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BMX Brits 2006
BMX British Championships
Harworth, Sept 17 2006
Images: Blackdog & Billy Wright
Report: Rich Eames
Results
Club Championships Results >>>> | Team Championships Results >>>>
After numerous visits to the South West for the Brits the last few years, it was time to hit the not so long road to Harworth. It's the home town of Tour de France cyclist Tom Simpson, a close knit mining community and dodgy blokes on quad bikes! The fun was about to begin. The stage was set, the track was perfect, and it was the time for the annual battle for that one off 01 plate to commence. For some it would be memorable, for some utterly forgetful. Let's go!
The 6 and under guys stepped up to the plate first. Short on stature and big on heart the pockets rockets left the hill and Gideon Orena took the lead and never looked back. Lewis Hipkins had to settle for second with Ethan Vernon third.
In the 7's Kye Whyte gritted his teeth and laid down the power with Bob Devereux in hot pursuit with Luca Premola in tow (nice bike Luca!) The guys finished in that order so it was an 01 heading back to London for 06.
In the 8's Reece Brownson was defending his 01, on his home track. Was the result in doubt? Probably not, as Reece turned on the turbo chargers and retained his title for another year. Tom Novis was always in contention in second but he was having his own battle with Paddy Sharrock which allowed Reece to creep away.
Jimmy Orena had watched his brother take an 01 just moments earlier so the pressure was on to do the same. Jimmy responded beautifully to add 01 plate number two to the Orena family tally in the 9's, Elliot Pateman took a solid second place with Nathan Hastings in third for East Anglia.
Huge shock in the 10's with Oliver Fay not making it out of the semi which is one thing I never expected. However, the Brits worked its magic with Brad Spick coming back from his broken wrists to take the 01 in a battle with Lewis Ferguson. It was more bad news for another contender; Anthony Trower. 'Trousers' binned it in the first turn and stayed down for a while, eventually getting up to finish the lap to loud applause. Maybe next year eh?
We were set for a titanic battle in the 11's with Messrs Stack, Minns, Hoggatt (home track riders) and Jacob Roberts set to duke it out for the title. Ryan Stack defended his 01 for another year with Minns chasing hard but to no avail. Good to see the return of Dylan Foster and Michael Hawker in this class too.
The 12's saw Jake Norfolk and Spencer Beagley both narrowly miss out in the semis but the star of the show was Ben Clarkson super boosting the big dubs on his way to the 01. Did he really point at the crowd on the way over? Apparently so. Anyway, the 01 was his in some style followed by Reiss Harper and Elliot Pullen with the ever improving Phil Harwarden in 4th place.
Tre Whyle wanted to take another 01 back to London and looked set to get it done with a holeshot in the main. It wasn't to be though; Sam Novis tracked him and made the pass in the last straight to steal the title at the last moment. You could literally see the contrast in elation and deflation as they crossed the line and it's an example of what the Brits is all about, hot racing and never giving up till you cross the line.
Deane Ashcroft has won a few nationals this year and must have felt pretty good as he lined up for the main but his gate let him down and he was last out ending up fifth. Meanwhile, Matty Masterson was schooling the rest of the pack with Arran Shrosbree doing his best to pass but it wasn't enough and the East Anglian had to settle for second place with Ben Blake third.
The North's shady luck continued in the 15's with Joe Parry missing out on a main by one place yet again. Steven Sewell looked to be in control but Aaron Curry had other ideas as he nipped past right on the line to take the win with Jake Cheetham in third on the day. There are so many talented guys in the class and the future looks bright with these guys moving up to the older classes.
In the girls classes (7-9) Jenny Noble was looking to add to her late national wins but a crash on the first jump saw to that, Victoria Kinrade came all the way from the Isle of Man to take a deserved third place with Lauren Stack taking second and Katie Yeates taking the British title for 2006. Charlotte Green kept up her domination of the 10-12's winning every lap she rode as she searches for a team for 07, Bethan Hallet took 2nd and Isabelle Ferrada third. Nicola Reed won 13-15 followed by Ashby Gibson and Jessica Rooke. 25 and over ladies could have gone anyway at all, I'm sure I saw Nikki Spiers in the ambulance on Sunday which must have limited her on the track somewhat. Vanessa Real kept it consistent for third, Abi Hill had to settle for second and the title went to 4x'er turned BMXer Kim Bent.
Cruiser action next; 12 and under saw Ryan Stack make it title number two for the day and not to be outdone Matty Masterson chalked up another win in 13-15 Cruiser to make the family mantelpiece undergo some strengthening work to hold the two massive trophies that now reside upon it.
All the action was to take place in the older classes though. 16-29 saw a much bigger turnout than usual with some heavy hitters in there. The semis saw Terry 'King of Myspace' Green steal a last gasp final spot on Miles Kirby's 'safety cycle' and comebacks from Chris Dayson and local guy Nick Green. Come the final and it was another borrowed bike that took its rider to the line. Cal Strickland stepped up and took the title in front of Chris Dayson and Dan Thorne to the delight of the North contingent on the last turn.
