AUSTRALIAN NT - Season 20

[Kekipi]

Maybe I was too optimistic with " a good chance ", and it should be just " a chance ".
Because this FFFHM race might be very tricky as NT race, and before the race it is unpredictable what will happen.

I would not have predicted that an American would win it.  But, surprise, surprise, surprise, one did!   

According to a little bird, the US captain, Shane O'Neill, employed conservative tactics (i.e. 12 EPs) and was fortunate to have helpers in S4.

Also surprising is that the USA is currently in 3rd in the team standings. 

In the final CCCCC race, maybe there will be a miracle, akin to the US victory over the Soviets in ice hockey in 1980.

Though such a miraculous occurrence is unlikely, the ugly Americans will try.   

[Vos]

Great American victory, very well done Kekipi ! 
Good luck in the final NT race, and if you can hold on to the 3rd place, it will be the best season result ever of the USA.

Of course also good luck to Aurora Australis.
After this NT race 6 it is still possible to get the record of most points ever, but it will be an exciting, very difficult challenge now,
because Australia has to score more than 210 points in the final NT race to break the record.

Keith Hunter was the only one who scored points in the flatcobble races of the last 2 seasons.
2nd in s18 and 4th in s19, and he needs a 3rd place now ( = 225 points ).
But he dropped a lot in the CFF ranking since s18, and he is now the 8th flatcobble specialist of the game.
So he has to do surprising well to achieve that 3rd place.
Or he has to do amazing as well and finish 5th + that Aurora Australis has to do some magic by getting a free role finishing as 17th.

[Vos]

And most likely more important ; already Australia secured the world championship after NT race 6.
Because it is impossible that Great Britain will score 1.240 points more than Australia in the final race.
So, I assume it is already official and therefore ;



congratulations with the world championship, Aurora Australis ! 

[Aurora Australis]

Race 7

Selections :
Keith Hunter      30   RealMurciaCycling (leader)
Peter Boit         30   Combuijs *
Sean Jameson      30   Ciclastur **
Vince Whisman      29   Luka_Warriors
Dave Taylor      26   Bikeos
Donald Odom      26   CajaRuralZamora *

* weather bonus

There aren't really any others suitable, so they'll probably be XP cyclists.  Martin Fevola of IntellinetCyclingFF will most likely be the first of these.

Prospects:
Well yes, two goals.  First, the 210 points to be the highest-scoring team ever.  As Vos says, we need luck on our side.  Is possible, but not short odds.  The second is to be more than 1330 points ahead of the next NT team (technically given that 2nd & 3rd in NT standings also scored TT points we could say less, but the goal is nice to have).  Chances are there, maybe.

Results:
16th   Keith Hunter      0: 19"   60 points
Should have stayed with my traditional cobbles tactic.

[horace_vr]

Can you publish an end-of-the-season ranking of young AU prospects ?

[Aurora Australis]

I'm sure Vos will give a ratings in the new season horace.

Season 20 Results
Australia - 2420 Points
Position 1st

Most Points : Race 4 TT - 1320 points

Cyclists

250 points   Tod Henderson   27   Aurora_Australis   1*2nd
200 points   Bud Mount   28   ChronoTony
180 points   Norm Bush   28   HTCHungria
180 points   Kirk Workman   32   Aurora_Australis
160 points   Jasper Blair   30   Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
160 points   Kirk Clinton   27   Aurora_Australis
150 points   Christian Pocock   27   Aurora_Australis
140 points   Walt Judd   28   Matterhorn
130 points   James Bush   24   Antequera
130 points   Nobby Licuria   27   Aurora_Australis
130 points   Dylan Lucas   25   Zatarra
90 points   Neil Spiker   24   ChessPower
80 points   Jason Duffy   28   Shiro_Lions
70 points   Marc Huling   27   Turrones
60 points   Keith Hunter   30   RealMurciaCycling
60 points   Mannie Hines   24   Villavante
40 points   Julian Frances   30   Bergtoppers
30 points   Sam Rooney   30   Agua_Verde
20 points   Emerson Janson   23   ICSluj

[Vos]

I'm sure Vos will give a ratings in the new season horace.

Yes, I will, if I will be elected as NT manager.

About next season ; if you want to do the NT job, it is still possible to be a candidate today.
And no problem at all for me to withdraw as a candidate.
In fact, I would prefer it if someone else than me is the NT manager, and we have many excellent Australians managers who can do the job.
For example these two, who unfortunately will not be a candidate :

Zattara = He never was NT manager before, and I think he would do amazing in his debut.
Unfortunately, his team had no selections since the Tour de Suisse.
Hopefully he did not stop, or even worse, something bad happened. Hopefully he is allright and has just a break in CFF.
His team has excellent Australians, including young talents. To their training and to Australia, it is not good that Zatarra is not active.

Ophiuko = He was only once NT manager, in one of the rare seasons that Australia did not had a good generation,
and on top of that, he was extreme unlucky with a very bad NT season schedule.
But he wrote on the forum that he has not much time next season.
Hopefully he will be candidate for season 22, because he is an excellent manager and in my opinion he needs a revanche,
and in much better circumstances, because the current Australian generation is amazing.

Many thanks to Aurora Australis, who did again a superb NT job with again an Australian world championship.

Also no problem to me, if you ( AA ) want to do the NT job next season too, and if this is the case, I will withdraw as candidate.
Besides my not big ambition to be the NT manager next season, but if there are no other candidates ;
I have the time for it next season and I will enjoy to do the NT job.
So, expect the same as the other seasons when I was the Australian NT manager, including publishing lists sometimes.

[horace_vr]

I'm sure Vos will give a ratings in the new season horace.

Season 20 Results
Australia - 2420 Points
Position 1st

Most Points : Race 4 TT - 1320 points

Congratulations for bagging this one too!