BMX National Series Round 6

 

Decoy BMX Club, Newton Abbott, August 13 2006

Report by Martin Baxter www.bmx-race.co.uk

Images: Billy Wright

 

Results

Round 6 Rider Results >>>> | Rider Rankings after round 6 >>>>

Club Rankings after round 6 >>>> | Team Rankings after round 6 >>>>

 

 

The National Series once again packed its buckets and spades and headed west to the English Riviera and the Decoy BMX Club in Newton Abbot. As the series nears completion the calculators are out and and speculation rife as riders work out what they require to snatch the National No.1 plates for 2006.

The atmosphere was very relaxed around the campsite as many families had taken the opportunity to spend some holiday time in the area during the build up for the race so Saturday practice seemed fairly quiet, probably as much due to a fair amount of absentees, as much as the holiday spirit. Practice passed without any drama as riders got to grips with the tricky Decoy track: the club have squeezed a lot into a small space so the twists and turns give the less powerful riders a chance. After practice the much anticipated charity football match saw a win for Mike Stevens' team, the game was played in good spirits even with Blackdog playing!!! And it helped raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis.

The sun rose on a sleepy campsite on Sunday morning as the riders readied themselves for the day's action. The track had been well prepped and the hoses were keeping the dust to a minimum?..so with all the morning practice and formalities out of the way it was onto the racing and with the low numbers the moto's flew past?..semi finals in the mixed age groups took a few early victims, with local boys Daniel Shurmer and Sam Novis missing out where I'm sure they had hoped to do well.

So onto the finals?..

The 6 and Unders saw the season-long three way battle resume after Lewis Hipkins return from the UCI Worlds in Brazil. Problems in the Orena camp saw Gideon miss his first grand-prix moto and therefore any chance of scoring points. The win went to MK's Ethan Vernon followed home by Lewis and Jamie Norris-Still. A good result for Gideon at the next round will see him secure the title - unless he misses a race again!!

Kye Whyte turned his moto domination in the 7's into final victory, but Kye was chased hard by fellow Peckhamite Luca Premoli. The chase for the title now heads to Chesterfield with both boys in with a chance of lifting the title. Harley Taylor rode well and completed the top three.

With the title already in the bag for Reece Brownson in the 8's it was a chance for his main rivals and local boys Josh Moore and Tom Novis to grab some glory. In the end Reece was unbeaten all day and it was Paddy Sharrock who nipped in to take second from Josh and Tom in third and fourth.

Jimmy Orena continued his domination of the 9's and secured the National title by taking first place. Jimmy is unbeaten in all motos and finals this year - is that a record? A wobble in the last corner saw Nathan Hastings and Jake Power come through to take second and third for their best results of the year.

 

 

The 10's is another group with title already decided and in the hands of Zach Stevens, but even Zach couldn't keep up with a flying Oliver Fay this weekend?unbeaten all day Oliver stormed to victory to set himself up for retaining his British Championship title in September. An ever improving James Handleigh took third place after strong performances in the motos.

A win in the 11/12's for Bradley Minns has really tightened the title chase up as Ben Clarkson could only manage 6th in the final. The two boys now go to Chesterfield with only a few points separating them. With two wins apiece now it certainly looks like the one to watch in a fortnight. Riess Harper also rode a stormer in the final to close the gap in the third place battle with Eliot Pullen.

Now I'm not sure if bright pink hair is part of some weird training plan down at the Tiverton Club but it certainly helped Ben Blake go unbeaten all day at Decoy in the 13/14's age group. Ben made the most of a missing and broken Matty Masterson and went a long way to securing the 2nd place spot from fellow South West rider, Crupi's Curtis Manaton. Curtis finished third and needs a bit of luck at Chesterfield to taken 2nd from Ben?.but will Matty be mended and back by then?

The 15/16's age group never fails to supply us with drama, this weekend it was provided by Cornwall's Luke Tamblyn. Luke and Calum Strickland were neck and neck approaching the big doubles when Luke made a move for the inside line, jumped to manual and looped out in spectacular style, flying a good 15 feet and landing on his back, I was filming close by and it made me feel a bit sick to be honest but Luke got up and dusted himself down and rode round to finish the lap. I think that Luke's mind writes cheques his body can't cash sometimes but it was good to see him walk away from this one!! Well done to Calum who took the win and sealed the National title in the process. Local rider Dan Thorne rode well all day and took second in the main followed by Alan's Alix Deakin.

Sporting a lovely looking W1 on her plate and showing the boys how it is done was Shanaze Reade in the 19+ Men?.Shanaze took her 4th win of the series and now heads to Chesterfield with one hand on the title. Andy Shaw and Ant Tuffs followed Shanaze home.

Masters saw Norwich's Steve Williams take his first win of the season to much applause from his many mates around the track?The tattooed warrior Jason Jessop and Free Agent's Lee Alexander pushed Steve all the way while the others picked themselves up off the floor?..nothing new there then in this age group!

