Rooster’s Race Report ~ Big Weekend in Braintree
The latest rounds of the Monster Energy British BMX Series hit Braintree , with just shy of 500 riders making the trip to grab precious points towards the National title.
First up for Manchester were Harrison Drelincourt and Oliver Cope in 7 Boys. Harrison didn’t make it out of motos in this tough class, but Oliver fared better, with two B Final appearances, netting 6th on Sat and 4th on Sun.
Joe Saunders had a great ride on Saturday to 7th in the 11 Boys B Final, but couldn’t match it on Sunday ending up moto’d. Joe’s elder brother Matt had a tough time in 14 Boys, narrowly missing out on the B Final both days.
Redline‘s Jacob Roberts is that rare beast: a talented athlete who isn’t arrogant along with it. Once again, Jake doubled up with wins in 16 Boys and was still there cheering his clubmates on (when not chatting to the girls….)
Jake’s fellow Redline rider Valerie Zebrokova had a nasty crash in the final of 13-14 Girls on Saturday, but recovered enought to make the final on Sunday and avoided a similar crash to take an excellent 2nd place.
Love Not Money‘s Andy Clucas was impressive again, with 2nd on Saturday and 4th on Sunday in 17-24. He’s closing in on a Nationals win and is fired up for Manchester.
The Flemdog, Tony Fleming, continued to show he is still one of the best in the business on Saturday, taking 4th in Masters, but he was one of the riders caught out by the drop of the gate on Sunday and came away with a very nasty bruise after nearly skewering himself on his bars.
Matty Glynn, another of the Love Not Money Brotherhood, took 3rd in the 17-29 Cruiser B Final on Saturday, but to the delight of everyone in the Manchester tent (especially Matt’s girlfriend Jo) he was 6th in the main on Sunday.
Dialled Bikes Factory Team rider Neil Harbour continues to dominate 30-34 Cruiser; he took the win on both days in Braintree, making it 6 wins from 6 rounds of the Nationals this year. Andy Drelincourt was 2nd on Sat and 3rd on Sun, with Love Not Money’s Roy Sutton bravely riding with a badly injured elbow to take 4th on Sunday. Mark Ferguson continues his improvement, looking on fine form in his motos and taking 7th in the main on Sun. James Tresman reinjured his back in practice and after rolling round the track in moto 1, was done for the day.
Roger Wilbraham made a rare appearance at a National, but showed everyone who thinks he’s just a BC official that he’s all about racing with a fiery performance resulting in 3rd in 40-44 Cruiser.
Kev Blackman races for the Ghost Riders out of Crewe, but we’ve adopted him anyway. Kev had a nasty crash and broke his wrist – we wish him a full and fast recovery.
The Elite racing was its usual fast and dramatic self, with Cal Strickland suffering bad luck on Sat and unclipping in the main finishing 8th. On Sunday he was on fire, blasting around the Braintree track to 2nd place, equalling his best ever Nationals result. Cal now sits in 3rd place in the National Series overall standings.
The next rounds of the National Series take place in Manchester….