In what has become a regular Christmas feature of East-Newport, indoor training, the much
anticipated 2009 Santa Race was held at Underwood leisure centre.  There was close racing with white
beards and red pointy hats flowing in the breeze!

The first heat saw the much improved Josh Davis take a worthy win with a determined block on his
father, Gilbert, allowing Sean Bennett to undertake and steal second.
The second heat saw the two Hughes brothers collide on every bend with Ryan just pipping Aaron to
the line.

Heat three saw Ryan Hughes take the lead from the start, with his usual quick gating, leaving the
other riders to battle for second.  Matt Davis and Colin Wildy over and undertook each other
throughout the race with Matt forcing Colin wide on the last bend to earn a worthy second.
Heat four promised to be an even race with Aaron on gate 3, Ryan Lewis on gate 4 and Matt on gate 1.
From the start Aaron out-gated the others, to take a comfortable lead and the win.  A missed pedal
by Ryan Lewis allowed Matt to power past for second.

Heat five saw Ryan Hughes power out of the gate and remain untroubled by the other riders.
Heat six saw Aaron cruise to a comfortable win with young Nicky Goward pushing hard to finish the
race without being lapped.

Heat seven produced a classic battle as the Hughes brothers tried to force their way past each
other.  Constant switching and contact bought many an ooh and many an aah  from the spectators.
In the end, the better drive out of the last corner saw Ryan take the win.
The last heat saw an exclusion for Matt and a first for Ryan Lewis.

As the heats were conducted in the spirit of Christmas there was enough time to organise two
*finals*.

The B-final saw Gilbert, Sean, Matt and Colin all eagerly wanting the win.  Gilbert spun at the gate
with Matt making a swift exit followed by Colin and Sean.  Matt though leading started to feel the
pace with Colin chasing hard.  A wide entrance to turn three, on the second lap, allowed Sean to
dive under Colin.  The chase was now on with Matt tiring and Sean gaining!  As both came out of the
last turn, both got good drive and crossed the line at nearly the same time. The Referee`s decision,
with confirmation by Matt, was that Sean won.

The A-final was always going to be a (sorry!) cracker as the Hughes brothers were at opposite ends
of the grid, Ryan on 4, Josh on 3, Ryan Lewis on 2 and Aaron on 1.   Plenty of restarts, as
collision after collision, in the first turn saw riders fall, dismount and snap spokes.  With both
riders showing excellent gating skills and neither giving any quarter in the bends the race finally
finished with a win for Ryan Hughes.

Many thanks to Ieuan and Callum for their flag marshalling skills.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all.
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Regards
Tony