Friday July 29, 2011 at 3:42pm
Following a three year break the penultimate round of this year’s BYMX series makes a very welcome return to one of the world’s great MX courses - namely Desertmartin in Northern Ireland. The Porters Pit venue approx 30 miles from Belfast played host to a Maxxis round quite recently and duly received universal praise for the quality of the racing circuit - the high standard of the facilities - and the professional organisational skills shown by the Cookstown club.
With just two rounds remaining to decide the final championship positions Alexander Brown riding the MotoOne KTM holds a commanding twenty point advantage in the Junior 65cc section. Brown has shown outstanding skill and speed along with a gritty determination to win since the very first heat of this years championship - and he will be relishing another fast and furious sand based course to show off his full range of talents. Second placed Jed Etchells is another rider who excels in sand - and he will be well up for the overall win but he might also have to at his very best to beat off the attentions of both Harry Kimber and Cailum Meara. Third placed Kimber on the Twisted 7 Kawasaki has been improving season long and fourth placed Meara on home turf will surely be looking for a top three finish. The tussle for fifth and sixth in this year’s series at present has Colin Scott just two points in front of Adam Dunn.
In the S/W 85cc division it's a similar scenario to the one found in the 65's. A section leader who has dominated season long - has won four of the five rounds carded - and he also enjoys a large comfort zone over the chasing pack. Conrad Mewse is the young man in question and the Somerset flier has a thirty two point advantage over Durham's Jay Hague. At the previous Canada Heights round Hague suffered harsh luck losing valuable championship points following mechanical failure and injury in heat four- and that dropped him down to seventh overall for the weekend. Hague will be hoping for better fortunes this time around as he endeavours to hold off the chasers and that includes third placed Jordan Eccles. KTM runner Eccles is twenty seven points adrift of Hague but clearly displayed down in Kent the ability and speed to win twice and with a tad more consistency anything is possible for him. While the top three positions in the championship seem to be pretty much sewn up the positions four to eight are covered by just fifteen points with David Keet, Taylor Hammal, Alfie Mountford, Jamie Carpenter and Aaron Piper all set to tough it out.
The B/W 85cc section has developed into a real roller coaster ride. Early season pace setter Tom Neal fell foul of unfortunate injury between rounds three and four and now the current championship leader Liam Knight is extremely doubtful following his injury at Canada Heights. If RMJ Academy trained Knight doesn't make the start line in Northern Ireland it will be heartbreaking for him with most of the hard work already in the bag. At present Knight has a nine point lead over joint second placed Jack Gardner and Brad Todd. Gardner on the MX World Honda won round five with Todd the glorious victor at round four and it's clear to see that both guys are right on top of their best form - and it could be a grandstand finish. Jason Meara holds sway with fourth place in the section, and he like his younger brother Cailum will be going all out for a home crowd pleasing top three podium result. Matthew Callaghan, Rob Davidson and John Adamson occupy the next three positions in a nip and tuck points grouping where just ten points cover Meara in fourth down to Adamson in seventh.
As in the B/W championship the Youth Open class division is also boiling up for a titanic finish. Adam Sterry on the RMJ Academy Honda has won the previous two rounds and he now represents a seriously strong challenge to the season long front running KTM pair of Championship leader Nathan Watson and second placed Jamie McCanney. HM Plant Red Bull runner Watson has a ten point advantage over Manxman McCanney with Sterry now just twelve off the top spot. Another overall win or points gain for Sterry could well set up the best Open class finish since 2006. Jake Millward has battled his way into a clear championship fourth place and he will be keen to hold his ground as Scott Hamilton, Mark Perfect and Damon Brooks tussle for fifth with just two points between them.