practice images
Motos, Quarters, Semis & Finals
Fun and atmosphere shots
British BMX Championships 2007
Burnham-on-Sea, 26 August
Images: Richard Robotham
Report: Dan Clifford
Links: Practice Day Images | more image here www.ianbeechimages.com
Results: Riders Top 8 | Club Ranking | Region Ranking | Trade_Team_Ranking
The 2007 BMX British Championships went down this weekend in Burnham on Sea. The track had been recently revamped and it proved a challenge to many. But this was the British Championships, the Cream rises to the top, and they deal with whatever is thrown at them.. A one off, do or die racing extravaganza that provided incredible action in all age groups. Supported again by Relentless and Crupi among others, the track enclosure looked amazing. Burnham club had pulled out all the stops, and the racing was going to be awesome!
There no B finals or novice categories at the British Champs, this meant that you had to bring you're A-game, you needed to make that top 4 or you'd be out of the loop, if you were in that 5th spot you had nothing to lose and this made for some incredibly exciting racing all day long!
6 & Unders: The pocket rockets dealt with the track in their normal stride, the future of British BMX were nailing the track like a casual ride in the park! The battle all year long between Lochlan Dudley, Josh Peters and Ted Dalleywater resumed at Burnham.. The national title holder had it all to do, but pressures on the day got the better of Lochlan, he managed to get the 2 spot, but peters took the win with Dalleywater in 3rd. Harry Restall put in a great days racing but got unlucky in the semi taking the 5th spot, unlucky little fella! Another shout to Mike@Dialledbikes young lad Josh Wong, his first ever National experience and he looked great. It came down to the run off where sadly he didn't make it through, an excellent performance though!
Male 7 Years: As with the national series Gideon Orena was going like a bat out of hell in this one, untouchable! Mid Lancs riders James Norris Still put in an excellent effort and a consistent days racing to take the 2nd spot with Hayes rider Jack Gray taking the 3rd High place national rankers Lewis Hipkins and Ethan Vernon didn't have their best days racing to date taking the 7th and 8th places respectively.
Female 7-9 Years: Sheffield's Chloe Taylor does it again! Taking the national series by storm this girl fired up her boosters and did one! She clean sweeped all day long over local Lauren Stack and Decoys Katie Yeates.. Katie rode a fantastic final taking the 2nd behind Chloe with Lauren in 3rd. I think Lauren was pretty disappointed but she'll be back next year to give the girls another run for their money I'm sure!
Male 8 Years: Great racing all day in this class the 3 big hitters Kye Whyte, Luca Premoli and Harley Taylor battling it out all day long with the rest of the lads. Excellent racing saw Louis Gray Blest in the main along with Rhys Trotter but Kye rode an awesome lap to pass Luca and get the 1 spot. Harley picked up 3rd for his efforts and Bob Devereux took 4th.
Male 9 Years: My money was on Paddy Sharrock for this one, he was on a high after his national title grab and looked great all day long, but Reece Brownson was hungry for it! He missed out on the national title and the British Championships was his last chance to do the business! As with the nationals the regular main makes were in attendance with Tom Novis up there and Joshua Moore and Harry Little. But the race came down to Paddy and Reece. An awesome lap with Paddy doing absolutely everything in his power to get in front of Brownson, there was a swoop attempt and high lows going off all over the place, it was one of the most exciting finals of the day! Reece did the business though and took the 1 spot and paddy settled with 2nd, but he gave it absolutely everything, fantastic!
Male 10 years: Another incredibly exciting final! These lads were all hungry for it and come final time tensions were running high, National series winner Jack Clarke got an absolutely fantastic start and was leading it with Jimmy Orena hot on his heels, Jake Power was up there too and going into turn 2 Jimmy busted out a brave move riding Jack Clarke up the turn, they both fell taking Power with them, Peterborough's Nathan Hastings who was sitting in about 5th managed to avoid the carnage and take the British Champion title! The EA crowd were going bonkers, Simon Hastings was a gibbering wreck, it was awesome! Nathan took the 1 spot with George Hawker in 2 and Daniel Butterfield in 3. Owen Baxter took a great 4th, Dad, Martin of BMX-Race.co.uk went bonkers it was an electric final!
Male 11 Years: No longer having to battle in the double age groups, these younger lads had a shot at the title, a perfect days racing for Formulas James Handleigh saw him take the 1 spot from Zak Stevens, Oliver Fay put in a good ride to secure the 3rd spot. Last years British Champ, Urbanairs Brad Spick didn't have the best time in the final and had to settle for 8th, but making the British Championship main is no mean feat, and these guys did brilliantly!
