.: 2009 Race Report & Results

It was a signature last lap move that Marina Duvnjak used to elude the Elite Women to take victory in the 6th annual North Shore City Grand Prix. In a captivatingly aggressive race, Toni Bradshaw initiated proceedings in the first of her many attacks with further aggression shown by defending Grand Prix Champion Emma Petersen (Waikato), World Cup winner Kaytee Boyd (Nth Shore), Malindi Maclean & Rosy McCall. Emma Crum rode wisely to pick up the first 2 sprint prizes before things settled down for the final chapter of the race. Boyd escaped with Petersen for perhaps the longest attack of the race but once back together no-one could respond fast enough to Duvnjak's move & she led a deserving Petersen & McCall across the finishline on a crowd-lined Hurstmere Rd.

The throng of spectators witnessed the Elite Men's race taken out in convincing style by Track World Champion Hayden Godfrey. Supported loyally by his Subway team, Godfrey (Chch) stormed down Hurstmere Rd at such a pace that no-one could come off his wheel in the dash for the finishline. Godfrey had earlier joined Mike Northey (Nth Shore) in the first promising attack of the evening but it appeared that Northey's aggressive enthusiasm wasn't matched by Godfrey's & the break lost momentum. In a calculated late-race move, Mark Langlands (Waikato) flew off the front a lap out from the substantial late-race Crowd Prime. His efforts were rewarded with a box full of generously donated cash from an appreciative crowd. However, Gordon McCauley wasn't going to let the sprint for the Crowd Prime turn into a race-winning move & turned the throttle to ensure it was to be a bunch gallop for the finale. It was Shem Rodger (Waikato) followed by Josh England (Nth Shore) who trailed Godfrey (in his 2nd Grand Prix win) across the finishline to complete what most riders described as the fastest Grand Prix ever.

Elite Men

1st Hayden Godfrey (Chch)

2nd Shem Rodger (Waik)

3rd Josh England (Nth Shore)

4th Alex Ray

5th Mike Northey (Nth Shore)

Elite Women

1st Marina Duvnjak

2nd Emma Peterson (Waik)

3rd Rosy McCall

4th Kate Chilcott (Nth Shore)

5th Fiona Mead (Ireland)

Age Group

1st James Northey (Nth Shore)

2nd Daniel Smith

3rd Darrin Strachan

4th Nigel Hunt

5th Blair Sutherland

U17 Girls

1st Laura Gretton

2nd Georgina Wilson

3rd Georgia Williams

4th Racquel Sheath

5th Paige Paterson

U17 Boys

1st James Oram

2nd Daniel Cross

3rd Andrew Ranford

4th Daniel Poole

5th Dion Smith