Press Office

Winter Regional Round 2 - 20th November 2005  

Members of the Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club hosted round two of the East Anglian Winter Series last Sunday. The track was frozen solid for the first half of the event but as the sun came out parts of the track thawed on the surface leaving a layer of sludge which got into the bikes mechanics and the riders clothing to make the final part of the day very unpleasant, although the 80+ riders that took part enjoyed some very competitive racing.

 The youngest class are nominally 7 years and under and are known as Formula 5 and Royston had five riders in the class with the best result going to Bradan Blanche who finished in 5^th in the A final, ahead of his cousin Daniel Blanche who finished in 7^th with Aaron Dalleywater taking 2^nd in the B final and first time riders Luca Stephenson and Jasia Blanche taking 4^th and 5^th in the very heavy conditions. In Formula 4 for 8-10 year olds, all three Rockets made the A final headed home by Louis Burton in 3^rd closely followed by Kyle Gutteridge in 4^th and the youngest rider in the class, Ethan Lewis in 8^th. Another 5 Rockets were competing in Formula 3 (11-13 years) with Anthony Taylor finishing in 3^rd in the A final with Ben Gutteridge in 4^th and James Handleigh in 8^th after a last corner technical problem whilst battling for a podium position whilst Aston Blanche took 2nd in the B final just ahead of new club member Darren Plumb in 3rd. Both Royston members in Formula 2 class found the competition tough with Katie Roberts taking 6^th in the A final and Wayne Gutteridge finishing in 3rd in the B final. Formula 1 for riders 17 years and over was by far the biggest on the day and the three Rockets had success with Richard Townsend in 3^rd and Jonathan Roberts finishing in 5^th in the A final and James Dalleywater took 5^th in the B final.

 The next round of the Winter Series is on December 11^th at Milton Keynes and the Royston Club hope to have a full contingent of riders making the trip up the M1. Full details of forthcoming club and regional events are published on the club web site at www.roystonrockets.co.uk, or ring 01763 260959 for more information on BMX racing.