Cyclopark, Gravesend played host to the opening rounds of the HSBC UK | National BMX Series last weekend

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Published: 14 June 2021
Words/Images: Julian Allen/Tony Twist

Cyclopark, Gravesend played host to the opening rounds of the HSBC UK | National BMX Series last weekend.

The atmosphere was electric from Friday night practice and rolled into race day as the riders met up with friends they hadn’t seen for months. The weather conditions were perfect and the spectators and riders were treated to super-hot conditions both on and off the track.

In the Championship classes, Great Britain Cycling Team riders Beth Shriever and Kye Whyte were both present and the spectators were treated to some top level racing with the pair putting on a show of their on track skills.

Round 1

Shriever was dominant as she showed why she’s the nation’s number one female and in the final she had a lap time of just 35.167 seconds.

Oliver Cope took his first Junior Men win he went wire to wire in fine style. Tai Suleyman kept Cope honest with some local track knowledge shining through in 2nd and Spencer Gibson chased them down in 3rd

Whyte delivered in the men’s class as he put in a hot lap in the final that had the crowd glued to the on track action. Chasing him down for the podium was fellow GB athlete Paddy Sharrock taking 2^nd and rookie Elite racer Matt Hutt who showed his mettle with strong 3^rd place finish after a last turn pass for the spot.

Championship Women

1st Beth Shriever

2nd Emily Hutt

3rd Markella Houli

4th Eleana Stafford

5th Lauren Stack

6th Morgan Haslam

7th Aimee Bancroft

Junior Men

1st Oliver Cope

2nd Tai Suleyman

3rd Spencer Gibson

4th Daniel Alvarez

5th Leon Parker-Livesey

6th Mackenzie Rennison

7th Cameron Reid

8th Finley Clark

Superclass

1st Kye Whyte

2nd Paddy Sharrock

3rd Matt Hutt

4th Calum Strickland

5th Tyreese Bradshaw

6th Dean Reeves

7th Chad Hartwell

8th Jay Bovill

Round 2

The weather turned it up a notch for round 2 and the riders were battling temperatures in the high twenties along with the track and each other as they worked their way through the rounds towards the main events.

The Championship Women’s Podium went the same as day one with Shriever stepping things up a gear and putting in a 34.701 second lap time of sheer class. Hutt and Houli were best of the rest in 2^nd and 3^rd as Eleana Stafford chased them down just a fraction off in 4^th.

Summing up the weekend, Shriever commented “What a great weekend! Sunshine, fast track and two wins. It was great to see everyone and see the level of racing in all the classes The future of British BMX looking bright.”

The Junior men’s podium was also repeated and Copes time would have put him in a drag race for the podium in the Superclass. Tai Suleyman rode a short track on a wide bike to keep Spencer Gibson off the second step of the podium. Just a little way back in 5^th was Mark Fletcher who made his first Junior main at just 15 years old.

A fitting end to the race weekend was the Superclass final and it was Whyte who delivered the goods for the second day running in a real show of speed and skills. Matt Hutt went one better to take 2^nd and Jay Bovill claimed 3^rd and some awesome technical riding.

After the win, Whyte said “It was great to be back racing nationals here at Cyclopark. The racing in all the classes was amazing and taking the wins this weekend in front of the Peckham kids was the icing on the cake.”