Men's Battle of Britain Round 3 in Birmingham - 15th August 2021
The Midlands took the honours in Round 3 of the Men's Battle of Britain Series early on Sunday at Birmingham by a single point from the South West. Myke Grimes and Paul Heard ending the day on 15 points apiece, both only dropping a point from a possible maximum. Chris Timms, again, rode solidly throughout the match bringing home a hard fought 13 points.
The South West’s Ben Mould lead from the front with 15 points and with Conner Tucker and Will Bristowe adding 14 and 13 points to the score sheet, the Midlands had to wait until the final heat to see whether they had done enough for the win.
Needing a 7-3 to take the match it would be The North’s Reece Pollit who spoiled the party taking the win and the points away from Tucker and Frazer Garnett.
The South East finished 3rd and The North 4th.
1. MIDLANDS 66PTS
2. SOUTH WEST 65PTS
3. SOUTH EAST 57PTS
4. THE NORTH 50PTS
Chris Timms made the best of a home advantage with a win in the Men's Elite GP only dropping a point from a possible maximum. A crash in the opening heat saw Leon Mower retire from the match whilst Timms was on for his first win of the competition, the re-run saw Will Bristowe ride Timms into 2nd. Ben Mould and Paul Heard both finished the day on 18 points and in the run off Heard got the better of Mould to take 2nd spot. Ash Hill got the better of Lewis Brinkoff in the run off for 4th.
The first outing for the riders in a National Series for some 15 months saw many off race pace and many playing things safely with the National Individual Championships only a matter of weeks away.
1. Chris Timms 19PTS
2. Paul Heard 18PTS
3. Ben Mould 18PTS
4. Ash Hill 16PTS
5. Lewis Brinkoff 16PTS
Women's Battle of Britain (Women's League) at Grand Prix Birmingham - 14th August 2021
The North took the victory in the opening round of the 2021 Womens League at Birmingham on the opening day of the Battle of Britain weekend beating the South West into second place by 6 points with The Midlands and The East taking 3rd and 4th place respectively.
Arguably the North took to the grid with the strongest team although they had their work cut out fielding only 3 riders but strong riding by Emily Burgess finishing the day with the highest score and solid scoring from Laura Watson and Niamh Morton, it would be the other 3 teams that would have to do the chasing.
The South West took the challenge and were in with a shout throughout the match with notable rides from both Maddie Saunders and Lauren Hookway scoring well but it was to be The Midlands who all but secured The Norths win in heat 21 taking a 7-3 from the South West which left the North only having to take the lead in the final heat.
A young East team gave a magnificent account of themselves facing up to three strong teams and were not to be ridden off the track, with notable rides from Amberley Gant who looked to upset the status quo on more than one occasion.
1. NORTH 72 PTS
2. SOUTH WEST 66PTS
3. MIDLANDS 53PTS
4. EAST 48PTS
Emily Burgess completed her day with the win in the afternoons Grand Prix A final Individual match, only dropping a point to 2nd placed Sandra Tamborska in the penultimate heat of the day.
Persistent rain from the start of the 12 heat expert match totally changed the dynamic of the track which made racing a lot tougher on the now sticky track which favoured the stronger riders. Lizzy Rigley Porter gave a solid performance to take third, a poor ride in heat 5 didn’t reflect the quality of her three wins. Maddie Saunders finished her day in 4th spot to complete the podium.
EXPERT A FINAL
1. Emily Burgess
2. Sandra Tamborska
3. Lizzy Rigley Porter
4. Maddie Saunders
Shannon Tucker took the win in the Intermediate A final from Nataleigh Goulden, Chloe Whitehead and Amberley Gant rounded off the podium finishing 3rd and 4th respectively
INTERMEDIATE A FINAL
1. Shannon Tucker
2. Nataleigh Goulden
3. Chloe Whitehead
4. Amberley Gant
