Cesar reigns in Corkagh Park

Cesar Lopes took a win for Orwell in the first round of the Inter Club League, while Declan Malone and David Harrington got results in this weekend’s open races.

The Inter Club League got off to good start last week with big numbers signing on for two nights of racing in Corkagh Park. Orwell riders made a big impression on both races, with the standout performance coming from Cesar Lopes, who took his first win in only his third race. Lopes attacked the Limit group right from the start and managed to maintain a significant gap on all of his chasers until her crossed the finished line.

Starting in semi-limit, Orwell’s Declan Malone was the only rider who looked like he could pull back time on Lopes but had settle for second in the end.

In the Scratch/Semi Scratch race on Thursday, Orwell’s youth riders picked up where they left off last season, making most of the running the Semi-Scratch group before being joined by Killian O’Brien, who made the catch with a small group of Scratch riders in the latter part of the race.

The race was won by Lucan’s Gavin Hendley, fresh off the back of a stage win at the Gorey 3-Day, who made a solo move in the closing stages of the race. Orwell’s Luca Holmes took second after making a searing attack in the last lap while David Harrington won the sprint for third.

Malone and Harrington also featured in this weekend’s races. On Saturday Malone took sixth place at the A3 race in the notoriously tough Galway Classic. On Sunday, Harrington equalled that performance, taking sixth at the A3/Junior race at the Coombes Connor Memorial in Drogheda.

Full Inter Club League results are posed on the forum.