30-39 bruiser had 42 riders?42!! The title was supposed to be going to Ian Sharp but a broken wrist at Preston the week before saw to that. The semis saw drama with Roy Sutton flying round the track and looking good for a finals spot until Dave Taylor's cross country excursion punted Sutty over the third turn to his utter dismay. My money was on Dave Godfrey for the win but Roger Rollback rolled back and snapped his way to a win and the 01 now resides on a desk in Manchester?.
40 plus was a three way battle between Mike Pardon, Ade Warden and Tony Slater. Ade got squeezed and fought back, Tony got sketchy at one point and Mike got slightly casual as he hit the last jump and bobbled but it didn't matter, the plate was his?.don't call it a comeback.
The 16's; Could Cal Strickland make it two from two? Short answer? Yes! Josh Cheetham and Dan Thorne must be wondering what they have to do apart from pedal faster. Cal is now as fast as big bro Graham and disturbing as this is, probably a more skilful rider at 16 years old!! His three titles have all come on flat pedals too which is a rarity these days. My pick for 'Rider of the Year' for sure.
Masters: Where do I start with this one? Jason Jessop racing the semi with a fractured hip? Jason Kenning and Warlock's magnetic attraction in the other semi? Jason Lewis nearly missing every race he took part in? Miles Kirby's impending fatherhood? (Congrats Miles!!) The main was the least important bit it seems but Jason Lewis seemed like he was going to make up for his timekeeping by being earliest to the finish line but Jez Hayes had other ideas as he sneaked past to take the win. In a totally unrelated note, Warlock is now known as 'The Naughty One' by the staff at Doncaster Travel Inn. You can ask him why next time you see him?..
Junior Female saw Abbie Taylor move up to the class at the age of 13!! Sheffield's cheekiest BMXer (after Paddy) made her debut in the premier ladies class but had Charlie Phillips to contend with on the comeback trail. Charlie led all the way round but Abbie started to creep ever closer and I only realised just how close as they crossed the line. Amazingly enough, Abbie sneaked it and took the title?what a debut!
19 plus; This class was as manic as always, Andy Shaw got gradually more sketchy as he went down the third straight in the semi eventually falling in the last turn. Marco went down in the final as he lost both pedals. Shaun Andrews went from Masters to a Brits 19 plus final, way to step up! John Lillingstone didn't care cos' he blasted out and took the win followed by Andy Little and Johnny Depp bearded lookalike Matt Allen.
Junior Men; Johnny Roberts had a score to settle after Lee Bromfield took the national title. There was no stopping the East Anglian as he made it Roberts 1 Bromfield 1 for the year, a fair result methinks?. Roll on next year?. Shaun Issit took third.
And finally, Elite Men. Just one main for these guys this time, Kelvin Batey survived a wheelspin in the semi but made no such mistake in the main to take the title from Car Boot King Dale 'Extreme Rider' Holmes and Marcus Bloomfield. In other Elite news, Harry Britt managed to 'lose' and 'find' his bike, Flemdog and Laurence Mapp did some tarmac breakdancing and Luke Gamble has finally had a haircut, if only to stop him looking like Trevor from X Factor.
So that was it for the Brits 06, big thanks to Harworth club for putting on a superb weekend. Can we have more of the same next year please?.? Thanks!!
NMKY
Royston Club Report: BMX racers from the Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club were competing at the British Championships at Harworth BMX Club near Doncaster last weekend. The weather favoured the riders so the conditions were good for racing and the track was fast and smooth to provide the spectators with very exciting racing with over 500 entries from all over the UK.
The Championships stated with the Cruiser classes and the Rockets only rider was Leroy Seaton in the 40+ class and he finished his days racing after the moto's when he failed to qualify for the finals!
As usual the youngest riders were competing in the 6 and Under class where the Rockets rider, Daniel Blanche, finished in an excellent 7th with Ted Dalleywater and Jasia Blanche just failing to qualify through from the motos, whilst in the 7 year class Aaron Dalleywater and Bradan Blanche both qualified for the semi finals but neither were able to make the important top four finish to progress to the finals although Aaron took 5th having held 3rd or 4thg for most of the race and just lost speed along the final complex of jumps.
Ethan Lewis was another who went out at the semi final stage in the 8 yr class with Zak Foreman found the competition a little too fast in his first major event. Royston's three riders in the 10 yr class all made their way through to the semi finals at which stage Louis Burton and James Handleigh ended their involvement in the competition but Zach Stevens made the final with 5th place being his reward in one of the most competitive classes at the event. Moving up to the male 11year class Aston Blanche was able to qualify for the semi finals and the same fate befell Ben Gutteridge in the Male 12yr class and his older brother Wayne in the 14-year category.
The Elite Class rider Laurence Mapp had high hopes on the day but failed to make it beyond the semi finals after a dramatic but almost injury free fall. The Junior classes (17-18yr) brought more success for the Rockets with Katie Roberts in the Female category taking 4th in the Final whilst in the Male class Jonathan Roberts finished his excellent years racing with a demolition ride in the final to lead from the start and take home the title of British Champion.
The final race in the East Anglia Regional 2006 summer calendar is on September 24th at Braintree for the East Anglia Championships with registration closing at 11-00am and racing due to start about 1-00 pm.
Due to darkness, the Royston's clubs regular Tuesday night sessions at the BMX track in Burns Road are now finished but it is hoped to plan some weekend dates once the regional winter calendar s confirmed. Full details of these 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.
