Photos by Greg Descantes

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Symmetrics Protecting 2 Lap Lead over Slipstream Sports

The Burnaby Velodrome was a full house on Friday night. The bleachers and the infield were filled to capacity with cheering, excited race fans as Symmetrics and Slipstream battled through the evening. At the end of the night, Symmetrics still maintained their two lap lead on Slipstream Sports and their four lap lead on Healthnet, and extended their lead on Successful Living by one lap, after an early crash by O’Reilly forced the team to lose a lap before O’Reilly was able to return to action.

Symmetrics took the Scratch Madison and 160 lap Madison tonight, while Slipstream claimed victory in the 60 lap Supersprint Madison and the Tempo race. Proman won the 1-rider scratch race.

Racing will finish up tomorrow night, with three Madison races on the cards, giving Slipstream one last chance to challenge Symmetrics for the 2008 Burnaby Six Day Champion title.

Overall Omnium After Night Five

60 lap 5 x 12 Supersprint Madison
The first Madison of the night had an escalating amount of cash available at each sprint. Healthnet picked up 2 sprint prizes, while LA Lightning, Slipstream, and Symmetrics each picked up one. Slipstream won the event on final sprint placing over Healthnet, as both teams were tied on points.

Scratch Race
The first 1-rider race was a 40 lap Scratch. Several early attacks were reeled in, but an attack by McCook of Proman with 4 laps remaining caught the group sleeping and he put almost a half lap on the field before they responded. McCook was able to hold off the charging group, with Successful Living out-sprinting the bunch to take second.

Tempo Race
The second 1-rider race was a Tempo race, with 2 and 1 points for 1st and 2nd rider each lap. Both Slipstream and Healthnet took a lap on the field, putting them in first and second, with Symmetrics Cycling placing third.

 

Team Elimination to Scratch Madison
The next race of the night was a Team Elimination down to six teams, followed by a 20 lap scratch Madison for the remaining teams. All the top teams avoided elimination, with Symmetrics coming out on top after Bell stormed the group in the last lap.

 

160 Lap 8 x 20 Madison
The final race of the night was a 160 lap Madison. Slipstream attacked Symmetrics hard during the race, trying to regain one of their lost laps. For a time, it looked like the attack had worked, as Bell and Tuft seemed to go through a ‘spot of bother’ and Slipstream was putting distance on them. Rallied by the cheers of the capacity crowd, Tuft stormed around the track in chase of Slipstream, and was able to catch the Americans. Symmetrics took the race win on points, with 1st place finishes in 4 of 8 sprints. Slipstream and Healthnet stayed on the same lap, and took 2nd and 3rd.

US National put another lap on the dEVo youngsters and look to be riding better with each passing day. The team almost took a lap on the entire field, making it three-quarters of the way around the track, before Slipstream and Symmetrics ratcheted up the pace and brought them back.

LA Lightning received a replacement rider today, as Brian Crosby retired from the race after Thursday nights racing with an injured elbow. Texan Andrew Armstrong has taken Crosby’s place for Friday and Saturday nights racing action.

Proman’s McCook was forced to abandon tonight due to an injury sustained earlier in the week. McCook’s partner, Kilun, was forced to ride solo for the majority of the Madison, which resulted in a loss of 11 laps to the leaders.