Round 1 South Winter Series

Bournemouth 16th November 2008

Report: Alan Humphrey

Pictures: Simon Lavender

On an overcast, cold and slightly blustery day the Bournemouth BMX Club played host to Round 1 of the SOUTH Winter Series on their revamped track. Despite the weather there was a healthy turnout of riders with 126 entries of which over thirty were in the Novice classes. A strong contingent of riders made the trek up from the South West clubs of Tiverton, Decoy, Burnham, Bath and Exeter but travelling furthest were Darcie and Harley Taylor from the North East.

Uncle Buck was on the mic and set the mood for the day with his usual top commentary and the track team worked well to get the meeting underway early and a slick run through of races saw a good finish time assisted no doubt by there being no serious accidents. For the winter races it was decided to run the over 17 year old 20'' classes as a Payback class which brought together 21 riders to do battle for top honours and some cash towards their travelling costs.

In the first set of motos Jack Bodman took the win in the 7 and Unders Novice class while Ryan Bodman was victorious in Novice 8-10. Gunslinger Rockstar's Olivia Howard won the Female 7-9 and Kye Whyte lead home Elliot Pateman in Expert 12. Jack Smallpeice showed home track advantage by squeezing past Exeter's Sam Leggett in the second berm for a well deserved win in Expert 16. East Kent's Ethan Godden had a nasty tumble at the end of the home straight which put him out of action for his second moto.

In the 40+ Cruisers it was a close battle between Kev Ranscombe and Matt French with Ranscombe just crossing the line first. In the Payback class Lewis Lacey unclipped in the first berm but rallied to win as did Peckham's Dan Whyte in his moto as he coasted home a clear winner ahead of the Flying Fox, Miles Kirby. Billy Luckhurst took the other moto and the scene was set for some interesting races throughout the afternoon.

In the second motos a coming together in the Novice 8-10 years between Jake Kennedy and Rowley Harrison brought both to a grinding halt entering the first berm but both walked away from the incident. The only Old School rider Andy Morgan on a Freeagent Limo went down in front of the pack of charging Novice 15+ers on the first straight after getting away well from the gate. Kye Whyte and Elliot Pateman fought hard and close in Expert 12 and they crossed the finish line in that order. Sam Leggett looked set to win the Expert 16's but was taken by Jack Smallpeice on the final berm in a very close race to the line. In their respective motos of the Payback group Dan Whyte and Lewis Lacey made light work of winning whilst Zoltain Buday took the other moto.

The third motos saw a very impressive ride from Gosport rider Cemil Sabri who romped home in Novice 11-14 by a half straight at the finish. Another Gosport rider putting in a creditable performance was Ayesha McLelland in Female 13-15 beating Peckham's Shamika Shaw. In Expert 16 Cameron Howard swooped into the last berm exiting three abreast with Sam Leggett and Jack Smallpeice to lead them home in what must have been the closest finish of the day. Billy Luckhurst looked good by winning in his Payback moto and Lewis Lacey styled the third straight last doubles with a classic X-up on his way to victory.

In the 17+ semis it was Lewis Lacey again making the first semi look too easy for him ahead of Dan McBride whilst in the other semi Dan Whyte and Billy Luckhurst fought for a close finish.

And so to the Finals, with the Novice 7 and Unders up first with Jack Bodman taking yet another win by almost half a straight from Ethan Craik. In Novice 8-10 Ryan Bodman just held on to a win from a fastly closing Jake Kennedy. In Novice Girls 11-14 Lily Howard took a comfortable win ahead of Alesi Tye. The Novice 11-14 saw Cemil Sabri just beating Harry Stickley who was closing in on the leader. In Novice 15+ Andy Morgan was the early leader but was overtaken on the second berm by Kyle Stock who stayed in front to win by two bike lengths. In the combined Expert 7/8 Burnham's Finlay Mead led home from Tiverton's Ryan O'Loughlin.

Olivia Howard and Peckham's Larsharn Whyte were neck and neck into the first berm but Howard pulled away on the second straight and stayed ahead for the win in Female 7-9. In Expert 10 Lewy Ranger got the snap but Rhys Trotter got the better of him on the second berm for a close finish over the line. The Female 10-12 final was another win for Kat Davidson from British Champion Blaine Davies. A light drizzle looked set to blight the Expert 12 final but Kye Whyte kept his cool to head Elliot Pateman home for a clean sweep of wins.

Jake McNab and Ellis Dove contested the Expert 14 B final finishing in that order whilst in the A final it was Bexhill's George Higley who lead the field and finished well ahead of second place Fabian Shaw. Ayesha McLelland secured another fine win in Female 13-15 from Shamika Shaw. In the Expert 16 B final Bailey Davies took a win from Elise Dick and in the A final Cameron Howard ran home ahead of Southern Champion Jack Smallpeice in a very close finish.

In the combined cruiser class of 16-39 year olds Carl Potts took the B final from Toby Brown. Burnham's Damian Mead lead into the first berm in the A final but was overhauled by eventual winner Pete Warner and Clive Hawkins. Shanice Trotter and Kia Parker had a coming together in the second berm during the Female 13-15 final bringing Trotter down and launching Parker right over the berm - thankfully Kia was unhurt - leaving Katie Allan to take the win from Bev Dackombe.

And so the big guns took to the track with the 40+ cruisers out first and Matt French and Kev Ranscombe battling for the lead whilst behind them Billy Stupple and Mike Wong were having their own battle with Dialled Bikes' Mike having his second off of the day on the first berm. Matt French took the victory and won the group overall. Max Howard and Gabor Winkler both went down in the C final for the Payback class leaving Charlie Luckhurst the eventual winner from Dave Glendower.

In the B final Baz Darcy and Terry Green had a coming together at the end of the first straight and both hit the ground hard whilst Pete Lavender and Sam Richardson took the one-two. Last race of the day saw the big guns of the Payback class line up for their race and Peckham's Dan Whyte got the snap with Lewis Lacey close at hand. Whyte took lead advantage by riding high into the first berm and boxing the following riders which left him clear to romp home ahead of Gabor Deli and Decoy's Dan McBride.

A great start to the Winter Series and all credit to Bournemouth BMX Club and the South Region race team for putting on a slick meeting on a well-prepared track. The second round of the Series is at the home of BADBMX at Dagenham on 7th December.