Richard Robotham's Images
Report: British BMX Championships 2008
Report: Richard Eames
Images: Richard Robotham
Posted: 26 Aug 2008
Event Date: 24-25 August 2008
Results - Club | Results Final | Results - Region | Results - Team | Results Top 8
Above: The crowd really got into the spirit of things
I think I'll start at the end with this one. Driving home from Peterborough I received a text from another rider stating that this year's Brits was 'the best day's racing in this country in the last 5 years' and I'm inclined to agree with him. So, with that said lets get straight to the action!
Above: Tight racing in all categories from young to geriatric!
6 and under went to quarters!! Let me repeat, it went to quarters!! 33 pocket rockets stepped up to battle for an 01 plate and it was Ryan O'Loughlin who took the win for the South West being tracked all the way by the Brookes brothers for the North. Ryan and Alex seem to have a little magnet that drags them round the track together, so much so that they try and occupy the same piece of dirt at the same time leading to heart in mouth moments for the entire North region at crucial points in quarter finals!!
7's; Defending 01 Josh Peters hadn't put a foot wrong all day winning all his motos and his semi but its the final where it counts. Finn Hall was having the lap of his dreams until disaster struck with Finn going down in a huge heap whilst leading and Ross Cullen stepped up to take the win with Josh Peters second, Josh Coppin in third and Lochlan Dudley fourth.
Above: Big crowds, great atmosphere and great racing
8's. Gideon Orena must have seen what happened with Josh and decided lightning wasn't going to strike twice as he lead from start to finish. Ethan Vernon was behind him ready to take advantage of the slightest mistake but it wasn't to be. Euan Hunt took third. Got to mention Jamie Norris Still who had a horrendous day ending up on the floor not once but twice, he'll be back for sure.
9's Kye White is a machine! I didn't doubt for a minute that Peckham's finest wasn't going to retain his title and he duly did just that made it two 01's in two years. The lad is quick and with big bro Daniel as a role model I'm sure he'll be killing it for years to come. Ben Turner took a solid second and Louis Gray Blest in third.
Above: Action from the cruiser class
10's I'd been waiting all day for this final, the ongoing battle between Paddy Sharrock and Reece Brownson. Reece is all power and pedal to the metal whereas Paddy is trails with a capital 'T'. The first half of Peterbrough track suits Reece and this showed with a super snap and holeshot. Paddy was right there though and poised to reel him in down that tech third straight when disaster struck in the second turn. Paddy had a massive moment and went down leaving Reece free to take the 01 with Josh Moore in 2 and Lee Golder in 3. In his true laidback style Paddy just got his helmet back on and busted a one footer over the last jump to huge cheers from the crowd. Awesome.
11's; Owen Baxter was flying early on in the day but couldn't quite take it as far as the finals where Jimmy Orena showed a clean pair of wheels to the rest of the pack including Jack Clarke, Fabian Shaw and Harry Grey Blest. Reigning 01 Nathan Hastings had to settle for 7th.
Above: Old Skool
12's; Quillan Isdore was the man in this one followed by Bailey Davies and James Handleigh, Oliver Fay came in fourth and Arran Skow fifth.
13's Another massive final was due as Daniel Pullen had been killing it all day whereas Jacob Roberts had been suffering mechanical problems and looked out of sorts. A little burst of inspiration from his great grandfather set Jacob off in the right direction and it was dead even between him and Daniel as they entered the second straight. Jacob managed to stay that bit lower and smoother over the big doubles and it gave him the advantage he needed to win. The 13's is so stacked with Howard, Minns, Hawker, Stack, Foster and Swain in the mix that every Brits should be a corker with these guys involved.
14's; Adam Smith took his talent team jersey to the win in this one with Riess Harper in two and Jack Smallpiece in three. I also had Phil Harwarden pegged for a final spot but some bad luck in the semi ruined that one. That's what happens when you don't bring M&S flapjacks to races, its a curse I tell you...
15's; Crazy!! When guys like Robert Hawker, Curtis Manaton and Sam Hann are not making mains you know its tough out there. I'll be honest, I had Dan McBride down for the win but no-one told Tre Whyte as he racked up the 01 but Dan was super close and on him like a cheap suit with the smoothness that is Kyle Evans in three and the defending 01 Jonathan Hastings in four.
Above: Number 01 perfects his killer race face
16's; Jason Fay was killing it all day long and once again I had him selected for the win, I really need to stop trying to pick winners even if I keep it completely to myself cos' it just ruins it for the rider concerned! Commentators curse seems to apply even if you're not on the mic. Arran Shrosbree has home track knowledge and boy did it pay off when he lined up the most perfect swoop I've ever seen and brought it home for a very popular win. 'Spider Chas' was seen climbing the rafters with delight and not a banner in sight....
Junior Male; Ali vs Foreman, Tyson v Bruno, Man United v Chelsea. All heavyweight match ups and now you can add Tamblyn v Straker to that list. There's barely the width of a gnats big toe between them as they battled for the 01. In fact, when you throw in Bradley Watts, Levi Ashley, Billy Luckhurst, Cheetham and Cheetham and Dan Tipton you could just have a WWE style 'King of the Ring' with Liam Batey as announcer (right Liam?) When the dust settled Tamblyn was victorious over Staker with Bradley overcoming a heavy moto crash for third. How many of these boys are going elite for 09? Heaven knows we need them!!
