Well-known international, Matt Hayman (Rabobank) has taken out the 2008 Daniel Bennett Memoral Race, after the New Year’s Day event was re-run at Nerang yesterday following recent inclement weather.

With  several elite riders away at the Jayco Bay Series or preparing for the forthcoming National Road Championships, there was a danger the Bennett race may have been robbed of some of its glamour, but Hayman’s presence certainly helped to restore credibility.

Hayman’s last minute entry into the race caught everyone by surprise.

“I ready hadn’t decided until a couple of hours agou” Matt laughed. “I did my training this morning, and I thought I wouldn’t mind coming down and giving it a go.

My wife is from Queensland, and I spend half my time here and half my time in Canberra when I am back in Australia.” 

Matt hadn’t originally intended to race at Nerang, but when confronted by the prospect of Gold Coast showers, and the race being poorly supported by the elite riders, he decided to put his hand up.

“When I got here and it was raining, it was kind of in the back of my mind to support the event. I didn’t want to take any risks though. I had the National Titles coming up and some other big races, but when I heard it was a Memorial Race that kind of pulled me over the line.” 

This was not the first time that Matt had raced at Nerang.

“I’ve been here before. I got second in this race once when it was just the New Year’s Day Criterium. I think we went the other way, but it is really nice, it’s safe and even though it was raining, I didn’t feel it was dangerous at all.”

Despite his obvious class, Matt still found the race tough going. 

“It was pretty hard out there today. A few of the riders made it tough, especially with the climb up the back straight. But I was able to put in a few digs of my own. 

I wanted to show my best form, not only because it was the Memorial Race, but also because I wanted to put up a good showing with the National Championships starting next week..”

Matt easily gained the upper hand in the sprint to the line with Cameron Hughes (Ord Minnett), while Mark Rowland hung on for third place.

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