Not even a torrential storm late on Friday night could dampen the spirits of the British Youth Nationals team and riders who were set to race round 2 of the British championship at Culham Moto Parc.
Gareth Hockey and his team set about clearing as much of the track as possible, even moving the entire start gate to a new location which was safe for riders to undertake 5 blocks of racing over the 2 days.
“The storm was crazy, completely out of the blue, my team got stuck in on Saturday morning and did what was asked and we produced an event which could have easily been cancelled,” said Gareth Hockey of RHL Activities. “The patience and understanding from the parents and riders was great, I want to applaud those guys for their efforts as well.”
In the Junior class it was the talented Eddie Wade and Joel Rizzi who battled for honours, both winning races on both days. Eddie took the honours this time around with Joel a close runner up but he still leads the championship, chasing hard behind was the improving Louis Kessell in third, Bobby Bruce fourth, Jack Grayshon fifth and Oliver Barr sixth.
Eddie Wade: “I had a mega weekend at BYN Culham, I came away with 2-1-1-2-1 but the last race I had to beat Joel for the overall and with Joel taking the early lead, I had to fight from behind to take the place winning the 5th race.”
Jordan Eccles produced a clean sweep in the 125 championship, taking all five races in convincing style. The riders behind including Henry Williams, Josh Coleman, Kieran Banks, George Grigg-Pettitt and Oliver Benton did their best to close in on the leader but all were having their own individual battles in all 5 races.
Team Green Kawasaki rider Dylan Woodcock took to the tough conditions like a duck to water in the BW85 class, riding superbly all weekend to take the overall from Keenan Hird, Dexter Douglas, Alexander Brown, Harry Kimber and Jed Etchells.
Dylan Woodcock: “The track was nice and rough just as I like it, it went a bit hard pack to be honest and got a little dusty, I need to work on my starts for the next round. The more technical tracks suits my style, a bit old school.”
In the SW85 class three riders shared the race wins, Ben Clark, Rossi Beard and Callum Mitchell, but it was Ben who took the overall result after 5 exciting races. Not far behind were Kacey Hird, Adam Collings and Sam Nunn.
Ben Clark: “I enjoyed the track, good racing and I’m now looking forward to the next round and gain some more points in the championship.”
The Open Youth class produced one of the bravest rides of the year so far, in the final moto on Sunday, Ollie Osmaston dislocated his shoulder mid race but instead of pulling in, Ollie continued to gain the overall win from second place rider Tom Neal. Jay Lamb, David Galvin, Rob Holyoake and Joe Hodgson completed the top 6.
Ollie Osmaston: “I’m feeling in a lot of pain right now, I just tried to finish the race with my dislocated shoulder, I rode my hardest. Yesterday and the first races this on Sunday was going good but I had a bit of crash and the shoulder popped out. Its not really how I wanted to finish the weekend. The reason I kept going is I knew I was close to the championship lead and get the most points possible.”
Scott Elderfield raced the British Under 23 class for the first time in 2014 and took all 3 races in convincing style, Brad Todd did enough for second spot and is now the championship, Nathan Dixon finished third for a much deserved podium finish. Damon Strydom, Matt Burrows and Shaun Springer rounded off the top 6.
Scott Elderfield: “It was real good, I had a few up and downs in qualifying but the races went perfectly. I suffered a little arm pump but overall it was a good weekend. The last time I raced a BYN was way back, it was good to come back and do it.”
We also had some great feedback from the parents and the industry in attendance.
Lee Smith – Clerk for Northern Centre
“I would just like to congratulate your team for putting on an excellent weekend considering the storms on Friday/ Saturday.”
Diane Casement, Kyle Casements Mum to no 289 in the Open Class
“Well done for last weekend, it was a challenging weekend for you all with the state of the track and the weather.”
A gallery from round 2 can be found on our Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.713425238714270.1073741835.345982868791844&type=1
For full results please click the link below.
http://www.rhlactivities.com/byn/pages/2014-race-results.cfm
Round 3 of the 2014 British Youth Nationals will take place on July 26/27 at Brookthorpe in Gloucestershire.
Places are still available in the following classes ACU Open Youth, ACU British Youth 125 Class and the British Under 23 championship, to book in and register please call Penny on 01873 840640 or by emailing penny@rhlactivities.com
For more information on the 2014 British Youth Nationals please visit http://www.rhlactivities.com/byn/