Relentless National BMX Series 2007 - Round 6
Tredegar, August 12 2007
Images: Richard Robotham | Report: Dan Clifford
Results: Results Round 6
Series Rankings: Rider Ranking | Team Ranking | Club Ranking
Round 6 of the Relentless National Series took place on a wonderful August weekend at the Tredegar BMX track in South Wales. Built by Jason Carpenter it has to be one of the most technical and demanding tracks in the country. If not the most! You can't take your eye off it for a second, otherwise you'll know about it, the track claimed a few riders over the weekend, a few of them breaking parts of their bodies.. Big shout to Miles Kirby, first real race back and he goes out and breaks his OTHER collar bone. Gutted for you mate, heal up nice and quick, don't let it put you off!
Saturday practise went swimmingly, gorgeous sunshine baked the track all day long, it was fantastic, after last years race at Wales, they were due a break, and they got it! There was a cool session vibe going down and the majority of the riders looked to be enjoying the track. After gates the Flemdog organised a pump race, all benefits to the Stephen Murray fund, I believe £146 was raised, so that was awesome, and a great deal of fun! Thanks to everyone that entered, helped out and made it run smooth!
Sunday morning saw a few more clouds in the sky the occasional scattered shower and a cooler breeze on your back for the already fast as hell first straight! The day may have been cooler, but the racing was scorching! With this race being a double pointer a lot of the age groups current leaders needed a win to secure the national number 1 spot.. The pressure was on!
6 & Unders: The future of BMX were lapping up the sunshine, and looked pretty comfortable on the lippy track, it claimed a few of them here and there, but these rockets just get back up and solider on! Lochlan Dudley took the win on the day looking strong through the motos. Forever challenged by the likes of Ted Dalleywater and Josh Peters, Dudley had the determination to battle through and take the win! Taylor prodigy, Sam made the main and on Tania's and Dave's instruction pedalled his heart out to a 6th place! Great rides on the day from little Harry Restall and even littler Morgan Turner, this kid gets faster every time I see him ride - What's his Dad feeding him?!
7 Years: Gideon Orena, shear domination in this class, Ethan Vernon putting in an awesome race to get a 2nd, James Morris Still didn't have the best time in the motos but his final came together nicely to get the 3rd!
Female 7-9 Years: Chole Taylor had this one wrapped up! Her first year racing nationals and her first national title I believe. Awesome! Lauren Stack and Katie Yeats gave her a run for her money on several occasions but she had the minerals to make it count and secure the win! Also worthy of a mention was Melissa Foster, little sister to Dylan, she had an awesome day making the B final and taking the win, constantly smiling and laughing, even after a hard crash!
8 Years: 18 riders in this class this weekend and the battle was between Harley Taylor and Ben Turner, both with exceptional rides in the motos, and stormed to the 1 spot in their semi finals.. Come final time Harley didn't quite have what it took he had to settle for 3rd with Ben Turner and Luca Premoli taking 1 and 2 respectively! Great rides also from Eddie Moore and Bob Devereux with moto winds between them! Also riding up Lewis Hipkins made the main and looked on good form!
9 Years: What can I say?! Paddy Sharrock nailed this class this weekend, making it an absolutely perfect day, winning all his motos and taking the win from greats like Reece Brownson, Kye Whyte and Tom Novis! He was on an absolute flyer! All that training the other week at the GYPO trails jam paid off for the youth!
10 Years: Jack Clarke took the win in this class with an outstanding performance! Straight moto wins gave him the confidence to take the main by storm! Jake Power had an excellent days ride and made it for the 2 spot in the final! Jimmy Orena looked to be pushing a massive gear and was unlucky down the 2nd straight, he rode fantastic all day but didn't make it happen come main time. Excellent performances on the day from Peterborough rider Nathan Hastings and Profiles Eliot Pateman.
Female 10-12: Bethan Hallet made it count all day long, getting perfect results and storming the final, and securing the national number 1 plate! Emma Coles kept her on her toes all day long though! Hero of the day was Bethany Campbell, a really hard crash in moto 1 followed by another entanglement in moto 3 saw her in a run off, she took the win in that to transfer to the main and get the 3 spot, a fantastic performance! Isabelle Ferrada didn't have the best of days and took a fall in the main where she had to settle for 8th place. 
