SSSCCRRL 2026 Round 4

91

Bobbington, 18th June 2026

View result

Race report

by Will Fotheringham

Every year it happens at least once in the handicap league, that the front groups evade the fastmen in the scratch group, and it happened this year at Bobbington in round 4, where the finish was contested by 18 survivors of groups one and two, with the victory going to Damien Guest of Wolverhampton, from Joe Charley of Stourbridge – the latter “fresh” from organising the West Midlands most prestigious race of the season, the National under-23 series round at Welland just four days earlier. 

Bobbington is the toughest circuit in the series, but it often throws up this kind of result, mainly because the two-mile climb to Six Ashes tests the scratch group in a different way; if it splits, as happened on the last lap, there aren’t enough numbers to give the group any kind of speed. Plus the climb creates all kinds of nuances with riders trying to save their strength to hang onto the better climbers. But variety, as they say, is the spice of life…

Given 13 minutes to close on group 1 and six to close on group 2, the scratch group made rapid inroads, closing to 4min behind group 1 by the top of Six Ashes for the third time. However, group 2 made rapid progress as well, and was only 1min behind group 1 at that point; the gaps had tightened further by the bell, with the front two groups coming together the final time up the climb. 

In the scratch group, however, things had changed, with a split in the group prompted by Halesowen’s Luke Mannings, who took with him former pro Andy Turner, and Bridgnorth duo Ian Gilkes and Matt Clarke – the latter making his first appearance this year – although they were unable to get the gap back and finished a minute behind the 18 rider group that contested a tight finish with Guest, Charley and 3^rd placed George Coombes of Aerologic spread across the road side by side.

The split in the scratch group had implications for the overall title race as well, with leader  Kirk Vickers (Holohan Coaching) finishing at the back of the second part of the group, and crucially 15 places behind Coombes who took the leader’s jersey by just two points. In the women’s standings Hayley Wells (Aerologic) had another strong night finishing 12^th in the lead group, while George Bromley (BCC) held his lead in the junior table. 

Next round will be Charlton on July 9; we will try and re-arrange the cancelled Pattingham round for July 23. 

Result

For the full league tables see https://sssccrrl.org.uk/event/sssccrrl-2026-round-4/#tables

Pos	No.	Name	Club/Team	Cat	Time	Pts
1	83	Damion Guest	Wolverhampton Wheelers	2nd	1:26:27
2	3	Joe Charley	Stourbridge CC	3rd	ST	93
3	4	George Coombes	Aerologic RT	3rd	ST	87
4	34	Nick Morris	Clee Cycles	3rd	ST	82
5	47	Tom Wieckowski	Gorilla Coffee Cycling Club		ST	78
6	38	Scott Palmer	Aerologic RT		ST	75
7	16	Jack Ward	Sharrow Cycling Group	4th	ST	74
8	40	Mark Pritchard	Aerologic RT	4th	ST	73
9	26	Dean Callister	Aerologic RT	3rd	ST	72
10	87	Phil Roberts			ST
11	17	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport	4th	ST	70
12	55	Hayley Wells	Aerologic RT		ST	69
13	29	Benjamin Hancock	Private Member	3rd	ST	68
14	54	Jeremy Harrold	Aerologic RT		ST	67
15	33	Stacey Morgan	Ludlow Brewery Race Team	3rd	ST	66
16	39	Kevin Payton	Stourbridge CC	3rd	ST	65
17	84	William Preston	Paramount CRT	3rd	+0:06
18	86	Chris Staples			+0:08
19	41	Luke Mannings	Halesowen A & CC	2nd	+1:00	62
20	8	Ian Gilkes	Bridgnorth CC	2nd	+1:01	61
21	28	Tomos Hales	Aerologic RT	4th	ST	60
22	88	Matt Clarke	Bridgnorth CC		+1:05
23	43	Andrew Turner	ATP Performance RT	3rd	+1:07	58
24	46	Noah White	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club	3rd	+1:43	57
25	30	Isaak Herbert	Schils – Doltcini Racing Team	2nd	+1:48	56
26	10	Thomas Herbert	Bridgnorth CC	2nd	+1:51	55
27	52	James Satoor	Bridgnorth CC	1st	ST	54
28	44	Kirk Vickers	Holohan Coaching Race Team	3rd	ST	53
29	23	George Bromley	BCC Race Team	2nd	+1:55	52
30	2	Chris Breeze	Black Country Racing Club		+3:17	51
31	82	James Bilson			+3:19
32	42	James Saunders	Halesowen A & CC	3rd	+8:07	49
33	18	Ian Williams	Stourbridge CC	4th	+10:56	48
34	24	Richard Bromley	Private Member		+11:10	47
35	6	Tim Cullinan	Bridgnorth CC	3rd	+13:16	46
36	81	Jonathan Dickens		4th	ST
37	13	Damian Lee	Stafford Road Club	4th	+13:43	44
38	57	Lorna Dangerfield	Stourbridge CC		+18:26	43
39	22	Matthew Bradley	Stourbridge CC	4th	+18:29	42
40	15	Neil Ruston	Dudley Cycle Club	3rd	ST	41
41	19	Robert MacGregor	Paramount CRT	3rd	+19:06	40
DNF	85	Phillip Blackwell	SCC
DNF	31	Kaleb Herbert	Halesowen A & CC	2nd		1