Newton's Day

Chris Newton put the controversy and disappointment of his disqualification from the National Championships Points Race with a fine win in Saturday's invitation Points event. Newton opened up in determined style, winning the first two sprints. Rob Hayles then signaled his intent with wins in the third and fourth sprints, though Newton kept his core moving with second place in each.

Throughout the event Paul Manning launched a series of solo attacks with the aim of taking a lap. It was one of these attacks after 70 laps which initiated a five man break including Manning, Kieran Page, Chris Newton, Russell Downing and Rob Hales. They took their time, but eventually made contact with the rear of the main field to pick up 20 bonus points each. From then on the race for the leading positions was limited to these five riders.

Newton then had a wonderful spell when he won four out of five sprints and then really slammed the door on his rivals by taking another lap in the company of Russell Downing. In the process Downing lifted himself above Rob Hayles into a comfortable second place. A couple of late sprint wins confirmed Rob Hayles' third place.

However, it had been Newton's day. His speed and aggression were unmatched and he also showed his customary acute awareness of tactics to confirm himself Britain’s best Points Race rider. Downing showed once again that he is a more than handy Track rider, whilst it was good to see Rob Hayles back at the championships after a couple of years break.

Invitation 40 kms Points Race
1 Chris Newton Corima RT 85 points
2 Russell Downing Life Repair CRT 60
3 Rob Hayles Cofidis 50
4 Paul Manning VC St Raphael 42
5 Kieran Page SP Systems-Wightlink RT 40
6 Dean Downing John Saey CRT 12
7 Ross Muir Velo Ecosse 7
8 Bryan Steel 7
9 Mark Kelly Dataphonics RT 6
10 Anthony Malarczyk bikesonline.com 3
11 Kristian House 3
12 Thomas White VC de Londres 1
13 John Scripps VC de Londres 0
14 John Stollery Velo Ecosse 0
15 Steve Cummings Sport and Publicity 0
16 Martin Freemen Milton Keynes 0