Press Office

2006 East Anglia Regional 1  Milton Keynes - 23rd April 2006  

Last Sunday saw the Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club competing in the first round of the East Anglia BMX Summer Series and although this was meant to be the summer season, the weather was cold and the threat of rain made for less than ideal conditions in which to race. Almost 150 riders from around the region took part and despite the weather the good condition of the track made for some very competitive racing.

 The Rockets had riders in many of the classes with the clubs newest members competing in the 9 and Under Novice class where all four made the main “A” final with Mason Palmer showing great potential as he was taking part in his first race and managed to take an excellent 2^nd just ahead of fellow first timer Zak Foreman who took 3^rd with Oliver Snelling in 6^th and youngest of the club pack Ted Dalleywater in 7^th. Moving into the “Expert” classes the Rockets had Daniel Blanche competing in the 6 and Under class where he finished in 2^nd whilst in the 7-8 year class “A” Final Ethan Lewis took 6^th place and in the same class “B” Final, Aaron Dalleywater took the win and Bradan Blanche in 5^th. Moving up to the 9-10 year group both Rockets made the “A” Final with James Handleigh finishing in 6^th with Louis Burton in 8^th and in the 11-12 class Zach Stevens took 4^th in the “A” final just inches ahead of teammmate Ben Gutteridge in 5^th whilst Aston Blanche took 4^th in the class “B” final. In the 13-14 class Antony Taylor took the win in the “B” final and the Rockets only female rider on the day, Katie Roberts, took on the 15-16 years male class where she finished in a well deserved 4^th in the “B” final. The 17+ category was combined with the “Master Class” to give the older riders more experience and the classes split out after the racing, which left Royston’s only 17+ rider, Lee Alexander taking 2^nd with Masterclass riders, Richard Townsend, taking 3^rd and Jonathan Roberts in 7^th after a mid race incident saw him slide out on the wet surface.

 The next events on the race calendar are the first two rounds of the National Summer Series at Burnham and Cheddar over the May Holiday weekend where the Rockets will again be out in force to gain points towards their National ranking. The clubs own Summer Series starts this week with their regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road, Royston and on Saturday May 6^th the club is holding a “Come and Try” BMX racing session starting at 2pm where anyone with a BMX or MTB bike can try the track and watch – or even take part- in some races. 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.