It was a case of déjà vu in the National Circuit Series tonight as Maxxis rider Harry Tanfield had to settle for third behind JLT Condor duo Brenton Jones and Matt Gibson.
The Colne Grand Prix result was a carbon copy of Friday’s finish in Beverley and completed a hat-trick of victories for Aussie Jones.
An impressive team performance from JLT ensured Gibson completed his overall victory in the series, with Tanfield once again having to make do with third behind the same duo.
The result did, however, ensured the Great Ayton rider extended his superb run to six successive crit podiums, franking the fine form he has shown this month.
After a fruitless dig from Metaltek-Kuota’s Bertie Newey, Nowell attacked through the start-finish straight to light up the race and force the night’s breakaway.
The Northwich talent dragged with him Rob Scott, from Team Wiggins, and Team Raleigh’s Grant Martin, quickly establishing a gap of more than 10 seconds.
JLT Condor were policing the peloton for series leader Matt Gibson, with the likes of Graham Briggs, Steve Lampier and Tom Moses putting their noses into the wind.
Meanwhile, Maxxis sponsored rider, Sam Lowe was having a night to forget with two mechanical errors bringing a premature end to his night.
But up front, the trio were continued to eke out their lead, stretching it to more than 20 seconds as Nowell clocked the fastest lap of the night so far (1min 1.869sec).
Disaster struck when the Bike Channel Canyon man suffered a mechanical fault, which following a bike change forced him back into the bunch. Martin also beat a retreat, leaving Scott to plough on alone. And the Wiggins man gave it a real good go, stretching his advantage to more than 30 seconds on the peloton when Lampier ramped up the chase with 10 minutes remaining.
Scott was still dangling a few seconds off the front with five laps to go as Russ Downing this time managed the chase for his JLT team. And Downing & Co were soon celebrating as the lone leader was finally reeled in and Jones sprinted to a third successive victory in the series.
Gibson rolled over in second spot to seal the overall title while Harry Tanfield pipped a celebrating Jon Mould to the final spot on the podium.
Tanfield, who was runner-up in the series last season, finished third overall, while Bike Channel Canyon were second in the team classification behind JLT.
Photo Credit: SWpix.com
