Manchester BMX Club has gone from strength to strength in the short time it has existed.

With the Best National award under our belts from last year, and the chance to put on another great weekend of National racing this July, the club has proved we can host good events. This was the case with the latest round of the North Region Winter Series, which still attracted a good crowd after being rescheduled from the previous week.

The club’s growing strength goes deeper than event management, as riders are rising through the ranks and earning good results in races. With riders in a range if age classes, the Summer Series should see the club sending a lot of riders to the Brits at the end of the year.

On to the racing; We’ll start with the ladies, and 8-9 Girls, which was won by Ellie Jo Chappell, ahead of Eleana Stafford, Imogen Hill and Ellie Featherstone. With 5 Rounds done (the Goldcoast round was cancelled) Eleana leads the class, Ellie Featherstone is in 2nd and Ellie Jo Chappell is 3rd.

10-12 Girls saw Kim Bapista take her third win of the winter, series leader Leah Clinch took 2nd with Ghostrider club-mates Melissa Guest, Lauren Dean and Josie McFall in 3rd, 4th and 5th. Yvonne Plumb took 16+ Ladies and has a commanding lead overall.

In 6 & Under Boys, Ethan Duffy scored a win in the first race he’s done of the series, challking it up for the home club in the bargain. Derby’s Ben Perry took 2nd, Harry Ives from Goldcoast took 3rd, with Noel Reade and Tyler Stevenson sharing 4th.

What can you say about Keon Smith-McDermot’s performance this winter in 7 Boys? How about one word; Perfect. He has won every round so far but has Matthew Baptista hot on his heels. Matthew got 3rd this time, with Manchester rider Oliver Cope bagging an excellent 2nd in his first race of the series. 4th was Matthew Gilston, with Tyler Barnes 5th and Harrison Drelincourt 6th.

Anthing Keon can do, Kieran Bolton can do to in 8 Boys. Another round, another win to keep him perfect for the winter too. Alex Brookes took 2nd, Joel Clarke 3rd, Harvey Howard 4th, 5th was Matthew Hadfield, 6th was Nathan Stanley, Finley Moss took 7th and Ryan Tracey took 8th. The top 6 riders overall in this class all hail from Preston…now that’s saying something about the Pirate’s success!

If you’ve been following the 9 Boys class at major races, you’ll be familiar with the duel between friends and club-mates Finn Hall and Ross Cullen. I’ve reported on their battles for Fastlane and am running out of ways of describing just how close these two are! On the Manchester track, it was the usual hard fought racing, with Ross beating Finn to the line in the last race, but Finn having finished ahead enough earleir to take the 1st place points for the day. Ross has competed in more rounds this winter so has the overall lead, albeit a slim one over yet another club-mate at Preston, Stephen Hadfield 2nd overall but 7th on the day. 3rd was Nathan Wood, Joe Parr was 4th, Ollie Rowe 5th, and Ryan Brookes 6th.

Shay Casey took the top spot ahead of Lewis Locker in 10 Boys, in 11 Boys it was Ben Featherstone’s day as he took his 4th win from 4 races this winter. Manchester’s Callum McDonald took 2nd in his first race of the winter, with William Greaves 3rd, Jake Freeman 4th, Louis Donlan 5th and Joe Saunders doing it for Manc in 6th.

12 Boys saw home rider Spencer McLeod take his best result of the series with a win. Club-mate Riccardo Addymellor also took his best result of the winter with 2nd. Jamie Norris-Still took 3rd, series leader Jack Crithlow took 4th with Manchester rider Brandan Nolan 5th.

Paddy Sharrock took the win in 13 Boys, not leading out of the gate but using his superior skill to get ahead and stay there to the finish. Jack Clarke took 2nd with Valerie Zebrokova holding her own against the boys with 3rd. George Hawker took 4th, Ashley Walker 5th with Skye Beagley 6th.

Arron Skow won 14 Boys ahead of Jordan Taylor Griffiths, good enough to give him a 1 point lead over Jordan overall. This class finished very neatly; 3rd place overall Morgan Woolley took 3rd on the day, 4th overall Matthew Saunders got 4th on the day and yes, you guessed it, 5th overall Daniel Billington took 5th on the day.

Shane Dean was all alone in 15 Boys with the win and a very comfortable lead overall.

16+ was it’s usual barnstorming battle, Manchester was well represented in this class with the underaged but more than talented Jacob Roberts winning in style. Club-mate Joe Davenport showed his continued improvement by taking an excellent 2nd. Mike Hawker battled with Joe for 2nd all day but lost out in the A Final with 3rd. Bradley Minns took 4th with Josh Nicholas 5th. Michael Cummins took 6th ahead of Sabian Brown who recovered to take 7th after a nasty clash with club-mate Matty Glynn who took 8th. That made 5 Manchester riders in the A Final. Ross Gill took even more glory for the host club with a great win in the B Final, with Spencer Beagley 2nd, Mark Barlow 3rd, Thomas Jeffries 4th, Mario Boreman an excellent 5th, Ryan Cagney 6th, Liam Snazel 7th and Louise Abbot 8th.

