There’ll be the rolling thunder of rapid riders on Thursday July 16th, as once again race action hits Platt Fields with the third round of our Summer Series. It promises to be an explosive “TNT” event, with riders from the Youth Club looking to try racing for the first time and experienced racers honing their skills on the track.

Registration is from 6:15 to 6:45, with racing from 7. It’s just £2 to race! Non-members and novices welcome.

The two rounds of the series so far have seen some cracking race action, with some newcomers to the club doing particularly well.

In 11-15 Boys, Sabien Brown has impressed, with an excellent snap and improving riding skills. Sabien has only been riding for 4 months! He’s second overall behind leader Matthew Saunders, with Paddy Sharrocks and George Hawker not far off in third and fourth respectively.

In 8 and Under, Harvey Howard and Matthew Gilston are locked in a tight battle, with the edge going to Harvey at the moment.

In 9-10 Boys, Callum McDonald has a good lead over Oscar Bannister, but can’t afford to slacken the pace.

Keavi Taylor isn’t having things all her own way in 11 and Under Girls, pushed hard by Elena Stafford.

Valorie Zebrokova is comfortable with two maximum points victories so far in 11 and Over Girls.

In Cruiser, Dialled Bikes Factory Team rider Neil Harbour has a slight lead over Mark Ferguson, who began riding in February and has shown he can take on the more experienced riders. Andy Drelincourt Showed his usual “Dynamite” form in Round 2, taking the win. He sits in third overall just ahead of Roy Sutton who won Round 1.

In 25+ Ross Gill has two wins under his belt, which is even more impressive when the fact that those are the only two BMX races he has ever contested is considered.

Kyle Evans and Adam Smith are a whisker apart in 16+ with Jacob Roberts and the “Hurricane” Hawker brothers not far behind.

Goldcoast BMX Club in Lytham hosted Round 6 of the North Region Summer Series on Sunday and created a cracking atmosphere with 215 riders which included over 40 Novice racers taking on the compact track.  The Lytham track is fast and not too technical which made for some exciting action in the berms and high pace racing all day.

Dynamite Drelincourt’s Amazing Blue Tent proved invaluable when a brief rain shower “refreshed” spectators and riders alike.  This is the first summer race season for the Manchester Club, and a real team atmosphere is building,   with riders of all ages and experience mixing at practice sessions and travelling to races.

As always, the Old School races kicked off the day, our man Daz Bovill on his chrome SE Assassin was in the mix in his motos, looking like he has more skills than his competitors.  Daz used every trick in his bag to get through to the A Final (including what Sutty described as “a totally unnecessary second berm move”.) A nightmare gate blew Daz’s chances of anything more than 8th on the day, but it was still a great result.

Valeria Zebrokova took another win in 10-12 Girls, giving her 6 victories in the 6 races so far. Some call her the next Shanaze Reade, pressure which Val manages to cope with whilst showing great consistency.

Her excellent 3rd place in Round 14 of the European Championships in Cheddar the week prior to Goldcoast gave her a big boost in confidence and now she must be looking forward to the Regional and National races coming up on her home track.

Harrison “Haribo Factory Team” Drelincourt is in 5th overall in 6 and Under Boys after missing out on the top placings on Sunday. His bike skills are improving each race he enters and it won’t be too long before his younger brother is hot on his tail!

Brandan Nolan is another improving rider, currently in 4th overall in 11 Boys after an 8th at Goldcoast.

In 13 Boys, Matthew “Factory” Saunders had another good day, beating rival Alex Guest of the Ghostriders to close the gap on him to 1 point in the overall standings.

In 15 Boys Jacob Roberts was blisteringly fast all day on his SE, taking 2nd on the day and showing he’s in fine form as he heads of to Denmark in the hunt for an E number in the European Championships. Good luck to Jake from all at MCR!

Josh Nicholas got an excellent 2nd in 16+ to take him to 3rd overall in the series so far.

With no Payback riders from Manchester, it was Cal Strickland (Mid Lancs) who got our cheers. On the Goldcoast track, Payback was super fast.  In the final, Cal got the holeshot and was ripping along into the third berm, when Kyle Evans got inside and Cal was forced over the edge.  Kyle didn’t benefit for long, as those that live by the elbow die by it too, as Luke Gamble gave Kyle the Spanish Archer on the very next berm and cruised home to the glory and prize money.

The Masters field once again consisted of just me, so I was guaranteed 1st.  My lead in the series is back up to 95 points after I missed Bradford and Steve Fereday took the glory in my absence. I’m thinking of changing the category name to “The Master” as I really am that good. Or cos it’s just me racing. Anyway…

Neil “Cashmoney” Saunders was looking fast in 40+ Cruiser which is hottly contested and full of “interesting” passing moves…Neil took a well earned 4th on the day and cemented his 2nd place overall in the series.

In other Crowzer action, matthewglynn.co.uk was flying in 16-29 Cruiser, bagging 3rd in style. He’s also one of the few people who has managed to get his hands on Red Bull merchandise, so either he’s making it himself or he’s got good contacts.Check out his blog, it’s good.

30-39 Cruiser is always fun to watch, mainly because whoever is watching can relax and be thankful they’re not in the middle of the rampaging pack as they sprint 8 wide into a space that can only fit 6 riders. Common sense and any thoughts of safety take a holiday in this category.  Representing the M14 at Goldcoast were Roy “Sutty” Sutton who has forgotten more about bikes than most people will ever know, on his custom S&M rig, Andy “Dynamite” Drelincourt on his superlight Supercross and Neil “Hitman” Harbour on his Dialled Bikes Factory ride.

It’s too hard to call between these guys usually, Sunday saw Hitman make the A Final and take 5th, Dynamite just missed the cut but came back and won the B Final, with Sutty 3rd.

Cracking photos as usual by Abi Taylor (soon to be 21, happy birthday snapperazzi!)

We host the next round of the series on 26th July…it’s gonna be massive!

Racing 4x this weekend, Roger has fractured and dislocated his ankle. We’re all gutted for him and wish him a full and swift recovery.