East Anglia BMX Regional Series Round 3 - Royston

Last Sunday saw the third round of the East Anglia BMX Summer Series at the Burns Road BMX Race track of the Royston Rockets BMX Club. Having had to call in the services of Royston’s Fire and Rescue team two weeks ago to spray water on parts of the track to bed the new surface down and true to English weather’s recent form, the week before the event has seen club members dodging rain showers to get the track ready for the event – mostly digging out new drains!

 The weather was overcast when club members arrived on Sunday to set the venue up but by the time the competitors had started to arrive the rains had started and stayed all day – ranging from annoying drizzle to almost event stopping storms. With almost 140 riders from around the country taking part and about 100 races the spectators were presented with an action packed afternoon, although most saw them from under the cover of umbrellas.  

The Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club had 33 riders competing at their home track event and track knowledge played a great part in the results as riders dodged every expanding puddles and soft spots. Following a successful a “come and try” session at the Royston & District Sports Council’s Sports Fayre in mid April, the Rockets had a number of new novice riders trying out racing – the weather doing it’s best to spoil their day but they all struggled through the rain and mud with Aiden McCall taking 1^st in the 10-13 year class where Brandon Joy took 4^th and in the 14+ class Jack Bracewell took the win

 The youngest expert members were competing in the Under 6 yr class, where James King in 3^rd, Ted Dalleywater in 4^th, Archie York in 5th and Loui Foreman in 7th, packed the middle order of the main final to get the club off to a flying start. In the combined 7/8yr class A final Ethan Vernon took the win with Bradan Blanche taking 3^rd just ahead of Daniel Blanche in 4^th and Aaron Threader in 5^th whilst in the B final, Oliver Snelling finished in 2^nd and Keiran Archer took 4^th. Representing the girls in the 7-9 class was Abbey Wilkinson who took a fine win with team mate Jasia Blanche in 4^th and in the combined 9 and 10yr Class A final, Ethan Lewis finished in 3rd with team mate Zak Foreman taking 4^th. The 11-12 yr. class saw James Handleigh finish with a win in the A final chased home by the pack which included Royston’s Louis Burton in 7^th and Aston Blanche in 8th. The 13 -14yr class saw Antony Taylor making his first outing of the year with a fine 2^nd ahead of Ben Gutteridge, one of the younger riders in the class finishing in a very good 4th in the A final whilst Luke Wikinson, one of the clubs newer members took 3^rd in the class B final. In the 15-16yr male category Wayne Gutteridge took a fine 3^rd place with Katie Roberts honing her race skills against the boys with a very wet 6^th place. The 30+ Men’s class saw Royston’s Darren Foreman in fine form as he raced to 3^rd overall and in the Cruiser classes James Dalleywater took 2^nd in the 16-29 class A final and in the Cruiser 30-39year class, first time rider Tom Yorke took 5^th, whilst Phil Burton in the 40+ Cruiser class managed to go one better with a 4th. The final class on the track was the Masterclass with no less than 17 riders competing for honours with national level Elite riders taking most positions in the A final where Laurence Mapp took the win with younger brother Chris taking 2^nd in a very tight finish that saw Richard Townsend grab 4^th on the line whilst in the B final, Jonathan Roberts, who normally competes in 17+ took a very muddy 3^rd. 

 The next event on the race calendar is the fourth round of the Regional Summer Series being hosted by the Milton Keynes club next weekend  (May 20^th) and then the end of May Bank Holiday sees the club members heading South to Bournemouth for rounds 3 and 4 of the National Series.

 The clubs regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road, Royston commenced on April 24^th. 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.