Above: At the gate - concentration-fest
19+; Right before the 19+ main gate dropped I was stood in the centre of the track with Warlock and he called Robbie Goodman for the win. Calling out a 19+ winner is the BMX equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack and whaddya know..? He only went and won it. It got super busy in the last turn with moves being made left and right but Robbie chose right and took the title. Scott Waterhouse was firing for the two spot with Issit third and Reidy 4th. Blog Icon DC just missed out on a finals berth with 5th in the semi.
Masters; The over 30's are just completely out of control. Really, can't we just all go down the pub and have a pint? No, because that would be no fun at all and there would be no craziness to report on be it TJ Baldwin's near death experiences (not for him ...for us, heart attack waiting to happen!) Jason Jessop's first straight brutus or Roy Binks arctic explorer beard and that's just the tip of iceberg (pun intended) Jessop nearly blew it in the semi with a slipped pedal which saw to Lee Alexander's chances but I was super stoked to see Ady Martin make the final. Jason Lewis also had his chances destroyed in the semi when he left his bike over the step up/down which ruined it for Jonathan Dominguez as well. When the final gate did drop Jessop went 'see ya' and nipped off for the 01 with TJ in hot pursuit and Matt Barnard in three. Russ Parsons had no idea where he finished until I told him later on. See? Masters. Barmy!
Girls; 6 and under went to Darcy Taylor with the 7-9's going to Blaine Davies. Bethany Campbell took the 10-12's in a class that contained no less than 26 riders! Angelica Orena couldn't quite match her brother's exploits with Isabelle Ferrada in third. 13-15 Girls went to Ashby Gibson from Bethan Hallet but the race of the day for me was 25 and Over Ladies and its not often I say that (see last year's report...Abi Hill v Nikki Spiers anyone?) The gate dropped and Julie Cary was on a mission! Nikki caught her and made the pass and the crowd were going mental. Julie made her move down the last straight with elbows locking and something had to give. Unfortunately Julie ended up down on the ground which left Claire Morrison in second and new mum Kim Bent in third. Junior Female was Abbie Taylor all the way with Charlotte Green jumping into second and Lauren Smith third.
Above: Beards and shorts - always a great combo, modelled here by the event commentators
Cruisers; 12 and Under saw George Hawker take an early lead and I honestly thought he was gonna hang on for the win but Kye White had other ideas to rack up two 01's for the day. Owen Baxter was third and Skye Beagley 4th. 13-15 is super close with Ben Clarkson, Cameron Howard and Curtis Manaton all trading moto wins. Ben took the final though with Cameron in two and Curtis in three. Our Bradley and Michael Hawker were fourth and fifth.
16-29 Cruiser saw some unfamiliar faces on some unfamiliar bikes, I guess the lure of a title is just too much for some... Gotta shout out Wan for his first race back off an injury and being in a main making position only to lose out and end up 5th. The Brits are never kind to this guy it seems. Come the main Dan Whyte took it to the line with Lee Baker in second and Cal Strick in third. I didn't see many of the regular national faces in the main aside form Messrs Pople and Hodge. No Twarn, No Clucas, No McAvoy even. What happened? Where the hell is OJ?
30-39 Cruiser is just rock hard. Hilly was looking good with Sharpy in the two spot till that second turn came round and bit him again. Reidy moved up to second with Baldwin third. Good to see Andy Restall being consistent as always even though by his own admission he fluffed his gate. It was also nice to see the return of James Christie who missed out with a 5th in the semi, not bad for a guy who's back garden is Hampshire.
40 plus cruisers had quarters which is pretty amazing. I have a question; Has Mike Wong been on the special pies cos' he was flying out of that gate! His luck ran out in the quarters with a 7th though. The North region were well represented with 4 finalists and it was Gary Morgan who took the title, apparently he used to race a Grifter back in the day!! John Moore was second, Tony Slater third and Aidy Warden fourth after his extensive warm up routine and 40 winks in the 'Kipmobile' If Aidy ever wins the Brits, expect the roof to come off wherever its held, even if it doesn't have one.
Above: Mobile disco has come an awful long way, thanks to Red Bull
Old Skool; These guys were raising money for Make-a-Wish and treated us to some good old 1980's sketchiness and true to the spirit of BMX Beat Billy Stupple was the winner followed by Jason Harvey and Paul Coleman. Mark Wallace blew his gate and ended up 5th. Its always good to see the old skool guys race and they should be with us every year.
Elite; What is happening to Elite? Why are we struggling to fill two gates with riders at the biggest race of the year? I could go about this for hours but let's get to the action. After all the debacle of the previous 3 months we finally saw the return of Kelvin Batey to the track. Would he still be race sharp and hungry for the win? The answer was 'yes' as he won all his motos and the stage was set for a battle royale with Marcus Bloomfield plus you can't rule out Hilly, Mappy and the new school of Whyte and Strickland with the added bonus of Nate Routledge stepping up for the first time (looking quick too!) The main was a bit of an anti climax as Bloomy unclipped and we were denied a real fight. Still, in order to win a race you have to cross the line first and that's exactly what KB55 did on his Freeagent/route55bmx.com bike. The scenes after were simply a release of frustration from the fans favourite until Mr Drug Test ruined the moment..thanks for that.
Above: Flying cruiser class
Like I said, this race ruled. Peterborough put on a first class event and I hope we go back next year for more of the same. I might even get my bike out...
Related: East Kent BMX Club at the Nationals - A club's eye view of a great weekend's racing.
Related: Royston Rockets at the Nationals - Royston Rockets' Phil Townsend reports on a best-ever result for the club.