11-12 Years: Jacob Roberts. Another rider from Mid Lancs cleaned up this class! He has had an awesome year dominating it at almost every national, his main competition came in the forms of Bradley Minns and Reece Hoggart, Brad took an insane crash in his semi and I couldn't believe he got up and finished his lap. Sterling. He headbutted the landing of the triple into turn to and did a full flip to land down the backside, I honestly have never seen a crash so harsh! He even got back on it to clean up his B final, amazing! But Jacob was the boy for the day, taking the win from Reece Hoggart and an excellent 3rd place to rad dude Dylan Foster.
13-14 years: One of the biggest classes all weekend, the battle for the national number one was between McBride and Kirk, they both had an excellent days racing both nailing their motos along with Peterborough's Jonathon Hastings. Semi final time came round with Matt Kirk and Jonathon taking the wins, but come final time Mcbride stepped it up and made a perfect lap to take the win, and the national series title! Matthew Kirk took 2nd, with Tre Whyte putting in a great lap for 3rd and Jonathon in 4th. Other fantastic performers on the day were William Elsey and Sam Novis, who also nailed the pro section - sick! Abbie Taylor put in a great effort, but with getting caught in a crash in the semi and then feeling the squeeze in the B final to settle for 8th. She has a lot more to give and I'm sure the lads will feel her wrath next year!
Female 13-15 Years: Charlotte Green made in it count, grand prix racing for the girls in Wales meant every race counted, Charlotte did what she had to do perfect every race and take the win. Ashby Gibson took the 2nd spot on the day. Worthy of a mention was first time racer Manon Carpenter, daughter of track builder Jason, she rode great and secured a 4th overall on the day!
15-16 Years: Another amazing class to watch, and it came down to the wire for the national title with Bradley Watts and Mathew Masterson, both whom are exceptional riders. They both had storming motos along with Aaron Curry, Jake Cheetham, Farran and Ryan Vinyard, but these 2 were on fire. They took their semi finals comfortably.. The main event came and Brad got an absolutely perfect gate; and the first straight of his life and had it from start to finish, Matty put in a great ride but didn't quite pull it together, allowing Brad to take the win (and the title) and Aaron Curry to take 2nd.
Junior Male: This class was all about the 3 Daniels. Price, Thorne and Whyte. They all could have taken the win and all could have taken the national number 1 title. Thorne looked off it slightly in the semi with Price and Whyte taking theirs, but come main time, he fired up his boosters and was gone, Whyte made a desperate attempt in turn one, which cost him a few vital seconds and allowed Price to sneak under him. Thorne took the win with Price in 2nd and Whyte in 3rd. Thorne got the national number 1 plate over Dan Whyte by 0.5 of a point. Close or what?! Loving the action between Digger and Deakin, shame these guys won't be battling it out together in 19+ next year!
Junior Female: The usual battles went on in this class Goodman, Smith and Hale all looked good on the day Lauren with straight moto wins, she seemed to back off come main time and fall to the back of the pack, but fought back to secure the 3 spot, behind Goodman in 1 and Hale in 2. Ria Goodman claiming the national number 1 plate!
19+: Oooooof! Again 3 title chasers, one race, no more bull. Flemdog, Strickland and Tuffs. All capable, all awesome riders, all had it ALL to do. My money was on my boy Tuffy we've been riding together all year from the indoor in Winter right up to this race and I knew he had what it takes. It was to the wire though! So many riders in this class worthy of a mention, some heavy hitters, some big spinners, some of the most skilled in the UK, and of course the majority reppin' the flat pedals! Tuffy made a mistake in his main slipping his pedal and falling to the back of the pack, but he made a comeback avoiding the carnage of Hodge and Roberts in turn one to make the 3 spot in the semi. I had to laugh as I was going through the final straight Tuffy come past me like I was stood still! The sod. But I made the main so all was good!
The final was stacked. Tuffy. Strickland. Flemming. Shaw. Issit. Richardson. Allen (an excellent performance all day from that man!) and Clifford.
The battle with Cal and Tuffy was bar to bar, side by side down the 2nd straight, Tuffy got a good line into the 3rd straight and kept Cal off, but it was tight, Tuffy took the win and the title Cal got the 2 spot with Andy Shaw in 3rd. 19+ is where it's at!