The big rigs provided some very fast action, with British Champ and National Series Champ Mark Maddox in town to race 16-29 Cruiser. Mark has serious skills and took the win, with home rider John Hewitt taking second on his MTB as he looks to get in form for a season of 4X. Ricky Crompton took 3rd, Bradley Minns wasn’t content with riding one bike and took 4th, OJ Francis was 5th, Andy Johnson took 6th and Matt Carr took 7th.

With the series lead in 30-39 Cruiser heading into the race, Andy Drelincourt felt the pressure to keep it. Keep it he did with a great ride, followed by Darren O’Brien, Mark Egan in 3rd, Ben Rafferty 4th, Nigel Smith 5th and Jamie Duffy 6th. Jamie had a nasty crash and needed treatment but I’m happy to report left the track under his own steam.

40+ Cruiser was Andy Hill’s race, but he was pushed hard by our own Gav Foster who took 2nd. Dave Morton was 3rd, Tim Williams 4th on his 20″, Brent Featherstone 5th, Fred Barlow 6th and Mark Wraith 7th.

Series leader Simon Turner took the win in Old Skool, in another neat order of finish the top 4 overall took the top 4 placings on the day in that order, so Simon 1st, Christian Hunter 2nd, Dave Hall 3rd and Andy Wilson 4th. Lea Pendleton took 5th, John Lister 6th and Simon Parker 7th.

The main event as always is Payback, home rider Cal Strickland had dead legs after a week of constant riding in France but as is the norm with him, gave it everything. Cal took 4th after a cracking final saw Kyle Evans doing it for sponsors Hardknox and taking the win. Grant Hill took 2nd after a grat move took him past Cal on the final berm. Cal crashed into the fencing allowing Tony Fleming to get by for 3rd but recovered to take 4th. Rob Hawker was 5th, with Levi Ashley 6th, Andy Clucas riding with an injured thumb to 7th and Dave Ives 8th.

Thanks to the volunteer race marshals, the North Region (especially our registration ladies and finish line bunny Tina Strickland) and of course to the spectators for cheering on the racers.

The Club’s Saturday Slam Winter Race Series has seen rounds cancelled due to bad weather, but when the track has been clear, the racing has been red hot!

Round 5 became Round 3, but nevertheless saw a great turnout, with several Novices mixing it with experienced racers.

In 8 & Under Boys, Keon Smith bagged his second win of the winter, with Novice Connor Cassidy finishing an excellent 2nd. Matthew Gilston and Oliver Cope shared 3rd, followed by Zack Harrop, Ethan Duffy, Isaac Bannister, Harrison Drelincourt, Lucas Parker and Travis Muscovitch.

9 & Under Girls saw Eleana Stafford take the win against Novice Hannah Baker. Shay Casey took the win in 9-10 Boys, ahead of Callum McDonald with Haroun Aljeddal in 3rd. Oscar Bannister took 4th, Joshua Robson 5th, James Heslop 6th, Callum Smith 7th and Luke Merrill 8th.

Sky Beagley got the better of home rider Spencer McLeod in 11-12 Boys, with Ricardo Addymellor 3rd, Brandan Nolan 4th and Leon Robson 5th.

13-15 Boys saw Valerie Zebrokova show the boys how it’s done, taking the win ahead of Michael Noonan, Aiden Amesbury, Nathan Slamon, Kane Szoltysek, Thomas Slamon and Matt Derbyshire.

Cruisers had a healthy turnout and saw Scott Casey take the win ahead of yours truly, with Tom Hindley 3rd, Jamie Duffy 4th, Paul Muscovitch 5th, Steve Blackburn 6th and Stuart Hanmer 7th.

Thank you to all the riders for competing, the officials and all the supporters!

Saturday saw the club host the latest round of our Saturday Slam winter race series.

With a great turnout of younger riders and some new faces in the older classes, the shortened race series has been a great way for new riders to try racing and for the more experienced to get some quality training in.

Full results will follow

Preston welcomed the first round of the North Region Winter Series and it turned into a great day for Manchester BMX.

With the young guns from the Youth Club racing their first Regional and incresed numbers of older riders, Manchester was well represented and we had a great club atmosphere in the big blue tent! The days results also showed the rest of the region we have some serious talent!

Liam Whitbread, Remi Culpepper, Ellis Burgess and Mario Boreman were flying in Novice, with Liam and Ellis winning their races and Remi and Mario second if memory serves….

