Kersten flies behind derny

By Les Clarke

Sydney rider Ben Kersten says he's feeling pretty good after reaching 80.36km/h and breaking the speed record for the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney's southwest yesterday. "I thought 80 [km/h] would be achievable," said Kersten. "We actually got up to 84km/h, but I really needed a motorbike to go faster - the derny can only go so fast."

Before the record atttempt, Kersten had been recovering from a back injury sustained in the gym last week, so to tear up the boards that fast was an even meaner feat. "I had to take a few days off the bike; I couldn't really ride," said Kersten. "I've pretty much wound up all the road stuff I was doing and it feels good." Asked whether he'd like to take another shot at his own record, Kersten replied, "I wouldn't mind - it depends. Another person's probably going to have a go at it, then I might go out and have another shot."

For now, Kersten's focus is on the upcoming track season, which begins next weekend with the Moscow round of the Track World Cup. Kersten won't be riding there, but aims to ride the Manchester and Los Angeles world cup rounds, plus the Sydney Thousand, Oceania Games, Commonwealth Games and world championships. If yesterday's effort is any indication of his speed for the season, he'll definitely be hard to catch.