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2010
British Championships
The BMX summer calendar ended last weekend with the
major event of the year – The British Championships which were held
at one of the countries top race tracks in Cheddar.
Riders from across the country had been competing all
summer in the local regional series to qualify for this event and
with 874 entries it was probably the largest event held in the UK
since the World Championships in 1996!
The Royston Rockets had 16 riders entered, some of
whom are regulars on the national race scene whilst others were more
accustomed to regional events with around 150 riders. The members
had varying success but without fail they all gave their best
performances on a track that many had never ridden before.
As is usual with BMX racing, the action was close,
fast and very competitive and Royston’s youngest riders at the
event, Alfie Salmon in the 8yr class found strong competition from
the other 42 riders in his class but he still managed to qualify for
the quarter finals before being knocked out of the competition. In
the 9yr class James King and Marmaduke Birt both qualified for the
quarter finals but neither were unable to progress further, whilst
in the 10yr class Myles Fisher showed his recent national form to
the full and progressed safely to the main final where he eventually
took 7th place in a very tight race which went all the
way to the line. In the 11yr class, Aaron Dalleywater was back to
his best to finish on the podium in third place to yet another large
trophy to his collection.
Flying the Rockets flag for the girls was Faye
Godfrey in the 11-12yr category where she battled hard to gain
enough qualifying points for the semi finals but ended just one mark
short in her first major championships in this, her first year on
BMX racing. Back with the male classes and James Handleigh’s weekend
went disastrously wrong in his first qualifying race in the 13-14yr
Cruiser class on the Saturday with a fall onto his shoulder which
ended his racing and kept him out of the 14yr expert class on the
Sunday. Andrew Brooker in the 16 yr class eased his way through the
qualifying rounds but could find no way through the pack in his
quarter final race where a 5th place knocked him out of
the competition – with the top 4 qualifying through a 5th
is the hardest place to finish!
The Rockets had no less than three riders in the
“Masters” class and all made it through the qualifying stages with
Alex Shore-Nye going out at the quarter final stage and Adam
Richards taking the dreaded 5th place in his semi final
whilst Richard Townsend made it through to the main final where he
moved into second place in the first corner and held that position
to the line until a referee decided he had just gone the wrong side
of the track edge line in the corner and he was moved back to 8th
and last place – still one of his best Championship results in
recent years. The final rider on the normal 20” wheeled bikes was
Darren Foreman riding in the Veteran (40+) category where he
finished his challenge with a 6th in the class quarter
finals.
In the Cruiser class for BMX bikes fitted with 24”
wheels Royston’s other female rider at the Championships was Helen
Nicholl in the 25+ Ladies class where she finished in a very good
tenth spot for her first attempt at a championship event whilst in
the male cruiser classes Carl Birt in the 45+ category also finished
in 10th and Matt Salmon in the 35-39yr group just failed
to qualify for quarter finals in one of the largest classes of the
event with 45 riders trying to make it to the last 8!
The Rockets are planning practice and coaching
sessions through the dark winter months and will be out in force at
the East Anglia Regional Championships on 10th October at
the Peterborough Club track which promises a very full programme
with around 200 riders expected to attend. Full details of
forthcoming club and regional events will be published soon on the
club web site at
www.roystonrockets.co.uk, or ring 01763 260959 for more
information on BMX racing.
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