National BMX Series Rounds 7&8

June 24th, 2010

manc2010700National BMX Series 2010
 
On the weekend of July 3rd & 4th, Manchester BMX Club are hosting rounds 7 & 8 of the National BMX Series. The Premier race series in the UK, the Nationals see the very best riders competing in a 12 round series at 6 venues across the country. 
 
Manchester first hosted the series last year and won the “best national” award at the end of season. We’ve worked hard to ensure that this year we live up to expectations!
 
Schedule:
 
Saturday

Midday – 3pm Initial motos.
 
3.30pm – 5.45pm Semi finals and finals.
 
After the 3 Motos, there will be a short break followed by Semi finals (top 16) in all categories.  After another short break, we will go straight into finals for all categories.
 
Sunday
 
10am – 12.30pm –Initial Motos
 
1.15pm – 3.30pm Semi finals and finals

More information: Manchester BMX National 2010

Sunshine!

June 22nd, 2010

225 riders signed up to race the latest round of the North Region Summer Series at Manchester, with many looking ahead to the forthcoming National Series rounds at Platt Fields the Regional represented a great chance to race the track.

Sunshine greeted the racers, with a well groomed track riding fast the stage was set for a good day’s competition.

For the home club, success came early in the shape of Ethan Duffy racing in 6 Boys. Ethan is new to the sport and dad Jamie races in 35-39 Cruiser. Ethan won on Sunday to make it three wins in the last three rounds!

In 7 Boys, Oliver Cope continued his improvement with a great 3rd place, joined in the final by Harrison Drelincourt who got 6th and also looks to be improving.

We’ve got an embarrassment of riches in the next two classes, with Haroun Al Jeddal taking 3rd in 11 Boys, Callum McDonald 4th and Joe Saunders just missing the final. In 12 Boys we had Spencer McLeod an excellent 2nd, Riccardo Addymellor another Manchester rider showing great progress with 3rd and Brandan Nolan unlucky not to make the main.

Redline’s Valerie Zebrokova is looking in fine form for the Nationals as she took 5th in 13 Boys at the Regional.

In 14 Boys, Matthew Saunders was racing for new team, Love Not Money, for the first time. He didn’t seem under any pressure though, as he took his second win of the Summer Series and was promptly mobbed as he crossed the line by his LNM team-mates. Nathan Slamon made the move up to Expert for the first time and got stuck in, a few more races at this level should see his confidence grow.

Conner Hanmer got 2nd in 15 Boys, and  in 16’s we had Jacob Roberts getting the win, Sabian Brown looking fast in 3rd, Mario Boreman in 6th and Ryan Cagney back from a broken ankle in 7th. Great results for the riders, but brilliant for the club to have so much young talent coming through.

Ross Gill added to Love Not Money’s win total, getting it donw in 25-29. In Masters, Stuart Hanmer sits in 2nd overall after a string of solid performances this series.

In 17-29 Cruiser, Matty Glynn took 2nd extending his lead in the overall. 30-34 is close, with Dialled Bikes Factory Team rider Neil Harbour having won all three rounds he’s entered but 2nd overall as he’s done one less round than leader Nigel Smith of Bradford. On Sunday, Neil was followed across the line by Nigel, with Mark Ferguson 3rd and Roy Sutton 4th,

Andy Drelincourt took 3rd in 35-39, with Jamie Duffy a place behind. Mark Huddart was injured, hopefully he’ll recover for Goldcoast. Roger Wilbraham didn’t make the main in 40-44, but is saving himself for the Brits. You have been warned!

In Payback, Cal Strickland was inches away from the win, with Andy Clucas in 6th. Pete Hosker and Joe davenport didn’t make the main but battled well all day.

The next round of the Regionals is at Goldcoast on June 27th, with Manchester hosting the next rounds of the Nationals on the weekend of July 3rd & 4th.

Rooster’s Race Report ~ Big Weekend in Braintree

June 18th, 2010

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….

Halfway There…

June 15th, 2010

No, I’m not about to burst into song with lines from Bon Jovi… The Monster Energy British BMX Series is now at the Halfway point of the season, with rounds 5 & 6 at Braintree in the bag.

A reduced Manchester contingent made the long trip down south for the host club’s first crack at hosting a National and everyone came away very impressed with the whole event.

Before diving into the racing from the weekend however, I’ve been promising a write up of the first rounds of the Nats so far and it’s high time I got stuck in;

Cheddar

The venue hosted the Brits last year and saw 700 riders take part in what, at the time, was viewed as a fantastic event. Holding a National there though was considered by some to be too much, as the track is fast and demands full committment from riders on the third straight with some huge jumps. Then again, the whole point of National racing is that it’s a step up in competition!

First up are our youngest racers, with Harrison “will race for Transformers” Drelincourt improving all the time in 7 Boys, moto’d both days but close to making it through. Joe “Lil’ Factory” Saunders got stuck in in 11 Boys but couldn’t make it beyond the motos either.

12 Boys saw Spencer McLeod doing very well; Spence had a great winter at Regional level and has carried that form through into the 2010 Summer Series in the North. At the Nationals, he got 2nd in the B Final on Sat and a fantastic 7th in the A Final on Sunday.

Matthew “Factory” Saunders made a solid start to his 2010 campaign with a pair of B Final appearances in 14 Boys; Matt took 3rd on Sat and 2nd on Sun.

Redline’s Valerie Zebrokova is riding up in 13-14 Girls and will be tested as it’s a tough class. Our own mini Shanaze did well at Cheddar, with an 8th on day one and 5th on day two.

