Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Holland wins shortened Tuesdsay PIR on course that gives new meaning to 'hot spots'



Finnegans Toys/Discover Chiropractic's Steve Holland (pictured below) seized the victory at a Tuesday PIR race shortened to 12 laps because of extreme heat. Temps well in excess of 100 degrees brought out sprinklers and misters to cool the riders, but it didn't seem to slow the racing.

Holland joined Jeff Mitchem (Rapha Racing) David Gates (Bridgetown Velo) and James Adamson in an early-and-successful breakaway group in the Cat 1/2/3 that gobbled up most of hot-spot points throughout the evening. Holland's consistent sprinting gave him the win by four pionts over Mitchem. Gates finished third, seven points down.

Race official Luciano Bailey devised an interesting formula for the the Cat 3/4 race after some riders requested a shortened evening. The first five finishers on lap five would get the top five results in win-and-out fashion, and everyone else would have to race the full schedule.

Ironclad Performance Wear made the most of the situation and their superior numbers, launching David Monnig on a five-lap solo flyer for the top spot, and then following it up with three more riders in the top five. Ironclad's Ryan Smith finished second on the lap-five win-and-out but chose to keep riding. Team cthulu's Andrew Trask was third.

RESULTS
PIR Tuesday Night Series
Portland International Raceway, July 28


Cat 4/5
1. Riehl, Damian 18
2. Ward, Christopher 12
3. Murphy, Kyle 11
4. Barnhart, Brandon 8
5. Curzon, Aaron 8
Cat 3/4
1. Monnig, David (Ironclad Performance Wear) 15
2. Smith, Ryan (Ironclad Performance Wear) 12
3. Trask, Andrew (team cthulu) 10
4. Willis, Andrew (Ironclad Performance Wear) 8
5. McCoy, Jonathan (Sunset Cycles) 7
Cat 1/2/3
1. Holland, Steven (Finnegans Toys/Discover Chiropractic) 21
2. Mitchem, Jeff (Rapha Racing) 17
3. Gates, David (Bridgetown Velo) 14
4. Adamson, James 12
5. Leonard, John (Rapha Racing) 9


Rapha Racing's Jeff Micthem and Bridgetown Velo's David Gates made the break.


The Cat 1/2/3 break group contests a hot spot.


Ironclad's Dave Monnig gets misty on the way to taking the lap five win-and-out.


A sprint for the line in the Cat 3/4 race.


The promoter's improvised sprinklers were popular.