Rooster’s Race Report ~ Manchester Nationals!
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010The Platt Fields track in Manchester has seen a lot of riders grace it’s surface since it was built, from first-timers braving a BMX track for the first time, to World Champions blasting round at blisteringly fast speeds. The track has hosted fun-days, birthday parties and all manner of groups, but Platt Fields isn’t a play park, it’s a race track and the biggest events have been National Series races, drawing the best riders in the UK and huge crowds to the track.
The first weekend in July saw the 2010 National Series come to Manchester for rounds 7&8, with expectations high after winning “Best Nationals” in 2009, around 450 riders made the trip to the North’s rounds of the Nationals.
With event infrastructure by EA Access, the track looked superb; two large spectator gantries and plenty of fencing for sponsor’s banners gave the race a real pro feel. Carhartt were once again onboard as event sponsor with event support from O’Neal and Electric.
Manchester BMX Club has grown considerably in the year since we last hosted the National Series; with an influx of new riders of all ages and more volunteers to aid in the running of events.
First up for the club were our stars of the future – with Oliver Cope impressing in 7 Boys by getting 5th and 7th in A-Finals over the weekend. Harrison Drelincourt taking 7th and 6th in the B’s. In 8 Boys, Josh Bardsley was racing Nationals for the first time and although he got moto’d looked at home racing a tough class.
Joe Saunders just missed out on the B Final on both days in 11 Boys, on Sunday Haroun Al Jeddal bagged 8th in the B to give the club two more promising riders for the future.
Ricardo Addymellor has been showing his skill off at the track for as long as it’s been open; he can jump, manual and do most things on a BMX, but had yet to find the race mentality needed to take his results up a step. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, as one of the most popular riders at the club took a fantastic 4th in the 12 Boys A Final on Saturday and followed it up with another appearance in the A, taking 8th, on Sun.
In 14 Boys, Matthew Saunders faces some very tough competition, with Quillan isidore running away with the series and a stacked gate in most motos. Matty did well to make it through to the B Final on both days, with 4th and 6th. Jake Downend and Nathan Slamon were in their first Nationals and didn’t make it out of motos but should be happy with their performance in this hard class.
Redline’s Valerie Zebrokova has been a star since she took to the track, with a steadily improving set of results only missing a Nationals win. Not anymore! Valerie crossed the line first in 13-14 Girls on Saturday and was promptly mobbed by her parents and Manchester club-mates. She followed it up with a 2nd place on Sunday to round out a fantastic weekend.
Jacob Roberts has proved himself to be the best in the 16 Boys class time and time again; in Manchester he took the win on both days, defeating the opposition, the pressure and any doubters. That opposition shouldn’t be dismissed, with Jordan Perry, Mike Hawker and Michael “Flip” Cummins all excellent riders. These guys could be battling it out at the top in the future. Manchester’s Ryan Cagney was in action on Sat, returning from a broken ankle, and Mario Boreman also got his feet wet in Nationals racing. Both got moto’d but have bags of skill and will be keen to improve.
Andy Clucas is determined to perform well in the tough 17-24 class in his first year of a full Nationals schedule. He’s been impressing in the series so far and was keen to do well on his home track. A huge crash in practice on Saturday looked to have derailed his attempt though, with Andy requiring medical attention on the track and spending time in the ambulance. Despite medical advice to go to hospital, Andy raced and produced a gutsy performance over the weekend, taking 3rd and 2nd in the Mains. Andy’s Love Not Money team-mate Joe Davenport made it through to the B Final on both days, with 2nd and 4th for his efforts. theridenation.com’s Josh Peeebz Nicholas finished a spot behind Joe on Saturday but got moto’d on Sunday.
Ross Gill’s competition in the 25-29 B Final didn’t take the gate on Sat, so he did his lap solo to the delight of the crowd. On Sunday he took 2nd in the B in another solid performance.
Masters has been one of the toughest classes this season, but Tony Fleming has shown he’s tougher than most he’s faced with a string of good results, however a crash at Braintree when the gate failed has had lingering effects and Flemdog is still a little way off top form. B Final on Sat with a crash in the Main on Sun finishing his weekend.
To some people, Cruisers aren’t “cool” but to be frank, those people are just plain wrong. The guys on the big rigs get those 24″ wheels rolling fast and the racing is intense. Matty Glynn won the B Final in 17-29 on Sat and went better on Sun with 5th in the Main.
30-34 has been all about Manchester this year, with 6 riders in the class. Dialled Bikes Factory Team rider Neil Harbour came into the weekend having won every round of the series so far, and left with that record intact. 8 wins out of 8 for Neil. A fantastic performance. Roy Sutton got an excellent 2nd for Love Not Money on Sat, with Andy Drelincourt 4th, Mark Ferguson 5th, Jamie Duffy 8th and James Tresman just missing out on the main. On Sun, Dreli was 3rd, Dufskins took 5th, Sutty 6th, Ferg 7th and Rooster was 8th.
Roger Wilbraham is the face of BMXat BC to many people, but don’t overlook the fact he’s a good racer and is always worth watching for a good performance. He’ll be disappointed with his 3rd place in 40-44 on Sun, but it’s a tough class!
Elite saw all the top riders in attendance and had racing that electrified the crowd; home rider Cal Strickland took 4th on Sat behind Liam Phillips, marcus Bloomfield and Kyle Evans and was aiming to improve that on Sun but got tangled when Liam Phillips crashed on the first straight and finished 6th. Marcus took the win, with Kyle Evans an excellent 2nd and Dan Whyte 3rd.
Pictures by Luke Webber/British Cycling
Thank you to the volunteers from Manchester BMX Club who give many hours of work to maintain the track and run events. We are also grateful for the support of Mid Lancs BMX Club at the Nationals and all our event sponsors.
