20-May-84

European Points Race Championship

Curran ninth in Munich

BRITISH trackmen competing in European Cup races on the Olympic track at Munich last week were up against formidable opposition, including current world champions and past champions, but gained "good experience," according to Director of Racing, Jim Hendry.

"There were East and West Germans, Czechosloyaks, Belgians, Italians, Swiss, Austrians and ourselves" he said. "The standard was very high, especially in the points race. Martin Webster, who is hoping to ride in the points race at world level, learned a lot. He was fourth in the junior World's in 1982 and this was his first time in senior racing. It was useful for Paul Curran, too."

Curran finished ninth in the points race, Webster 15th, but Webster's brief was to close the gaps for Curran.

"Every team was supposed to have two riders in the race," added Hendry, "but the West Germans fielded eight riders, and they all wore the same jerseys! Curran was unlucky and admitted to falling asleep with eight laps to go and he missed the winning break. But for that he would have finished fifth. Webster got a pedal in his back wheel at half-distance and had six spokes ripped out. He held it round the bend, was pushed up the banking by a German who thought he was going to fall on him, then came down successfully to land on the grass."

The points race was won by the 1981 world champion Lutz Haueisen (East Germany) from RoIf Golz (West Germany), with Manfred Donike (West Germany) third. Hans-Joergen Pohl, the 1982 world champion, was eighth.

British junior team pursuiters, Nick Noble, Jon Walshaw, Chris Lillywhite and Robert Holden, finished third in the junior team pursuit, won in 4-35.9 by the West Germans from the Italians who clocked 4-35.27.

The British recorded 4-47.1, but there was a story behind that.

"Their time is misleading," continued Hendry. "They were just about to catch the Austrians in the ride-off for third place when their third man swung up the track. He came down again and ended up in the middle of our team.

"There was a lot of confusion before things got sorted out, then the gun went to signal the end of the race. We really wanted the team to finish to get a time. They would have done about a 4-41 or a 4-40. I suppose. In both rides we lost Nick Noble."

The West Germans also used the occasion to stage a kilometre trial for the Olympics. Fredy Schmidtke, the world champion in 1982, was fastest in 1-5.81. His compatriot, Gerhard Scheller, who finished second to Russia's Sergei Kopylov in the world championships in Switzerland last year, recorded a 1-6 ride.