The cat was firmly placed amongst the pigeons as Dan Soltys threw down a challenge to Andy Bason and Dave Griffiths in round two of the Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series.

The Oswestry Paragon Hilly 17 provided a few upsets with its stern climbs and highly technical course.

The lightweight Soltys coped best with the climbs to Treflach and the old racecourse as he flew around at an average 22.6mph in 44mins 36sec, seeing off local lad Griffiths some 50 seconds back.

This victory saw Soltys take the lead of the series overall by a slender five points from Bason and sets up a great head to head for round three, the Mid Shropshire Wheelers 25 on April 12 at Prees.

With a greater than expected 1,545ft of climbing – and a few hair-raising descents – the course was almost designed with Griffiths in mind, and he took advantage to put some distance between himself and the powerfully built Andy Bason, finishing in an unaccustomed third place after crossing the line in 47:02.

Bason was clearly suffering with the effects of a chest infection but fought back after being slowed by crossing traffic at the Treflach right turn to see off a great challenge from Oswestry’s Neil Coles by 51 seconds.

There were other classy performances in the Top 10 with Andy Tamplin and Ged Kennedy helping Wrekinsport to extend their Top Club Award lead after finishing 5th and 8th respectively.

One place ahead of Kennedy with an actual time of 51:46, Phil Guy consolidated his Veteran’s Series’ lead with a superb ride to taking the maximum 60 points on offer.

The North Shropshire Wheeler’s time converted to a -2:34 standard, reflecting the severity of the course with many riders taking to lower-geared road bikes and none beating their target times.

Guy’s closest challenger for Veteran’s honours was Ludlow’s Pete Ding, registering an excellent -3:20 to edge out Coles by eight seconds. Coles’ excellent ride put daylight between Ding and Allan Jones, with the Wrekinsport rider taking fourth in -5:29.

Reigning Veteran’s Champion Pete Griffin of Newport did not get the best of the day, ending up in an unfamiliar 6th on -7.13 and now has some ground to make up.