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Press Office |
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BMX British
Championships – Cheddar 24-25/09/11
Cheddar BMX Race track was once again host to the BMX
Racing British Championships which is the culmination of the various
regional series held across the country and 22 riders from the
Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club qualified to make the trip to
Somerset to chase championship glory. Saturday’s weather stayed fine
and dry for the practice sessions in the morning and the Cruiser
class races in the afternoon which was followed by the National
Series trophy presentation in the evening. Sunday saw the Male and
female classes competing on standard BMX bikes and the early weather
was drizzle and very low cloud but by the time the qualifying rounds
were complete the sun made an appearance for an action packed
afternoon of racing. With almost 1000 riders taking part over the
weekend the racing was continuous with only short breaks in the
action to keep the crowds on their feet.
In the youngest class Joshua Abbott in his first trip
to the championships just failed by one point to gain a semi final
place in the 6 & Under but in the 7yr class, Elliott Bowyer went all
the way to the main final where 3rd place on the podium
was his reward. The 8yr male class saw another of Royston’s up and
coming new riders, Callum Barrow taking on one of the fastest and
longest BMX race tracks in the country where he also just missed a
place in the quarter finals and the same fate befell both Alfie
Salmon and Kele Newell in the 9yr class. James King and team mate
Ted Dalleywater competing in the 10 year class both made the quarter
finals and James also made it into the class semi finals before his
days racing came to an end. In the 11 year class Royston had no less
than 4 riders taking part with Matthew Fraser in his first national
event making a great effort but just failing to move out of the
qualifying rounds whilst the vastly more experienced trio of Ethan
Vernon, Daniel Blanche and
Miles Fisher all made it to the main final which
produced one of the races of the day with the results in doubt right
to the finish line where the cameras confirmed that Ethan finished
in 2nd with Daniel in 6th and Myles in 7th. The 12yr class saw Aaron
Dalleywater ease himself into the main final where great
expectations of the national series champion were dashed in the
first corner as the main title contenders crashed out to leave them
watching the rest of the pack disappear down the track. In the
female 13-14 year class Faye Godfrey was yet another Rocket to just
miss out on a semi final place and in the 15yr class James Handleigh
made it into the quarter finals but could proceed no further and
Jordan Godfrey was unable to make the start line at all to test his
skills on the track. In the Junior Male (17/18yr) class Andrew
Brooker made it to the semi final stage where he finished in 7th
to end his days action whilst in the Masters class (30+) Alex Shore
Nye was unable to move out of the qualifying stages but Richard
Townsend went all the way to the final taking 5th on the
line in another blanket finish. In the Veterans class Lee Alexander
looked set for a solid days racing and took 3rd in the
main final to get him on the podium and boost the clubs points
tally. The 24” wheeled “Cruisers” classes saw Matt Salmon in the
35-39yr category making it to the quarter final stage but was unable
to go further but in the Ladies Cruiser 17-29yr class, Helen Nichol,
who was the only Rocket to be riding in two classes, went all the
way to the main final to claim 5th place and then
followed that by almost making the final in the Female Championship
where she was up against top national and international riders.
The final calculations showed Royston had finished
the Club Challenge element of the event in 10th place
from the 56 clubs taking part and the East Region won the Best
Supported Regions trophy to round off an action packed weekend.
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