With the European Championships less than a week away, Rounds 9 and 10 of the HSBC UK | National BMX series in Telford attracted a star-studded list of riders.

And GB riders Kye Whyte (Peckham Challengers BMX Club) and Beth Shriever (T.N.T) will head to Glasgow with a huge confidence boost after both won national championship titles.

Business as usual for Shriever

After a lay-off for a couple of weeks due to a shoulder injury, it was quickly business as usual for Shriever as she dominated both rounds over the weekend.

Leading from the front on the tight technical course, the race to finish runner-up went on in earnest behind her, with Emily Green taking second in Round 9 ahead of recently crowned world champion Charlotte Green.

However, the fortunes were reversed in Round 10 with Charlotte pushing Shriever to the line to narrowly take second, while Emily finished in third.

Shriever, who is undefeated in this year’s series, said: “Telford is a fun short track, great prep for the European champs next week. I just wanted to get back into race mode.

“I’ve had three weeks off with a shoulder injury, so it was a good outing to get back to feeling like myself again, build up the confidence for Glasgow. It such a tight technical track that it’s good to be bar to bar with some of the other girls out there.”

Whyte leads the way

In the Superclass men’s rounds, Whyte prevailed in Telford in the battle between the riders looking to build momentum ahead of the European Championships in Glasgow.

A tactical race saw Kyle Evans (Preston Pirates BMX Club) take a different approach, which ultimately saw him come up short against rivals Curtis Manaton (Burnham BMX Club) and Whyte.

Speaking afterwards, Whyte said: “My race was brilliant. I had a strong start, then because the turns are so tight I had to brake for the first turn, which scrubbed some of my speed.

“Kyle took advantage and swooped me, but I thought that was fine, I had plenty of time to get him back, then Curtis swooped me and I found myself back in third with Curtis and Kyle everywhere.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’ll keep it on the outside’, then I lined it up, looked behind me and saw other riders there, and thought I was going to get smashed on the last turn, but they let me get on with my race.

“Curtis shut Kyle Evans off, so he had no speed. I swooped them both, so I had more speed coming into the last straight and managed to get past them both to take the win.”

With three national series wins under his belt, and after dominating all his motos for Round 10, Whyte headed for the final with great expectations, but it nearly wasn’t to be.

“I was in second the whole way around,” he said. “It wasn’t a great lap. In the third straight I was about to be overtaken so I pushed back out and put in my all. It was so close”

Manaton, currently second in the series standings, had taken complete ownership of the race, leading from the gate, with Whyte battling for contention.

And it all came down to the final straight once again, with Whyte taking advantage of a slight mishap by Manaton on the last roller to win by a hair’s width in a photo finish.

Results

Round 9 - Elite Women

1. Beth Shriever
2. Emily Green
3. Charlotte Green

Round 9 - Elite Men

1. Kye Whyte
2. Curtis Manaton
3. Kyle Evans

Round 10 - Elite Women

1. Beth Shriever
2. Charlotte Green
3. Emily Green

Round 10 - Elite Men

1. Kye Whyte
2. Curtis Manaton
3. Eddy Clerte

Gallery