Spencer McLeod was flying out of the gate, Brandan Nolan and Riccardo Addymellor looked good too in their 12 Boys race, Matthew Saunders was in fine form too and Sabian Brown and Ryan Cagney mixed it up with the big boys in 16+ along with Ethan Taylor, Josh Nicholas, Ross Gill, Joe Davenport, Rob Evans and matthewglynn.co.uk riding his Cruiser but wanting to race 16+ for a variety of experience.Valerie Zebrokova made the stp up to race 13-15 Boys and aquitted hersefl well, taking a couple of scalps and getting some great experience in a tougher class.

With myself, Andy Drelincourt and Mark Ferguson in 30-39 Cruiser, the club also had represntation on the big rigs, with Andy 3rd, Mark 7th and myself 8th on the day.

Congratulations to Ross and Joe who won motos, Ethan conquered knee pain to make the A final along with Matty, Joe and Josh, who was taking his new frame for a spin and looking super fast (with a power wheelie in his first moto that left  a few jaws on the floor!) with Ross battling hard to get an excellent 2nd in the B Final. Rob made the 16+ C Final, but had the track to himself and to his credit put the hammer down all the way round to the delight of the crowd. Sabian and Ryan had fun getting valuable experience in this tough category and will look to make progress in the next round.

Full results soon, and pics!

The final round of the Thursday Night Thunder Summer Race Series saw some great action as riders battled for precious points.

With classes catering for all ages, the series had some cracking action over the summer with 92 riders competing in one or more rounds.

Club races are the ideal way for new riders to get valuable experience in BMX racing; with low entry fees and the benefits of using the same track, riders can build skills and confidence to enable them to be ready to face the next step up, which is Regional competition.

Manchester’s TNT series has seen many riders coming from our Youth Club to compete and performing well. Sabian Brown has been a real star this year, rising from newcomer to the sport to one to watch for the future, as he took the series win in 11-15 Boys, the largest class with 24 riders. Matthew Saunders did very well grabbing 2nd overall, as 5 results from the 6 races counted and he only rode 4 rounds! In third was another newcomer to the club, Nathan Slamon. He’s improving every week and is another who will hopefully step up to Regional racing. Spence McLeod and Riccardo Addymellor were 4th and 5th respectively, both are talented riders and have already got experience battling it out at Regionals. We hope to see them qualifying for the Brits next year.

With 12 riders doing at least one round in 8 and Unders, the grassroots level of racing is growing. The TNT series saw three friends taking each other on for the title; Harvey Howard took the overall, with Matthew Gilston and our own Harrison Drelincourt 2nd and 3rd. Look for these three amigos to be racing together for many years to come!

Elena Stafford took the honours in 11 and Under Girls, racing in with the boys and often beating them! Likewise Valerie Zebrokova had little company to challenge her in 11+ Girls, so she raced the boys and got some great experience throwing elbows with her clubmates.

9-10 Boys has seen more Youth Club riders step up, with Ellis Burgess displying power beyond what his years might suggest to take the overall title. Callum McDonald rode well to take 2nd, with Haroon Aljeddal an excellent 3rd despite riding just 3 rounds. Another rider to watch out for is Remy Culpepper, yet another newcomer who got 3rd in the final round. 16+ Novice welcomed Andrew Thornton and Josh Mayhew, who are both promising riders we hope to see doing more club races this winter.

25+ saw some fierce racing, with newcomers and experienced riders going elbow to elbow. Ross Gill, in his first year racing after honing his skills as a park rider, took the overall title and bought friends Rob Evans and Joe Davenport to the club, with Rob 6th overall and Joe taking a win in the final round to seal 4th overall. I got myself round enough times for 2nd overall, with Tim Williams demonstrating to the Youth Club riders he coaches that he actually knows what he’s talking about by getting 3rd overall.

In Cruiser, matthewglynn.co.uk took the overall win, with some great riding throughout the series. Mark Ferguson took an excellent 2nd overall, with Neil “Hitman” Harbour 3rd. John Hewitt looked in control as he stormed to a win aboard his MTB in the final round, let’s hope he sees the light and invests in a BMX!

16+ was graced with some of the best riders in the UK taking part this summer, who can complain when a club series attracts British Cycling Talent Team riders, National Champions and Elite riders? The final round saw Cal Strickland and Kyle Evans go head to head, with Kyle taking the glory, as he did in the overall series. In second was Michael Hawker, two spots higher than his older brother Rob in 4th. Between them was Adam Smith, who makes the trip from North of Durham to ride at Manchester.

A big thank you to;

Abi Taylor for her hard work registering all the riders and performing finish line duties

Nicky Hawker and Tina Strickland for finish line duties and bringing their sons to race!

Neil Saunders for start duties

Pete Taylor for pens and compiling results

Roger Wilbraham for commentary

All the parents who bring their riders to Manchester to take part!

The riders, we look forward to seeing you in the Saturday Slam Winter Series!