Female 10-12 Years: Bethan Hallet did it again, with a perfect performance all day long she managed to not only secure the national series plate but the 01 of the British Champion plate too! A great ride from that girl! Emma Coles did the business to take a convincing 2nd spot with Isabelle Ferrada taking the 3rd spot. Recent Urbanair signing and onboard her new KHE race bike was Bethany Campbell, she did great all day with consistent motos she took the 6th spot in the main.
Male 12 years: Jacob Roberts.. What are you eating boy?! He absolutely killed the 1st straight at the Brits, he lead it from start to finish with an incredibly determined Bradley Minns hunting him down. But Jacob took it with an excellent lap. Daniel Pullen took the 3 spot with Rad Lad Dylan Foster taking 4. Devan Pope took 6th place, not bad considering he had no practise as he was at his hotel having breakfast.. How pro?! Reece Hoggart didn't have the best day finishing last in the main but had been looking very strong all day.
Cruisers 12 and Under: Local lad Ryan Stack dominated this class ahead of AlansBMX rider Bradley Minns, Micheal Hawker had an awesome days racing to get the 3 spot.
Male 13 Years: Adam Smith, the BMX forums are going mad about this lad, he has improved so much in such a short period of time, he has strength, style and a gate which meant he took the British Championships title with what looked like ease! He dominated the main and all the North East boys were loving it! Great rides from Jack Smallpiece and Reiss Harper in the main finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively, and Rotherham Rad Lad Elliot Pullen rocking the flat pedals took the 4th spot!
Cruiser 13-15 Years: Urbanairs Lee Crowther kept his cool and kept up with his previous record with a perfect day. This meant he lead the grand prix class ahead of Thomas Elvin and East Kent's James Humphrey.
Male 14 years: 25 riders in this class and out of the 8 main makes it could have been anyones, Tre Whyte, Sam Novis, Matty Kirk, McBride, Jordan Hayes, it was stacked! Buzzing off his little brothers earlier victory though was Jonathon Hastings. He got an absolutely awesome gate and the first straight of his life, he lead the lads out start to finish punching the air as he crossed the finish line to be the new 2007 BMX British Champion! I'm sure by this point Father Simon and Mother Roz were in pieces. An excellent performance from new Talent Team signing Jonathon Hastings. Matty kirk took the 2 spot with McBride in 3 and Tre in 4. An awesome final!
Male 15 Years: After narrowly missing out on the national title Mathew Masterson had everything to go for, he raced relentlessly to make it a perfect days racing. He took the 01 plate ahead of Tiverton riders Jason Fay and Ben Blake in 2 and 3 and Urbanair rider, and soon to emigrate to Australia, top lad Lee Crowther. Arran Shrosbree, with the best tan in BMX took the 7 spot after a valiant effort all day long.
Female 13-15 years: Some great riding from the girls in this class! Charlotte Green did what she does best and took the 01 plate, but not without a battle from the likes of Ashby Gibson, Jessica Rooke and Elise Dick. Charlotte took the main by storm leading it out but hot on her heels was Ashby with Elise putting in an excellent ride for the 3rd spot. Jessica Rooke had a great days racing but it didn't work out come main time and she rolled through for 8th.
Male 16 Years: Fresh from his national series win Bradley Watts was hungry for the double up, he had some stiff competition mind you, with riders like Sewell and Curry to battle with. Come main time Brad was in 2nd hot on Aarons tail and a brave move in turn 2 saw him sacrifice his second spot and fall back to 5th. This allowed Sewell, Coleman and Farran through. Curry took the win with Sewell in 2, Coleman in 3 and Farren in 4th. An intense super fast final!
Cruiser 16-29: 26 riders in the class and all eyes were on Liam Phillips, needless to say he dominated and took the win, but Daniel Whyte put in an excellent performance for the 2 spot. Regular cruiser rider Daniel Thorne settled for 3 with Daniel Pople in 4. Dan Sobutta cut the mustard and made the main on a borrowed cruiser but he got loose as a goose down the 2nd straight and took a slam taking Josh Cheetham with him, but to be in there was awesome, and I think he was stoked just the same!
Junior Men: After a bit of a pre-sheet cock up Daniel Whyte was in with 19+ rather than junior men, he wasn't best pleased, but it gave the lads in junior one less thing to worry about! Daniel Price hadn't been on the bubble all year in my opinion, but he seemed to up the ante at the Brits, he lead the final convincingly and took the 01 plate ahead of spinning to win Daniel Thorne and Luke Tamblyn. Deakin secured the 4 spot with Digger in 5th.
