Tim is a man for all seasons in Friction Series
What a difference a year makes as an event blighted by a block headwind in 2022 enjoyed almost perfect conditions in 2023 as round five of the Friction Hydraulics Series, the WCTTCA and SCCA 30 took place between Shawbirch and Market Drayton.
That change of conditions didn’t alter the outcome of the overall win however as Bridgnorth CC’s Tim Beardmore led his club home to a one-two and extended their Top Club Award lead to 105 points.
Beardmore stopped the watch on one hour six minutes and 33 seconds, 38 seconds ahead of team-mate Jonathan Mills-Keeling.
Beardmore stretched his defence of the Overall Friction Hydraulics Championship to 70 points, as well extending his lead of the Friction Veterans Series to 80 points – although he was not the winner on the day.
That honour went to Wrekinsport’s Deb Hutson-Lumb, with Beardmore runner-up when the age-related adjustments had been applied and Mills-Keeling third.
Hutson-Lumb wasn’t finished there either, taking the win in the Friction Women’s Series to narrow the gap at the top to Helen Tudor to 40 points with her 1:15:22 effort.
Duncan just squeezed out Hafren CC’s Bryn Davies for the final podium spot by nine seconds and did the maths before his start to come up with a set of targets to try and manage his first ever attempt at the distance.
It’s unusual to find juniors stepping up to this distance, but that didn’t stop Paramount’s Chester Romei returning having raced the same course in 2022. Romei stopped the watch on 1:14:39, good enough to find himself in the top 10.
