Press Office

National Summer Series Rounds 1 & 2  - Cheddar

May 5/6/7

The May Bank Holiday saw the opening events of the BMX Racing National Summer Season at Cheddar. With practice on Saturday and Racing in round 1 on Sunday and Round 2 on Monday it was an action packed weekend with over 400 riders taking part and no less than 19 of them from the Royston BMX Club. The weather was fine for Saturday and Sunday but the rains swept in on Sunday night and did not stop until nearly lunchtime on the Monday. The organisers briefly considered delaying racing, but being wary of the number of people who had long distances travel after the holiday weekend, racing started on Schedule at 10-00am and the racing finished a few minutes after 4-00pm. Despite the varied weather the track maintained it’s usual good condition which made for some very fast and competitive racing.

 The Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club involvement started with the youngest member, Ted Dalleywater, competing in the Under 6 yr class where he was rewarded with a fine 2^nd place on Sunday and 5^th on the Monday after the heavy conditions slowed his progress. In the 7yr class Royston’s three riders took home some good results with Daniel Blanche taking a 5^th and a 4^th with team mates Aaron Threader claiming 7^th and 5^th and Ethan Vernon taking well deserved 3^rd places on both days. In the 8yr class, Bradan Blanche was unable to make it through to the finals but Aaron Dalleywater made the main final on both days with 8^th and 4^th towards his series rankings.  The 9yr class saw Ethan Lewis qualify for the B finals where he finished in 5^th and 4^th over the two rounds and in the 11-12 yr. class James Handleigh finished in 6^th and 7^th although neither Louis Burton or Aston Blanche were able to qualify from the opening rounds and the same fate befell both of the Gutteridge brothers, Ben (13-14yr) and Wayne (15-16yr). In the 19+ men’s class, Ben Godfrey on his return to national racing did well on Sunday to make the B final where he finished in 8^th but was less successful on Monday as he went out at the quarter final stage but in the same class Jonathan Roberts started to show his 2006 form with a win in the B final followed by 4^th in the main final. In the Masters Class (30+), Lee Alexander showed he meant business with a 2^nd on Sunday but after a fall on Monday had to settle for 7^th   and in Junior Female, Katie Roberts showed that a winters training was not wasted as she took home two 3rds. In the Elite class more success came Royston’s way with Richard Townsend taking 5^th and 4^th in the class B finals and Chris Mapp taking 5^th and 7^th in the main final with older brother Laurence stamping his authority on the class with two straight wins.

 The next event on the race calendar is the third round of the Regional Summer Series being hosted by the Royston BMX Club on May 13^th at their home track in Burns Road. The Rockets will be out in force for this event to gain points towards their Regional ranking and counting towards qualification to the British Championships later in the year. The day starts off about 10-00am with rider registration closing at 11-00am and racing from 1-00pm until about 4-30pm.

 The clubs own Summer Series starts this month with their regular Tuesday night sessions at the clubs track in Burns Road, Royston commencing on April 24^th by which time it is hoped the track alterations will be complete. 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.