Wild Side Road Team- News:

2006 Wild Side R.T. Awards

At the end of year team dinner, Chris McNamara and Jason Edwards picked up

Ewhurst Control awards presented by John Green. This was the first year that awards have been presented.

Chris, ROADMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD, had perhaps the best season of his cycling career with his best wins being a stage in the Tour of the South as well as the last ever Eastway.

Jason, RIDE OF MERIT AWARD, for his outstanding ride at the Freddy Maertens Grand Prix in Belgium. Jason has gone from strength to strength with the team and is now expected to win on a regular basis in 2007.

John Green, Jason Edwards, Chris McNamara and Richard Smith at the presentation.

Also shown in the photo is the Specialized carbon SL that some of the team riders will be riding in 2007.

Wild Side Road Team 2007 Team Roster

The Cavendish Hotel, Eastbourne was the venue for the Wildside RT team launch in February. The weekend served as an opportunity to incorporate two days of quality torture over the South Downs, welcoming new members and sharing a drink or two with riders’ families, and sponsors over dinner.

The team announced the addition of two new elite riders in the form of Jaco Elhers and Toby Neave. Both have integrated well into the team and, based on their strong early form in Eastbourne, are sure to have a successful season.


Top Left – Gary Moore (mechanic), Ashley Holding, Richard Smith (Wild Side), John Green (Ewhurst Control), Jamie Higgins, Jason Edwards.
Bottom Left – Chris McNamara, Toby Neave, Chris Parlett, Simon McNamara,

Mark Sussex and Jaco Elhers.

The primary sponsorship of the team continues to be provided by Richard Smith of Wild Side, Tunbridge Wells and John Green from Ewhurst Controls. Their generous support and enthusiasm has been fantastic and without doubt has inspired the team to reach a higher level. The Wild Side team consider themselves fortunate to benefit from another year of Specialised backing with assistance from SIS and Continental Tyres.

The team will continue to ride open events throughout the South East region as well as having regular trips to Belgium. Most of the team kick off the season with the Wally Gimber but Jaco Elhers will spend March racing in South Africa whilst the McNamaras are returning later in the month from Australia.

SUMMER SEASON FOLLOW UP REPORT

Jason Edwards, Mark Sussex, Chris and Simon McNamara have all continued to fly the Wild Side flag until late in the season.

Jason has taken a fine 3rd place in the masters (35-40) national championships, also taking a 3rd place at Dunsfold aerodrome as well as featuring strongly in the Ottershaw series.

Chris McNamara rode himself into the cycling history books by winning the final ever Eastway Criterium, crossing the line with late race breakaway companion Matt Seatton. Jason had to be content with defending Chris’s lead and came in 6 th.

Chris also managed to hang on to his 2 nd overall place in the South East Series, whilst the team can be particularly proud of being 2nd placed team.

Chris McNamara wins at Eastway

Photo : Paul Churchill

It’s been a long but highly successful season for the team with everyone now enjoying a well deserved rest. We’re looking forward to some sociable winter training rides and the prospect of building in 2007 on this season.

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SUMMER 2006 REPORT

The momentum of the team has continued to build on it’s impressive spring season campaign with a number of victories and consistently high placings in both elite and first category races. The team’s domestic targets have been focused on elite and 1st category level road races in the south east, however, a degree of success has also been achieved in criteriums, time trials and Kermesse racing in Belgium.

Wild Side RT has been prolific in the prestigious South East Road Race Series with numerous top 10 and podium finishes largely due to Chris McNamara who is currently lying second in the overall series classification. Chris has enjoyed his best season to date, the highlight of which being a well deserved stage win in the 4-day Tour of the South, finishing ahead of some of the country’s highest profile riders.

The team has proved it has strength in depth with both Jason Edwards and Jamie Higgins achieving wins in elite/1st category closed circuit races such as Goodwood and Eastway. Jason has been by far the most consistent rider in this discipline which is reflected in his 3rd place overall in the hotly contested Eastway series and 2nd place overall in the Goodwood closed circuit series.

The ethos of the team has always been to progress as a unit and strive towards the next level of competition whilst maintaining a strong sense of team spirit and enjoyment. This year, we feel we have made a significant step towards achieving our aspirations in this area with both Chris Macnamara and Jason Edwards earning their elite category licence and Simon Macnamara gaining his first category licence - we have also had a lot of fun along the way.
Simon has been a revelation within the team this year achieving some career best results such as a victory in the Southern Counties Time Trial Championships and a well respected 2nd place in the gruelling Giles Ree Memorial Road Race. Simon was well supported by his team mates in this event resulting in a win for Wild Side RT in the team classification. Being such a closely knit team, this was an achievement of which we are particularly proud and place great value.

For the second year in succession the Specialized S-Works E5 has been the frame of choice for the Wild Side RT. The frame itself is a full aluminium sloping construction and comes complete with full carbon forks, integrated headset and a carbon seat post.

Undoubtedly, the E5 is the perfect tool for all types of competition, demonstrating a good balance between rigidity and comfort, in addition to its underlying level of reliability. Wild Side RT has successfully put the E5 through its paces in numerous elite road races, criteriums and Belgium kermesses during the past two years.  

Team bikes are equipped with Campagnolo or Shimano group sets, the choice of which is purely down to the individual rider's preference. Easton have helped with wheels and those lucky enough to get their hands on the carbon Tempest II were extremely impressed.

We understand Specialized are not selling the E5 in the UK for 2007, that’s a great shame as it has been the perfect team frame for us.

So what will the team be riding come the 2007 season ?