Male 19+ All the heavy hitters were in attendance for this race and the racing was intense. Sadly Callum ended up snapping some alloy bars on a cruiser and wrecked his wrist, so he was out of the proceedings, but Dan Whyte was in the mix to shake things up a bit. After some crazy fast semis the 19+ main makers lined up on the gate. Whyte, Flemdog, Waterhouse, Shaw, Dell'isola, Taylor, Issit, and Tuffy.
The gate dropped and Whyte got an awesome snap and was pulling but over the triple he unclipped, this let Tuffy through on the inside, but Waterhouse all the way from the outside got the holeshot! He lead it round turn 1 and down the 2nd straight with Tuffy closing in, Waterhouse railed high and Tuffy saw his chance.. It was a textbook pimp and Waterhouse went down, taking a few with him! Tuffy got through and Shaw avoided the mess with Whyte following hard. Tuffy took the win, doubling up from his national title, Shaw took the 2nd spot and Whyte in 3. An awesome final, and I'm still gutted I wasn't in it! Boo!
Masters: One of the biggest classes of the day and a few familiar faces making a return. The class was action packed all day long! The old boys had quarters to deal so props to the guys that made it through to the main, it was a long day! Come final time Matt Barnard got the gate of his life, he nailed the first straight with Lee Alexander in the 2 spot, Dave Ives and Jessop hunting them down. Matt Barnard took the win ahead of Alexander, Ivesy in 3. Jessop in 4. CJ Butler had an awesome start but a big fall on the 1st straight saw him out of the runnings. Williams had been looking good all day and I had money riding on him, but a nightmare semi saw him out of the running along with The Warlock and Pete power. Big names to be going out, it wasn't an easy day for this class!
Cruiser 30-39: Great battles all day with Sharpy, Hilly, CJ Butler and Sheffield's Dave Taylor. Sharpy was looking super strong all day but Hilly got the better of him come main time, Hillys gate was fantastic and Sharpy couldn't catch him, but it wasn't for trying, he gave it everything and it was to the wire. CJ took the 3 spot and a battling Dave Taylor fought his was through for 4th.
Cruiser 40+: A great deal of controversy surrounded this class. Dave Garland took the win but he was onboard a mountain bike, crunching his gears down the start hill as he went. He did put in a good lap, but really it was the British BMX Championships and maybe he should have rocked the cruiser. Either way, he took the win ahead of Tony Slater who rode fantastic all day. Adie Warden back on the bike and looking great managed the 3rd with Gold Coast beer monster/rider Russ Hanlon in 4th! Peterboroughs Chas Shrosbree put in a great ride but with a 5th in a tough semi just missed out.
Ladies 25+: Kim Bent a regular 4X rider made an appearance and really shook things up! She took the win ahead of Abi Hill who rode strong all day. Nicola Spiers put in a great effort to secure 3rd overall.
Junior Female: Sheffield's Abbie Taylor rocked up and killed it. She was flying and jumping ahead of the girls down the 1st straight, she took the 01 plate from Ria in the 2 spot and Lauren Smith in 3.Nicola Reed remained in the class even though she could have ridden back in 13-15 girls and she had a strong day taking the 5th spot.
Elite Men: Wowwwee! Super fast action from these guys. Burnham's 1st straight is one you can attack at the highest possible speed and still make downsides, this made for some of the fastest first straights I have seen all year! Kelvin was on the bubble, but hot on his heels was Liam Philips who was flying! Laurence Mapp was looking fast, Hilly and Davis. Some incredibly fast racing all day and with it coming down to one final it was do or die.
Kelvin took the race start to finish but Liam Phillips was there, breathing down his neck at all times, he kept Wozza at bay down the 2nd straight and Bancroft took the 3 spot. Alex Dick avoided the carnage that was Laurence Mapp in turn 2 to take the 4th! Ashley Davis was in the middle of the carnage and narrowly avoided it, only then to collide with some speakers. He was back on his feet instantly like nothing had happened.. Crazy!
Old Skool! This was a class that was added in to support the Stephen Murray fund and all the money raised went to support Stephens rehab after his accident earlier this year. 25 riders showed up to show their support and they all looked to have a great time, the man of the hour was Jai Kemp who took the win ahead of Jason Harvey and Chris Beagley.
Along with the Old Skool there was an auction of Pro shirts, helmets, signed memorabilia and other bits and bobs for Stephen Murray and raffle sales as well as the T shirts, wrist bands and stickers. I think the BMX community over this weekend raised some big money for the Murraystrong foundation, and Jeff Murray even came by to show his appreciation. We appreciated that Jeff. Our thoughts go out to you all.
An absolutely awesome British Championships, Burnham club pulled out all the stops, the weather was fantastic and the riding was amazing. It was a great close to what has been a difficult year. I'm already looking ahead to the Autumn nationals.. See you there! DC