more silverware before the season ends.
Overall BCC League Table, 07/08/24
BCC League Leader, Philip Castles
