Snowsport England Aosta Valley Grand Prix Series
Race 1 " Norfolk Ski
Centre
Sunday 2nd May, 2010
How sweet it is to sit beneath a
fond father's smile,
And the caress of a mother to soothe and
beguile.
Let others delight amid new pleasures to roam,
But give
me, oh, give me, the pleasures of home.
Home, home, sweet, sweet
home!
There is no place like home, oh, there is no place like home.
And
for Norfolk racers Michael Molloy and Sophie Skipper home soil proved
especially enjoyable as they swept to impressive victories in the first
race of the Snowsport England’s Grand Prix Series for summer 2010.
Following
the wonderful news of Aosta Valley’s sponsorship agreement for the
Grand Prix Series and the All England Championships for the next 2
years, Norfolk’s magnificent artificial ski complex " the finest in the
UK - was the perfect location from which to launch the 2010 series. And
whilst the weather appeared to refuse to acknowledge the fact that May
had arrived even those gunmetal grey skies overhead and a bitterly cold
wind that raced across the start area couldn’t cool the action happening
on the hill.
In the men’s race Cardiff stable mates Andrew
Watson & Andrew Davies, Hemel’s Gerard Flahive and co-Norfolk racers
Stuart Riches and Shaun Blyth all found themselves within 0.3 seconds
after run 1 and looking to overturn Molloy’s slender first half
advantage in run 2.
Indeed as each racer attacked John Riedy’s
2nd run course Molloy kept his nerve at the top of the hill before
blasting out of the start gate and magnificently dissecting Riedy’s 18
gate challenge to not only hang onto his slender lead but to build a
buffer into the final result.
Behind Molloy, Watson’s 2nd run
proved good enough to claim the runners up spot in the overall rankings
with first year junior Shaun Blyth claiming a very impressive
3rdoverall.
Placed 2nd after run 1 in the ladies race Sophie
Skipper’s fabulous afternoon run proved decisive as 1st run leader Alice
Hales and 3rd placed Caroline Powell perished whilst chasing Skipper’s
challenging mark. The Telford junior 1 duo of Alexandra Bullock and
Charlotte Shrimpton eventually proved Skipper’s main challengers and
whilst both were the only other ladies under the 16 second mark in the
afternoon run, neither could quite steal the day from the Norfolk based
junior, placing 2nd & 3rd overall respectively.
In the
categories Beverley Anderson, Emily Goddard, Claire Brown, Georgia
Hallet and Francesca Lee joined Skipper as category winners in the
ladies race whilst Robert Hales, Stuart Riches, Shaun Blyth, Ashley
Breese and Nathan Breese joined Molloy in claiming category victories in
the male field.
Race 2 sees the series move north from Norfolk’s
lowlands to the weather carved hills of Lancashire as Pendle plays host
to the nation’s finest young racers. If that hill provides half the
excitement that the Norfolk one did then it’ll be an event not to be
missed. Who will add their names alongside Michael Molloy and Sophie
Skipper as winners in 2010?
Sunday May 30th is the date and
whilst there may be no place like home, there equally are few challenges
quite like Pendle Hill. If it isn’t yet in your diary then add it |
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