Charlie Braszell Handicap. Weatherboard circuit. 56 km.
Tony gets his Mojo back
A cool head, expert positioning and a timely sprint saw Tony Mirabella edge out Phil Cartledge to win this year’s “Charlie”.
The perpetual trophy will rightly have Tony’s name on it as the 2015 winner, but the race only came together with 200m to go, thanks largely to a race-sacrificing drive from Andrew Rushton.
The mid-winter sunshine brought 18 sturdy lads out for this year’s edition of the Charlie Braszell, a race dedicated to the memory of Charlie and established to encourage club riders to get out and race in what is usually the dull grey cold that is a Ballarat winter.
The sun was out but a chilly NW wind was building and would make life difficult in the Avenue.
First off was Stay-away-all-day-breakaway Ray Hodgson and today he had a companion, Mal Rock, and 26 min on Scratch. Two up around Weatherboard with a North Westerly is a challenge that not many would relish. Mal is battling to find some fitness and form but rode well to stay clear for as long as he did. The inspired little champ Ray rode like two men today, and when Graeme Parker rolled up on his side the new duo looked to be bound for blue ribbons and chocolate.
If the race was 200m shorter they would have won it. Today Ray was a very worthy winner of the “Most Aggressive” ride of the day.
Chasing Ray and Mal was another odd pairing of Graeme Parker and Greg Curnow off 18 min. Greg finds himself drifting out in the marks and struggling to find that form that usually makes him such a handful to reel in.
Graeme was in solid form and eventually had to cut Greg loose as he pressed on to catch the front of the race. He found the long-suffering Ray late into the race and decided working with Ray was the smart move. This pairing held off all comers until the shadow of the finish flag.
Over the last few races it’s been the bunch with Brian Lee in it that has either got up or proven difficult to catch, and this was again true today. His companions in the 12 min trio, Ron Larkin and Albie “Honolulu” Govan, had to throw a noose around the exuberant Lee who was keen to press on. Three riders with three strengths, Brian when the road goes up, Ron for the long flat drags and Albie for the downhill, downwind stuff.
Once they worked that out, the trio made good ground on the race lead and kept a good break on a building peleton behind them.
The low kms training regime on his CX is working a charm for Bob “Sponge Bob” Morley, riding probably his best race all year.
Third last year in a race that means a lot to Bob, and with 7 min and Peter “Fifi” Livitsanis and Michael “the Dr” Veal for company he never missed a beat and even looked comfortable when second scratch and then scratch arrived and lifter the pace 10% each time.
The Doc is returning to racing and was a bit underdone today, the white flag going up about half way when second scratch arrived on Weatherboard Rd.
Three minutes back, give or take a minute, was the second scratch quartet of Grant “Smokey” Dawson, Darren “Flattop” Terry, Dave “Pixie” Peters and Rob Phillips.
Grant got a late start for being a good sportsman helping out Phil, but turned it on to catch up with his mark.
A good day for these riders, all big and strong and made for this sort of weather, they pushed hard into the wind and maintained a solid tempo. Two laps in they dropped Dave who retreated to the relative comfort of scratch, where he rode particularly well to stay with scratch and stay in the race. They caught Morley’s mob about mid race and three became five as all but Veal made the back wheel.
Bob and Peter mucked in as best they could but the headwind in the Avenue was reserved for the stronger second scratch riders, Rob and Darren. Despite what seemed a reasonable clip nothing could be seen up the road and going into the last lap it was obvious they were going to need more fire power to bring the race back. Turning into the Avenue for the last time with the front of the race still 5 min up the road, the foot came off the gas as the combined bunch awaited the assistance of Scratch.
How Phil Cartledge actually got to the start line is a saga that is best left to his memoirs, a combination of vehicle breakdown and bike malfunction conspiring to wreck is weekend. Together with Tony Mirabella, Brendan Schiemer and Andrew Rushton they had some work to do to bring back 4 mins on second scratch and 26 min to Ray.
They picked up a few strays on the way including Dave Peters and Michael Veal but it wasn’t until they had rounded into Weatherboard Rd for the last time that they caught the combined second scratch and 7 min bunch.
Now a large bunch of ten was chasing the 5 riders up the road. Predictably, Phil railed the chicane corner at 50km/hr and Tony charged up Henderson’s Rd hill for the last time. These manoeuvres testing the fortitude of the bunch, but as they crossed the Avenue, bound for home, the race appeared one km ahead.
Darren, Phil and Andrew continued to press, even Tony had a dig to see who had legs, Brendan and Andrew jumping to the challenge to close him down. At the piggery corner the front markers were still holding 500 m and when the Scratchies started eyeballing each other for the fastest time sprint, the race seemed lost. Enter Darren Terry who pushed forward lifting the enthusiasm for the race win and when he started to falter, it was Andrew Rushton who stepped up, sacrificing his race to make the bridge into the wind.
With 150 m to go the chase bunch blew past Brian, Albie and Ron.
With 100 m to go the pace lifted again and Graeme and Ray were caught.
With 50 m to go Tony launched, Phil on his hip, the two go to the line with nothing in it, Tony just taking the win.
The minors went to whoever was left, Peter Livitsanis stole third, Bob Morley took a stunning fourth and a tiring Darren held on for fifth.
Special thanks to the Braszell family for sponsoring the race.
Results:
1st – Tony Mirabella (Scratch)
2nd – Phil Cartledge (Scratch)
3rd – Peter Livitsanis (7 min)
4th – Bob Morley (7 min)
5th – Darren Terry (4 min)
Fastest Time – *Andrew Rushton (Scratch)
Most Aggressive/Ride of the Day – Ray Hodgson (26 min)
*Andrew awarded FT for being the next Scratch rider over the line (Race condition: Only 1 prize per rider)
Main photo at top of page –
L-R rear: Geoff Braszell, Phil Cartledge (3rd), Andrew Rushton (Fastest Time)
L-R front: Neil Braszell, Tony Mirabella (1st), Peter Livitsanis (3rd), Ray Hodgson (Most Aggressive/Ride of the Day)
L-R: Neil Braszell, Tony Mirabella (1st), Geoff Braszell
L-R: Neil Braszell, Phil Cartledge (2nd), Geoff Braszell
L-R: Neil Braszell, Peter Livitsanis (3rd), Geoff Braszell
L-R: Neil Braszell, Andrew Rushton (Fastest Time), Geoff Braszell
A Braszell track bike, circa 1950’s
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