Hales hits form to claim the top spot at Berriew
Tomos Hales set the pace as one of the quickest 10-mile courses in the area served up some scorching hot times in round eight of the Friction Hydraulics Series Hafren CC’s 10.
Held on the Berriew course, Wrekinsport ace Hales headed to the top of the standings as he swapped a five-point deficit to Simon Romei to a five-point lead after the Paramount rider finished third on the evening.
Hales stopped the watch on 20 minutes 13 seconds – his best ever time 10 in an SCCA event –to finally get the better of Dean Callister this season after the Aerologic rider took the runner-up spot in 20:35.
Romei still leads the Friction Veterans’ Series and moves down to the silver medal spot in the overall Series after his first attempt at the course.
He ended his evening on 21:48 to push out Bryn Davies by 26 seconds for the final podium spot, but he couldn’t top the charge of Deb Hutson-Lumb in the Veterans’ category.
Romei registered a plus of +4:43 to take the runners-up spot, but it was Hutson-Lumb who won in +6:27.
Hutson-Lumb finished runner-up in the Female category with a fine 23:24, 34 seconds behind Wrekinsport team-mate Hayley Wells who now leads the 2024 Female Championship by 95 points.
In the Road Bike Series, Bridgnorth CC’s Sam Holwill took a fine win in 22:40, 1:09 ahead of Paramount’s William Preston.