Jacob Roberts also rides for Redline and makes that signing look like a great idea everytime he gets on a bike. He’s the class act in 16 Boys, which isn’t to say the other riders are no good, quite the opposite, it’s a class with some real talent in it, but it’s fair to say Jacob has an edge over his rivals. At Cheddar, Jake was his usual blisteringly fast self and doubled up with wins.

In 17-24 Love Not Money’s Andy Clucas (technically not riding for Manchester at this point but, but we’ve “aquired” him since!) showed he’s serious about contending for the title this season with a 6th and a 4th over the weekend. Andy’s LNM team and now club-mate Joe “Average” Davenport made his Nationals debut in 17-24 but it was a tough intro and he didn’t get beyond motos.

“Pistol” Pete Hosker managed to ride in a straight line (anyone who’s seen Pete sometimes go left, waaaaaay left off the gate will know what I mean) and win the B Final in 25-29, but his presence was required at a wedding that night (not his!) so he missed sun.  Love Not Money’s Ross Gill netted 3rd in the B on sat and 2nd in the B on sun. A solid start to the season for both riders.

Masters has gone super hard this year, with the re-alignment of age classes dropping a lot of top riders from 19+ into Masters. Newly signed to Manchester, Tony “Flemdog” Fleming showed the young pups how it’s done with a brilliant performance over the weekend; 3rd on sat and 2nd on sun. I had a lovely view of the action from waay back and got moto’d.

Matty Glynn races in Royal and 661 kit, but is on Love Not Money and gets it done in 17-29 Cruiser. He got 5th in the B on sat and 2nd on sun.  In 30-34, it’s all about Manchester! There’s Andy Drelincourt (ok, so he’s older, but riding down is allowed!) Mark Ferguson, Roy “Sutty” Sutton and myself (both on Love Not Money) and then there’s Dialled Bikes Factory Team rider Neil Harbour. Neil has been racing for 27 years but has never won a National. At Cheddar, he put that right in a big way taking the win both days.   

Elite was stacked, there was more talent than a Simon Cowell special and it didn’t disappoint; Cal Strickland has been looking to firmly establish himself as one of the top riders in the UK and his B Final win on sat followed by a fantastic 3rd on sunday should help his cause. He’s gone from being known as the rider on a steel frame and flat pedals who does well, to being mentioned in the same breath as the other top riders; as a contender.

Derby

From one of the fastest tracks in the country to the longest, the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Nationals hit Derby, with it’s super long first straight it was a real test of fitness!

I’ll start with the Cruisers this time, as we always kick off the racing anyway! Matty Glynn opened the weekend with a B Final win in 17-29 and backed that up with a 3rd in the B on sunday. 30-34 was the Neil Harbour show again, with the Dialled rider taking his win total to 4 from 4.

Back to 20″ and the 7 Boys class. Oliver Cope is new to the club and Nationals racing, but looked very comfortable at Derby, with a 6th in the A on sat and 2nd in the B on sun. Harrison Drelincourt made the B on sat but couldn’t match it on sun. Another newcomer, Zack Harrop, was in the mix as well but got moto’d. With 3 riders now in the class, Manchester has started building for the future! (2024 Olympic team?)

Spence McLeod continued to impress in Derby, with two further A Final appearances in 12 Boys; 7th and 5th are great performances and should do his confidence the world of good.

In 13-14 Girls, Valerie had a great weekend with a pair of 3rd places.

Matt Saunders got to the B Finals both days in Derby in 14 Boys, another weekend of solid riding, taking 7th and 3rd.

Another weekend of Nationals, another weekend of wins for Jacob Roberts in 16 Boys. Pure class.

17-24 saw Andy Clucas take 2nd on sat, with a 4th on sun; proof he’s consistently one of the best in class. Joe Davenport showed he’s rapidly improving on the race track with an impressive 3rd and 6th in B Finals over the weekend.

Pete Hosker won the B Final in 25-29 on sat and free from any other social engagements, made the main on sun, taking 7th. On sat, the term “Hoskered” entered the BMX Racing lexicon, as Pete went waaaay left (again) off the snap leading commentator Rich Eames to coin the term he’s “Hoskered” the snap…Ross Gill mnade the B both days and took 3rd on sat and 2nd on sun.

In Masters, Flemdog was again on form, getting 2nd and 5th over the weekend. Age hasn’t caught up with Flem, he’s got too good a snap!

Cal was getting it done again in Elite; although the saturday bloc racing took its toll on such a long track. 7th and 5th were solid results from Derby, but in such a tough class he’ll be looking for better results.

Platt Fields BMX Track Half Term Opening

May 24th, 2010


PLATT FIELDS PARK BMX TRACK

 

JUNE HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES

WEEK 31/05/2010 - 06/06/2010

 

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 31st

11:00-17:00 ALL WELCOME

 

TUE 1st

10:00 - 12:00 MCC HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

(Please book in advance)

12:00 - 18:00 ALL WELCOME

18:00 – 19:30 MANCHESTER BMX CLUB

(MEMBERS ONLY)

 

WED 2nd

10:00 - 12:00 MCC HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

(Please book in advance)

12:00 – 21:00 ALL WELCOME

 

THU 3rd

10:00 - 12:00 MCC HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

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12:00 - 16:30 ALL WELCOME

17:00 -18:00 MANCHESTER BMX YOUTH CLUB

18:00 21:00

Manchester BMX club

ALL WELCOME

 

FRI 4th

11:00 – 21:00 ALL WELCOME

 

SAT 5th

10:00-14:45 ALL

15:00-19:00

Manchester BMX club

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SUN 6th

11:00 – 19:00

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LAST ENTRY IS 1 HOUR BEFORE CLOSING

 

FOR BOOKING CONTACT DUTY MANAGER

 0161 225 2920 / plattfieldsBMX@manchester.gov.uk