Llyr just missed chequered flag victory at Bedford Autodrome 16-mile race

Great effort and close finish for Llyr at Bedford

Report by Don Hale

Llyr Ap-Geraint Roberts practically burned some rubber as he roared into action and claimed a deserved podium place at the Bedford Autodrome 16-mile race on Sunday, finishing in second place overall, but he just missed out on the chequered flag by a matter of seconds.

The North Wales athlete was flying the flag for Wales in this tough English based endurance event, which was part of a special Grand Prix series of varied distance races held on a closed, traffic-free circuit road, which followed a brand-new course designed by former F-1 racing driver Jonathan Palmer.

Llyr had to complete five challenging laps of the Bedford Autodrome circuit run over a smooth tarmac surface and eventually finished in 2nd place overall in 1 hour 40 minutes 43 seconds but won his M45 age category.

He was pleased with his performance but was obviously disappointed to just miss out on the gold medal placing by a mere 25-seconds to rival Will Cooper in 1.40.18, with Tim Giffin 3rd in 1.50.39.

Llyr later admitted: ‘Something different for me today. Close but no cigar. I was happy with my run today. It was tough in the wind, but I kept to my plan, so I was a bit gutted to just miss out on 1st place by 25 seconds.’

*This is the full race results link:

http://results.runthrough.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16487&RId=4515&EId=8