The second weekend of racing in the ACU British Sprint Championship saw a new venue provide a tight and technical challenge, in stark contrast to the opening two rounds. Champs Park at Bridgstock, Northampton included an MX track, tight woodlands and open fields, all of which combined to provide a superb sprint test across the whole weekend. Things got tougher on Sunday, when the course was reversed and a few of jumps from the previous day were cut to provide a more flowing track.
The event was significant in as much as it saw four out of five Edmondsons all racing against each other. Jack Edmondson rode the Championship class whilst Paul, Lee and Harry all rode in Expert – a very rare occurrence indeed and as expected it turned out to be extremely competitive between all of them, especially considering the number of competitors in the Expert ranks.
Gas Gas Factory Enduro rider Danny McCanney had an outstanding weekend winning all special tests across the two days. Freestyle Husqvarna’s Joe Wootton was the only rider to really push McCanney and at one point on the opening day, both riders twice matched each other’s time on the test precisely. Wootton did take the E2 class win as McCanney dominated E3.
Fast Eddy Racing’s own Beta mounted Tom Sagar took third overall on day one and second in E3, whilst Sherco Factory rider Jack Edmondson placed fourth then jumped up a spot to second on Sunday, with second overall E2 just ahead of Daryl Bolter. In the Championship E1 class, it was Alex Snow who led the way closely followed by Dan Mundell, who had Alex Walton breathing down his neck all weekend.
Expert E1 rider Aaron Gordon took the Expert win each day as Harry and Paul Edmondson vied for second and third spots, Harry getting second on the opening day whilst Paul took second on Sunday and the E2 class win for the second time. Ricki Wiggins was one of only two E3 class riders entered in the event and took the win ahead of Freddie Davis.
The Clubman ranks saw an outstanding performance from Charlie Chater, riding E1, who did the double by a significant margin, winning the class on both days. His usual rivals of Cole Cookland and James Palmer were close to each other but some distance from Chater, the overall results remained the same for the second day of racing between these three.
Rich Cookland enjoyed his weekend with a double win in the Vets class, beating Keith Staines to the top spot on Saturday with Alan Vissian third and pushing Phil Rowett to second place on Sunday as Chris Day took third.
Dan Charles had a blast on Saturday as he took the Sportsman class win ahead of Sam Baggott and Jack Smith but it was Bagott who took the win on the second day with Smith second and Marcus Feltham third.
With Rosie Rowett switching to the Clubman class for this event the Ladies class was wide open. Kate Smith took full advantage of the situation by posting a double win with Gemma Holtham and Emily Halls second and third on both days.
Alfie Webb had the Youth class nailed! Two impressive wins with plenty of time to spare to second placed Josh Lucy saw Webb well on his way to a championship title. Tom Hume grabbed third spot on Saturday with Carwyn Rosser taking it on Sunday.
Champs Park certainly proved to be a hit. It was quite technical compared to other Sprint venues in the Fast Eddy calendar but it certainly made riders work hard with no room to rest anywhere. The third venue for the series, Green Hall Farm, could not be more different with its rolling hills and off cambers but there is plenty of woodland available and you can bet it will be included at some point but round three will be significantly faster than round two, that’s for sure.
Report by Tim Tighe