Event: 4 March 2012
Report: Julian Allen
Braintree Bullets BMX Club won the annual Pride of Essex cup in Dagenham last weekend. The Bullets had taken a commanding lead in the overall points following the home leg the week before and even though the Barking and Dagenham “BAD” BMX club riders put up a great fight, the points margin was unassailable.
The rider numbers for each club were evenly match with 43 riders from Braintree and 41 for Dagenham. Weather was going to play a big part in the racing as the forecast had been ominous and after the motos, the heavens opened. The weather gave the track and spectators alike a good dousing, but certainly didn’t dampen the action.
Racing started with the biggest class of the day. The seniors for the 25+ looked to be following a similar pattern to the racing in round one as BADs Keith Bryceland and Martin Parker along with the Bullets Julian Allen had all swapped moto wins to be the top qualifiers in the A final. From the gate it was Bryceland who lead Allen into the first corner by a bike length, but Allen wasn’t finished as he managed to carry speed on the inside to go into the second straight just ahead. Through the track and across the line it was the Bullets Allen who took the win from BAD’s Bryceland, Parker and Sturgeon. The Bullets Paul Woolcott and Stu Dixon were the next rider’s home in 5th and 6th.
Dagenham riders took the two top spots in the Formula 5 for 7 and unders. Joshua Abbott and Lucy Munday showed the home track advantage just in front of the Braintree pair of Archie Alexander, Barney Devereux. Dagenham came back again in the middle of the pack with Rossi O’Brian and Ewan Munday with Braintree’s Eddie Cannons and club mate Jack Groeber slipping back on the line.
Onto the Formula 4 for 8-10 year olds and again in was Dagenham that took the win in the shape of Nicholas Oaten who had been unbeaten all day. Tyler Carter put in a great performance in the class for the Bullets to secure an awesome 2nd place finish against older riders. Braintree riders rounded off the field with Thomas Knight, Jamie Edwardes, Owen Vaughan, and newcomer Jack Everitt jockeying for the final placings.
Some great racing went down in the Formula 3 for 11-12 year olds. This time it was the Bullets who took the honours as Joe Read-Millard and Jake Coombs went into the A final as the top two qualifiers and showed their class with a 1-2 finish. Dagenham riders including Chloe Oaten doing it for the girls took up the next three spots with Braintree brothers Max and Alfie Giles trading places in 6th and 8th respectively.
The racing really stepped up a gear in the Formula 2 for 13-14 year olds as Braintree rider Lee Golder blitzed the field with style to take the win. Dagenham’s Cameron Douglas rode a strong lap to 2nd with Ollie Rowe riding up a class for Braintree in 3rd. Dagenham again took 4th with Ben Maynard, then Braintree riders filled up the positions as Alex Pike, George Moret, Jacob Hutson and Cameron short brought the field home. Kelsey Dixon got the win in front of the boys for Braintree in the B final.
The Formula 1 class for the 15+ was awash with fast BAD BMX Club riders and they excelled at the front of the pack. Carlos Vasquez, Zoltan Buday and Tommy Parker took control from the gate and swept the podium positions. The Bullets Taylor Andrews stopped the rot for Braintree in 4th with a great ride. Dagenham riders battled it out for the remaining places in the class.
When the points from both rounds were totted up it was Braintree who had the cup back for the 4th time in 5 years with 2007 points to Dagenhams 1724.
The Bullets coaching sessions continue weekly, for further information about the club, coaching and racing please visit www.braintreebmx.com
