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British Championships
The final event of the 2007 BMX racing national
calendar is the British Championships held at the Burnham –on-Sea
BMX track in sunny Somerset over the bank holiday weekend and with
over 500 riders taking part it was an action packed weekend for the
22 competitors from the Royston BMX Club.
The race programme starts with the youngest classes
moving up through the age range to the Elite class. Royston Rockets
BMX Racing Club youngest riders were competing in the Under 6 yr
class, where they were rewarded with excellent results, Ted
Dalleywater taking 3rd place and James King taking 5th in
his first major competition and Loui Foreman, who is possibly the
youngest rider at the event, took on the international standard
track although was unable to progress beyond the qualifying rounds.
In the 7yr class Royston’s three riders had varying results with
Ethan Vernon looking good for a podium place in the final where a
crash relegated him to 8th whilst Daniel Blanche avoided
the mid race incident to claim 5th whilst team mate Aaron Threader
made his way into the semi finals before his days racing ended. In
the 8yr class, Aaron Dalleywater and Bradan Blanche went out of the
competition in the semi finals and the 9yr category both Zak Foreman
and Ethan Lewis found very stiff competition and were unable to
progress beyond the qualifying stages.
Star ride of the day came from James Handleigh in
the 11yr. class where he rode a series of skilful and powerful races
to take the win of his life and claim the title of 2007
British Champion in his class and to show the quality of the
competition in the age group, Louis Burton, who at regional level
usual chases James around the track, had to settle for a semi final
placing before being knocked out.
The 12yr class saw Aston Blanche testing his skills
but he was unable to qualify for the semi finals but in the 13’s,
Ben Gutteridge rode a very good series to qualify for the main final
where he finished in 7th. The 15yr class saw Royston’s
Wayne Gutteridge taking 5th in his semi final which is
often seen as the hardest result of all as the top 4 riders qualify
for the all important main final and a similar situation befell
Jonathan Roberts in the 19+ class who was involved in a run off for
a semi final place and missed his chance by the narrowest of
margins. The Masters (30+) class saw smiles and tears as Lee
Alexander took a fine 2nd and team mate Darren Foreman
went out through another close run off for a place in the quarter
finals. Another first time rider at major events was Phil Burton in
the 40+ Cruiser class and he rode well against some very strong and
far more experienced opposition although he was unable to qualify
out of the semi finals. In the very fast Junior female class, Katie
Roberts made sure of a finals position and finished in 7th
after a strong early showing and in the Elite Male class Laurence
Mapp was another rider looking set for a podium place when a crash
relegated him to 8th in the final with Richard Townsend
going out of same class in the semi finals.
The next event on the race calendar is the final
event of the regional summer calendar which is the East Anglia Open
Championships which this year is being hosted by the Royston Rockets
on September 16th at their home track in Burns Road.
The Rockets own Summer Series has now finished for
the year although their regular Tuesday night sessions will continue
for a few more weeks. 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.
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