The Ravens Tigers Racing and NESA Club Nationals saw skiers from all over the British Isles travel to Sunderland for the first Club National races of the 2019 dry slope season.
On Saturday, racers from England, Ireland, and Scotland pushed their limits in the bid to win but it was Lauren Vale of Aldershot and Robert Holmes of Pendle who took the titles. The racers respectively impressed in a field of talented skiers with Lauren winning the women’s race by an impressive margin of 0.63 seconds over competitors Lois Jackson and Charlotte Holmes, and Rob winning the men’s race by 0.32 seconds ahead of Callum Witts and Charlie Tubbs.
Similarly, the U10/U12 category presented a strong cohort of future champions with Harriet Scoular of RTR winning the girls and Finlay Royle of Ski Rossendale winning the boys.
Sunday’s race saw an equally competitive field and challenging course set by Andy Turns but the same racers came out victorious in the male and female events. This time Vale won by 0.53 seconds ahead of Lois Jackson, and Rob Holmes produced the fastest time of the weekend: an impressive 11.75 seconds. Callum Witts and Charlie Tubbs took second and third after Jack Feneley had crashed out after being in fourth after the morning runs.
Again, a strong field of competitive U10/U12s but it remained Harriet Scoular as winner of the girls and this time Izaac Ellison of RTR pushed on to win the boys.
Overall it was an excellent weekend of well organised racing providing a good start to the summer of racing ahead.
Full results are on gbski.com
By Chloe Chapman