BMX made its first appearance in this year's Manchester Go-Ride Racing League as Round 5 was hosted at Platt Fields by British Cycling Go-Ride Coach Tom Hodgkinson.
Before the racing began, the youngsters were given some technical training with John Daly from Eastlands Velo coaching riders on the start gate and Nick Jones, Janis Hett, and Sean Williams coaching the younger riders through the rhythm section.
30 minutes later the racing was underway and riders were firing down the start ramp to try and set the fastest time for MOTO Qualifiers.
Adam Turnbull and Tom Byers were the first down the start ramp with both riders setting the scores to beat as both riders dipped home under the one minute mark. Those rides were a marker for what was to come with the next 10 riders all coming in around the one minute mark with some really tight racing.
A special mention has to go to Megan Harrop, who had a hard fall with her club the weekend before the training session, but took the start ramp and set a blistering time for the Under 10s, stopping the clock at 1m 30 sec.
Qualifiers
After splitting the riders into qualifiers, the riders were penned ready for the MOTO Qualifiers for Finals.
Group 4 had a good mixture of riders from all clubs in the Manchester Go-Ride Racing League, with Xavier Ohare coming through the final rhythm section with lots of room to take the win from Sean Savage, Megan Harrop, and Rauri Savage.
Group 5 was a close fought battle by two Mossley riders in past Yellow Jersey winners Kyle Braun and Karl Ritcher who gave it all over the berms and table tops, with Kyle edging out the in for the final.
Finals
Group 3 saw the race of brothers with the Cowen and Allott brothers all present at BMX. All riders were full of energy for racing with younger brother Tenniel taking the race wins for Manchester Triathlon in Group 3 from Victor Allot and Vincent Allot
Group 2 was the chance for older brother Sorrell Cowen to show his younger borther he could race as well, taking the lead from the second berm and powering away from a great ride by Ashley Thomas and Kieran Russell.
Group 1 was a very tight race with only two seconds separating each of the riders from the Time Trial and each rider giving all their effort for a good gate position for the final.
In the final riders did not disappoint the expectant crowd, with the race lead changing throughout the entire race. Only in the final section of the track did Matt Fazackerley edge out the race win from Michael Collontine, and Reece Player.
After a great day's racing, Tom Hodgkinson was inspired by the riders taking part in the event and clubs' enthusism for the event. "Mossley CRT had put on specific BMX coaching sessions at Platt Fields before the race day as well, spending two weekends making sure they were ready for the event," he told British Cycling. "I am really impressed that the league still attracts riders to every event, even when disciplines are new to riders and club coaches. The riders today were spectacular, the techniques refined before the racing and application of those techniques in racing was superb."
The next event in the Manchester Go-Ride Racing League is Round 6: Grass Track (Match Sprints, Keirin, Devil Race, and Scratch Race).
For more information about the racing and how to get to MGRRL Round 6: Grass Track at http://www.mgrrl.com/
Follow the links for previous reports: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4
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