Masters: Long gone are the days of stiff 30+ riders making a hash of things, I never really thought this was the case but everyone always said that, so don't shoot me! Jessop was on the war path, laying down the wattage and pulling the others along, but the skill of Williams and Ives sometimes got the better of the big man. But not come final time, Jessop took the win with Steve Williams taking the 2nd spot. He looked over joyed. Ecstatic with glee, one but couldn't help to cheer on up at the sight of that mans winning smile. Ivesy took the 3 spot and the national number 2 plate, I know he wanted the 1 plate so bad, but next year I'm backing that man! What with Gold Coast BMX taking off he'll be getting all sorts of riding in before next year I'm sure! A shout to Stu Dixon who also made the A main, and put in a great ride, nice one fella! Mike Pardon took a big fall taking Stefan Restall with him, hope those boys are alright.
Another shout to the man who built the track, Jason Carpenter he made the B final and took the win, just ahead of Jason Mills, an excellent ride from him, even if he didn't think so!
Cruisers: No Bradley Minns in 12 and under cruisers meant that Michael Hawker could take win from Cameron Howard and the national title! Urban airs Lee Crowther again cleared up in 13-15 cruiser class making it look easy, although Thomas Elvin tried in vain to get up ahead of him.in 16-29 Cruiser junior men winner Daniel Thorne took the win ahead of Jake Cheetham and Juan Watney in 30-39 Sharpy had it all wrapped up, a great battle in the main between he and Alan Hill who hadn't met all day but both had equal moto points and both won their semis.. Sharpy had a fantastic first straight and got the win ahead of Alan in 2nd. A great ride from Dave Taylor in the 3 spot. An earlier injury saw CJ Butler out early, he was looking great all day and could of made an impact in the final for sure. In 40+ Mike Pardon took the win ahead of Shaun Calvert and Steve Noble.
Ladies 25+: Good battles with Abi Hill and Nicola Spiers in this class, Abi had what it took and seemed to have the edge over Nicola Spiers and the other ladies, Abi took the win and the national title.
Elite men: The only class allowed over the pro section and some of them had a real hard time with it.. Eak! Gamble was the man of the hour, after being in the run-off to actually get into the main, he ended up getting the best points overall to take the money and run! On flat pedals! Warren Bancroft looked in it to win it, nailing the last straight at an awesome pace, but a crash in main 3 set him back seriously, allowing snappy Mappy to take the 2 spot and the national title. Jackson had a good day with his best result all year with a 4th on the day. Tricky Dicky looked strong on his flats going for the crazy high lows you can always expect, rad! Rollback king Liam Batey couldn't quite get the gates he wanted and got caught in traffic through the pro section he had to settle for 7th on the day.
A great national, fantastic weather, a good atmosphere, we were due a break right?!
See you at the Brits!
Dan Clifford
The Rest of the Series
- Round 1 & 2: 5-7 May, Cheddar: Results | Results | Rankings
- Round 3 & 4: 16-17 June, Peterborough Results | Results | Rider_Ranking | Team_Ranking | Club_Ranking
- Round 5: 30 June-1 July, Mid Lancs Results | Rider Ranking | Team Ranking | Club Ranking
Royston Rockets' Club Report
The final round of the 2007 BMX National series was held at the Tredegar BMX track in surprisingly sunny Wales last Sunday and as usual it was an action packed weekend with over 300 riders taking part including 12 from the Royston BMX Club. At the same event in 2006 the weather was very wet and miserable throughout the weekend but for 2007 the organisers had got the sun on order, so much so that the track needed watering on the Sunday!
The Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club involvement started with the youngest member, Ted Dalleywater, competing in the Under 6 yr class where he was rewarded with an excellent 3rd place in the A final and in the 7yr class Royston's three riders had equally good results with Ethan Vernon taking 2nd and Daniel Blanche holding onto 4th just ahead of team mate Aaron Threader in 5th. Representing the girls in the 7-9 class, Jasia Blanche took 6th in the B final against girls up to 3 years older then herself.
In the 8yr class, Aaron Dalleywater took the win in the B final with Bradan Blanche on 6th whilst in the 11-12 yr. class saw James Handleigh finished in 6th in the A final. In the 19+ men's class, Jonathan Roberts took 5th in the B final after a heavy fall whilst leading his semi final and in the Junior Female, Katie Roberts came home in 5th overall. The Elite class saw more success come Royston's way with Laurence Mapp taking 1st in the A final to confirm his overall number 1 ranking for the year whilst Richard Townsend took 2nd in the class B final.
The next event on the race calendar is the final round of the Regional Summer Series at Ipswich on August 19th and the Rockets will be out in force for this event to gain points towards their Regional ranking and counting towards qualification to the British Championships which are the following weekend over the August Bank holiday weekend at Burnham-on-Sea.
The Rockets own Summer Series continues with their regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road. Full details of 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.