The 2008 edition of the Autumn Festival Criterium was one of the most successful yet with exciting racing and strong support from the local Armidale community.
The race was run in conjunction with the Cervelo Cup criterium series, which resulted in the biggest field on record with over 130 riders in 6 grades. Armidale riders took out three of the six races, with Geoff Straub winning A grade, Col Maciver B grade and Simon Paull D grade.
A grade
A full report on Geoff Straub’s victory can be found here. Full placings and sprint winners were:
- Geoff Straub (Armidale)
- Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche)
- Matt Conelly (Port Macquarie)
- Ethan Kimmence (Inverell)
Intermediate sprints:
- Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche)
- Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche)
- Brendan Jones (Inverell)
- Tim Davis (Lismore)
Matt Conelly took out the overall victory in the Cervelo Cup series, and also won the sprinter’s classification.
B Grade
There was some great racing in B grade with father and son team John and Jay Clissold from Tamworth attacking throughout to try and set up the win. While their tactics were on the mark it was all to no avail in the end with a typically strong performance from Col Maciver.
After looking like he was going off the back of the pack for the first five minutes of the race, Col got stronger as the race got longer. While the crowd may have been surprised to see him coming around the corner into the finishing straight in the lead, he executed his plan to perfection, breaking away on the last lap with the help of team mate Nick Myhill. Andrew Kirk also produced a fast finish to take out fourth place.
Full placings were:
- Col Maciver (Armidale)
- Daniel Aldrich (Manning Valley)
- Lewis Miles (Port Macquarie)
- Andrew Kirk (Armidale)
- Paul O’Connor (Grafton)
Intermediate sprints:
- Michael Cutting (Port Macquarie)
- Michael Cutting (Port Macquarie)
- Matthew Wurth (Manning Valley)
C grade
C grade was another good race with the biggest field of the day, 35 riders in all. Despite a strong Armidale contingent the finish was dominated by out of towners, with Jake Campbell (Inverell) outsprinting Matthew Vagg (Coffs Harbour) and Joseph Koch (Macksville) for the win. Full places were:
- Jake Campbell (Inverell)
- Matthew Vagg (Coffs Harbour)
- Joseph Koch (Maxville)
- Darren Trail (Tamworth)
Intermediate sprints:
- Ashely Corbett (Port Macquarie)
- Ty Tucker (Tamworth)
D grade
Armidale riders dominated D grade. In only his fourth ever race, Simon Paull appeared from nowhere to take first place, and will no doubt be bumped up a grade or two next time around. Tim Dunn finished in third place and Reece O’Hara in fifth. Dave Jenner won a sprint but didn’t figure in the finish (probably missed out on his pre-race sausage sandwich).
- Simon Paull (Armidale)
- Greg Robertson (Grafton)
- Tim Dunn (Armidale)
- Graham Lee (Gunnedah)
- Reece O’Hara (Armidale)
Intermediate sprints:
- Dave Jenner (Armidale)
- Steven Dever (Port Macquarie)
E grade
In the junior race a group of four riders jumped the rest of the pack at the start and maintained a hot pace for the duration. The race was dominated by Nathan Hardaker from Coffs Harbour whose sprint was too strong for the other riders. Placings were:
- Nathan Hardaker (Coffs Harbour)
- Kieran Lewis (Tamworth)
- Tom Loy (Inverell)
- Alex Nicholls (Tamworth)
Intermediate sprint:
- Nathan Hardaker (Coffs Harbour)
Novice
The novices produced some closer racing than their E grade counterparts. Again the win went to a Hardaker, but this time it was Nathan’s younger brother Troy. Emily Nicholls from Tamworth also rode well to win the sprint and take out second place from Paddy Corcoran. Dan Allen from Armidale rode really well to join up with this group after missing the start.
- Troy Hardaker (Coffs Harbour)
- Emily Nicholls (Tamworth)
- Paddy Corcoran (Inverell)
- Dan Allen (Armidale)
Intermediate sprint:
- Emily Nicholls (Tamworth)
With so many riders signing on the handicapper had a busy day
“Sorry mate, but because of your 7th place in Gunnedah – Tamworth in ’81 I’m going to have to put you in B grade”