Who is hot and who is not (for TWE Point Series)
For the final week 
vs.
Div 1: Hot: Gavin White
Not: Tirian McManus ...... Turned his 5 point lead into a 1 point deficit
No disrespect to the top 5 contenders, but this week is all about Gavin White and Tirian McManus, separated by 1 point, the battle is going down to the wire.
It is very clear that the battle lines have been drawn, with both camps employing the help of several of the top Division 1 riders. In fact I personally believe one of these “helpers” holds the key to the series and will tip the balance in favour of their rider should they turn up.
Why wouldn’t said rider make an appearance? Well the G2C NSW’s premiere national level road event is being conducted this weekend and if the rider’s team found out what he was doing on Friday they would spit chips. (Is this worth a phone call?)
What to watch for
Win’n’Out This will be a nerve racking race for both Tirian and Gavin, in fact they will both be water tight with tension going into the start of this race. Expect to see the pace high from the start with both camps hoping to hold their rider in correct position. Gavin would be hoping to go one on one with Tirian in the first sprint whilst Tirian will be hoping a few of the strong sprinters launch early and make the race a longer one.
Point’a’Lap Gavin will be keen to pick up some early points in the hope he can secure a position then enlist one of his henchmen to pick up the remaining points. Tirian will want the race to be hard from the start and hopefully get someone away early to pick up the initial points and nullify Gavin’s powerful sprint. Midway Tirian will step up to try and collect the mid section points thus propelling him to a potential series win
What happens if a points are equal at the end of the night!
This is almost impossble as the riders are separated by 1 point! With the races being worth 10, 6 , 4 and 2 points the 1 point becomes like a ½ point in your footy betting. However there is a possibility. Should Gavin or Tirian dead heat in a race (which is impossible in the Point a Lap as the later sprints take precedence over early sprints) the points are combined and split equally thus giving an odd number.
In the extremely unlikely circumstance that this should happen then I refer to the RAW Track constitution:
Equal placing. Count back to highest points on final night. (Clause: Div 1 will have ride off in a 500m TT)
Winning contenders
Gavin White 220
Tirian McManus 219
Div 2: Hot: Michael Poppelwell and Geoff Baxter
Not: who cares
What an amazing series Matt Beazley has left his run to late to challenge for victory, but will most likey secure 3rd place. At the Sydney Metropolitan championships last weekend Geoff Baxter took several physiological victories over Poppelwell. Will this make a difference? I am not sure, both riders are very experienced and clever however Poppelwell has spent a lot more time on the track and more importantly at RAW track events. I am not sure if Geoff has even riden a Win’n’Out other than the one earlier in the season.
Right now Popplewell leads Baxter by 5 points and having stated my case above I think that should be enough
Top 5 contenders
Michael Popplewell 199
Geoff Baxter 194
Matt Beazley 185
Scott Mills (FOC) 174
Nosh Mistry 173
Darryl Thorncraft 170
Div 3: Hot: Stuart Hughes
Not: Lise Benjamin ..... having said this she did better the World Best time for 500m on the weekend
Bradley cannot be beaten! I expect him to ride Div 2 this week
Fowler is almost assured 2nd place
The rest can sort it out them selves
Top 5 contenders
Bradley Heap (F.O.C) 230
James Fowler 201
Vic Svacek 186
Stuart Hughes 186
Lise Benjamin 171
Div 4: Hot: Rob Wright
Not: Damon Marshall
Nice Battle between Warren and Phil however the gap seems to have stabilised at 5 points. Third place Lizanne has indicated her non attendance for the final week and will hope her 10 point advantage over 4th holds out
Top 5 contenders
Phillip Dobe 199
Warren Phillips 194
Lizanne Wilmot 186
Rob Wright 176
Garrath Styles 169
Damon Marshall 167
Div 5 Although this division doesn’t carry any prize money, only medals/trophies it is still a hotly contested division. David Jansch seems to have the momentum to carry him through for the victory however Sari will be pedalling her heart out to maintain her slender 1 point lead.
I personally believe that points will be hard to come by for the leaders in this division as there are some strong riders who have just come out of the newbies grade, hence I don’t expect the top 5 to change dramatically.
Top 5 contenders
Sari Mitrevski 151
David Jansch 150
Laura Beazley 145
Eleri Morgan -Thomas 144
Nigel Apps 138
Peter Buckingham 136 Odds
Div 1
Gavin white 55%
Tirian McManus 45%
Div 2
Michael Poppellwell 68%
Geoff Baxter 30%
Matt Beazley 2%
Div 3
Bradley Heap 100%
Div 4
Phillip Dobe 70%
Warren Phillips 30%
Div 5
David Jansch 50%
Sari Mitrevski 40%
Laura Beazley 5%
Elerie Morgan – Thomas 5%