Junior Men seem to get closer every race: 5 different moto winners out of six made the final a hard one to call but in the end it was Lee Bromfield who continued his run of form to take the winners spoils from a hard charging Daniel Whyte and Shaun Issett. Lee takes a slender lead into the final round at Chesterfield so it will all be up for grabs there.

Elite Men was all about Marcus Bloomfield?..unbeaten all day and taking full advantage of a missing Kelvin Batey, Marcus blew away the competition at Decoy?Laurence Mapp and Warren Bancroft did their best to keep up with Crupi rider but to no avail. That now gives Marcus three wins for the season and a great chance to take the overall title at the last National of the year.

 

 

The Cruiser Classes were their normal hustle and bustle with Bradley Minns doubling up with a win in the 12 and unders. Jake Cheetham rode a perfect Grand Prix to take the 13-15 age group from Ryan Vinyard, Daniel Thorne used his local knowledge to go unbeaten in the 16-29's and Ian Sharp took win number 4 of the season in the 30-39 class to seal the Number 1 plate for next year. Mike Pardon saw off a strong challenge from Shaun Calvert, Julian Ryan and Ade Warden in the 40+ class to take his third national win on his return to BMX racing.

All of the girls classes were run as Grand Prix so every moto counted and all of the girls gave 100% effort to gain the best places possible.

In the 7-9 girls' class it was new girl Jenny Noble from the North-East who took her second National win in a row at Decoy. Points leader Lauren Stack followed in 2nd and Decoy rider Katie Yeates took third.

Charlotte Green from Cornwall BMX continues to dominate the 10-12 girls' class and took her 6th National win of the year at Decoy. Emma Coles and Bethan Hallett did their utmost to keep up but to no avail.

The 13-15 girls' was a battle between Jessica Rooke and Ashby Gibson with Ashby taking the first two moto wins and Jessica the third so it was all down to the last moto. Elise Dick got a great gate and led to the first corner and looked to be spoiling the party but she went down hard and left the door open for Jessica to come through and take the win. Ashby took 2nd followed by Nichola Rogers in third.

An improving Rebecca Vaughan from Norwich took her first National win of 2006 in the 25+ Ladies class, Rebecca and Free Agent's Vanessa Real swapped wins in the first two motos but a slip by Vanessa in the third just gave Rebecca the edge and she took the win with a first place in the last moto. Niki Spiers followed in third place.

Junior Female was dominated by Ria Goodman at Decoy. Ria took all four moto wins to tighten up the race for the title in this class. This win now puts Ria in first place in the points just ahead of Lucy Hale, who finished 2nd on the day and Lauren Smith who had an off day and finished 5th. So watch out for this one going down to the line at Chesterfield.

See you at Chesterfield?

 

Results

Round 6 Rider Results >>>>

Rider Rankings after round 6 >>>>

Club Rankings after round 6 >>>>

Team Rankings after round 6 >>>>

Royston Rockets Club Race Report

BMX racers from the Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club competed in the sixth round of the National BMX Summer Series at Decoy BMX Club - Newton Abbott in Devon last weekend. Saturday was warm and sunny but by Sunday the sky was overcast but this made conditions good for racing and with the track being very tight and twisty there was some very exciting racing from around 280 riders from around the country.

The racing started with the youngest riders competing in the 6 and Under class where the Rockets rider, Daniel Blanche, finished in 4th, whilst in the 7 year class "B" Final Bradan Blanche finished in an excellent first place. Ethan Lewis took 7th place in the very competitive 8 yr class and Royston's three riders in the 10 yr class had a varied day with all of them making their way through to the semi finals from where Zach Stevens and James Handleigh made the "A" final with Zach in 2nd and James close behind with 3rd on the line, whilst in the "B" Final Burton took a hard earned 2nd. Moving up to the male 11-12 year class Aston Blanche was unable to qualify for the semi finals and in the Junior Male class (17-18yr) Jonathan Roberts continued his excellent years racing with 4th and in the Masters (30+) class Lee Alexander went one place better with a fine 3rd. In the Cruiser classes Leroy Seaton took 7th in the 40+ final and in Junior Female category Katie Roberts, returning after illness took 6th in the A Final. The two Elite Class riders had a good day on the track with Richard Townsend taking 7th and Laurence Mapp 2nd in the class "A" final.

The Rockets are hosting the penultimate round of the East Anglia Regional Series on August 20th with registration closing at 11-00am and racing due to start about 1-00 pm. Around 120 riders are expected so a full action packed afternoon is on offer to anyone who wishes to come and spectate - or even take part.

The clubs regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road, Royston are now in full swing with the gates opening at 6pm where anyone with a BMX or MTB bike is welcome to come along to find out more about the sport. Full details of this and other forthcoming club and regional events are published on the club web site at www.roystonrockets.co.uk or ring 01763 260959 for more information on BMX racing.