News: Matt Bottrill starts season with a Record

The 2014 season got underway for Matthew Bottrill (www.drag2zero.com), in the A5 Rangers Hilly 31 mile time trial where he broke his own record

Matt Bottrill starts season with a Record

It was a warm dry afternoon, the perfect way to start the 2014 season says Matt. The event was held at Towcester in Northamptonshire where riders would complete two laps of an undulating and technical circuit.

The hardest part on the circuit was the climb at Weedon at 8 miles. The racing kicked off at 1pm and with the good weather, the times being clocked represented a good day. First to set the standard for a fast ride was Luke Clarke (T.M.G Horizons) 1:13:13 which was then followed by Scott Walker (M.G Decor Team Carbon Bikes) in 1:14:39.

Meanwhile, out on the course, Brett Harwood (Terry Wright Cycles) was also flying along the road trying to make it onto the podium. Last man to start as expected was Bottrill, leaving the start area at 1:30 and he was soon ripping up the tarmac, hitting speeds of over 30 miles mph.

Soon into his stride, Bottrill came through the first time check in a rapid 34:00, over two minutes clear of his rivals. But it was on lap two that Bottrill did the damage, roaring along the road, and hitting a top speed of 48.9mph, Bottrill had his 5 minute man Brett Harwood in his sights, catching him at 21 miles.

Bottrill knew the course record he had set in a previous addition of the event was in his grasp. Using every once of energy Bottrill, stopped the clock with an incredible time of 1:07:40, shaving a minute over his previous record!

Asked about his winning ride Bottrill replied “I loved every minute of today’s race. It’s always nice to get the first one underway and see where your forms at. I’m not going to lie, I’ve worked incredibly hard this winter and I’m working towards my target of the British Time Trial championships in June.

I’m running full UCI compliant position and its great to see I’m faster than last year. I’m working with a number of new people this season and have some great new sponsors which have made a massive difference to me. More will be revealed in the coming weeks but I’m excited about the season ahead”

Result
1st Matthew Bottrill www.drag2zero.com 1:07:40
2nd Luke Clarke T.M.G Horizens 1:13:13
3rd Scott Walker M.G Decor Team Carbon Bikes 1:13:39.
4th Brett Harwood Terry Wright Cycles 1:14:19