The 2002 season has proved to be the most successful yet
for the ApiBikes.com/Specialized/Metrow Foods team. The highlight came in September, when the team claimed the
first of what it hopes will be many Cycling Time Trials team championship
titles, by winning the ‘10’ in Wales. Zak
Carr, Duncan Alexander and James Millard combined to set a new Welsh competition
record in the process. Talented junior Michael Merralls, who enjoyed great
success on the road, and spent many weekends racing in Belgium, narrowly missed
out on the Junior 10 mile title by three seconds.
Carr, who was a very close second behind champion Michael
Hutchinson, was also runner-up the following week in the British Time Trial
Championships, much closer to home in Suffolk.
Millard was also in the medals again, coming second in the Espoirs
category for under-23 riders, and team manager and sponsor Andy Palmer took
bronze in the 40-45 age category.
Millard, who joined the team at the start of the season
from Charlotteville CC, has mixed road and time-trial with great success,
winning stage races on the road, and turning in performances against the clock
which saw him win the season-long Rudy Project Espoirs Circuit Series.
Duncan Alexander also turned his hand to road racing, and
took the Eastern Counties Cycling Association senior road-race championship
title, held during the Association’s annual festival in May.
The festival saw Api retain the title of overall festival champions for
the 6th?? consecutive year.
The season had started well, with Andy Palmer winning at
the team’s annual Simon Hook memorial event, held at Eastway in February,
which also saw the official team launch. Geoff
Frost, another new arrival from Cambridge CC along with Chris Brooking, also got
the season off to a winning start, taking several time trial victories in
Norfolk and Suffolk, and teamed up with Glenn Taylor to win several 2-up
victories, and enlisted Kevin Chambers and Martin Meades to win the CC Breckland
4-up in March.
Team superstar, Zak Carr, had a late start to the season,
after recovering from an injury that required surgery on his knee, was soon
making amends. He set an unofficial
record for a medium-gear 25, and then combined with regular tandem partner Glenn
Taylor to rewrite the tandem record books, setting new marks at 10, 25, 30 and
50 miles this season. They are
considering the 100 and the hour record as possible targets for 2003.
Martin Meades was dominant at the Eastway Supporters League
on Thursday nights, turning the series into a one-horse race as he won the first
6 events. Other road race successes
included Kevin Chambers leading Api to a Mapei-style 1-2-3 in the Andrews Trophy
road race ahead of Meades and Chris Brooking, and Brooking taking the Bill
Matthews Memorial ahead of James Millard after a race-long breakaway.
New signings for 2003 include short-distance specialist Sam
Barker, 25 mile team medal winner this season with Team Lighthouse , and the
impressive Mark ‘PNuT’ Arnold, who in his first full season was an
impressive 10th in the National 12 hour and 7th in the
National Hillclimb. Arnold also won
the ECCA and CC Breckland hillclimbs in Api colours.
Stuart Wright and Murat Ozdenya have also joined.
In 2003 Api will be fielding teams in all the CTT national championships from 10 miles to 12 hours, and will be looking to the BBAR competition as well, as they look to build on the success of 2002!