Press Office

National Round 5 - 23rd July 2006  

BMX racers from the Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club were competing in the fifth round of the National BMX Summer Series at Peterborough last weekend. To complement previous rounds which had either been run in full sunshine or in flood conditions this event had both extremes of British Weather with Saturdays practice session starting in bright sunshine and too hot for the riders only to be abandoned less than three hours later with much of the track under water following a torrential thunderstorm.  Sunday was slightly overcast which made conditions for racing a little easier for the competitors and some very tight and exciting racing from the 320 riders from around the country made a great atmosphere for the spectators. 

The racing started with the youngest riders competing in the 6 and Under class where the Rockets rider, Daniel Blanche, finished in 6^th, whilst in the 7 year class “B” Final Bradan Blanche finished in 3^rd for the second round in succession. Ethan Lewis took 6^th place in the 8 yr class and Royston’s three riders in the 10 yr class had a varied day with all of them making their way through to the semi finals and both Zach Stevens and James Handleigh made the “A” final where Zach took a fine win with James just missing a podium opposition as he was given 4^th on the line, whilst in the “B” Final team mate, Louis Burton in 4^th. Moving up to the male 11-12 year class both the Rockets found the going tough and Aston Blanche was unable to qualify for the semi finals although Ben Gutteridge did qualify and eventually came home 8^th in the “B” final after a fall. In the 13-14 class Wayne Gutteridge and Antony Taylor were other unfortunate riders to just miss qualification to the semi finals.

Jonathan Roberts continued his excellent start to this years racing with 3rd in the Junior Male class and in the Masters (30+) class Lee Alexander looked set for a top 3 finish until his front wheel lost grip coming out of the last corner. In the Cruiser classes Danny Bateman took 2^nd in the 16-29 “B” Final and Leroy Seaton, who was returning after a long break, took 7^th in the 40+ final. The two Elite Class riders had a good day on the track with Richard Townsend taking 4th in the “B” final and Laurence Mapp finished in 4th in the class “A” final.

 The clubs regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road, Royston are now in full swing with the gates opening at 6pm where anyone with a BMX or MTB bike is welcome to come along to find out more about the sport. Full details of this and other 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.