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Braintree BMX Club
Report from the British Championships
Peterborough
24 August 2008

The regional BMX series came to a close on Sunday with over 600 riders from all over Britain coming together in Peterborough for the British Championships. Braintree BMX Club was by far the largest club in Britain represented at this meeting with forty two riders travelling up the A1 to take part. This meeting is to be televised on Sky Sports on Thursday evening of this week at approximately 8pm and there will be hundreds of people tuning in with this now being an Olympic sport.

Sunday started wet but soon cleared and by the start of racing at 1000am the sun was just starting to poke its head through. The cruiser classes were up first and the 13 – 15 age group saw four riders from Braintree taking part. Toby Bearne doubled up to ride this class and with this being his first British Championships he rode fantastically well, winning his first moto and going through to the A final where he finished eighth bringing home a trophy. Also riding well in this group but missing the final was Oliver Cutmore, Leon Dixon and Ryan East.

The next group up of 16 – 29 year olds went to semi-finals and three Braintree riders managed to get through to the semi. James Goodwin went into the A final where he finished third. Tom Elvin and Jason Clarke also made the semi but missed out on the final and little further behind were Chris Barter and Lee East.

The ‘Dads’ of the club took part in the older classes with Stu Dixon riding the enormous 30 – 39 class which went to quarter finals. Stu went into these easily where he finished sixth unfortunately missing out on the semi. John Stockwell rode in the 40+ class where he had fantastic results remaining unbeaten in his motos, quarter and semi-finals, however final time saw him boxed in by the other riders and unable to jump finishing eighth.

So it was into the expert classes and the ‘pocket rockets’ of under 6 Tom Stokes and Sydney Allen had their work cut out having to go through quarter and semi finals. Tom Stokes made it all the way and finished a fantastic sixth in the final and Sydney went out in the quarter finals with an unfortunate fifth. In the seven’s Charlie O’Grady rode fantastically well going easily into the semi-finals where an unfortunate seventh saw him miss out on the final.

Relative newcomer Bethany Shriever rode with style in the female 7 – 9 class and good moto results saw her into the semi final where she managed a fourth and therefore a place in the final where she finished eighth.

There were five riders from Braintree in the nines and George Moret gave a stunning performance winning two of his motos, and going into the semi final with ease, along with Joshua LeGrove and Shane Redgewell. An unfortunate fifth for George saw him out of the final along with Joshua and Shane also missing out on the final. Further down the pack and riding at this level for the first time were Jay Vora and Daniel Gilbert, who both missed out on the semi final. The ten year olds were joined by Lee Golder who had brilliant results throughout the day going easily into the semi final where he finished second and so into the A final, finishing third and a coveted place on the podium for his presentation. Shane Pavitt was not far behind and also went easily into the semi-final, finishing fourth, and so into the final where he finished seventh. Further down in the pack and missing out on the semi-finals were Jedd Hurst and Jonathan Boreham. The next group up (11) saw Max Waghorn taking part and getting good moto results but not quite enough to secure a place in the semi-final and so out for an early bath.

The female 1 0 – 12 girls saw ‘buddies’ Paige Elvin and Kelsey Dixon taking part and fighting for a place in the semi final. Paige rode extremely well and so went into the semi but unfortunately missed out on the semi-final. Kelsey also had good moto results but it wasn’t quite enough for an entry into the semi final. Natalie Miller in the female 10 – 12 class had a consistent day with three thirds and went into the A final where she finished sixth.

The expert fourteen year old riders saw a stunning ride from Riess Harper who was completely unbeaten in his motos and his semi final; he went easily into final taking an excellent second. Toby Bearne also rode well in this group and secured himself a place in the final where he finished seventh. Christopher Potter entered in this group and also made it through to the semi finals finishing sixth and unfortunately missing out on the final. Dexter Addington, riding at this meeting for the first time, unfortunately missed out on the semi final.

With the competition getting hotter the 15 year olds took to the track and Matt Kirk and Will Elsey both looked good for the top spots. They both went easily into the semi finals along with Richard Whiting and Sam Aves. Matt and Will finished in the top four of their semi’s therefore going through to the final where Matt finished fifth and Will in seventh, Richard and Sam both just missing out on those coveted final placings. Also riding this group, but missing out on the semi finals were Oliver Cutmore and Leon Dixon. The smaller but no less competitive, sixteen year old expert class saw Tom Elvin having an excellent start to the day with a win in his first moto however a crash in his second put him back slightly but determined not to let that put him off he went through to the A final where he finished a comfortable fourth.

The junior and elite classes were smaller but fiercely competitive and Bradley Watts had his work cut out in the junior men. A win in his first moto gave him a good start however a nasty crash in his second threatened to put him out of action for the rest of the day, but a rest and a little patching up and he was back on the track to complete his motos going into the semi final where he finished a comfortable third and in the final he also finished third for that ‘bronze’ podium position.

In the junior female class Nicola Reed was riding for a place in the A final. She had two seconds in her motos and went through to the main where she crossed the line fifth.

The 19+ class included James Goodwin and riding the ‘Brits’ for the first time Tim Machin. Both rode good motos and James went into the semi final but just missed out on the final. Tim, however, missed out on the semi final and was off for an early bath.

The class of Masters (30+) riders had four Braintree riders in its ranks and Jools Allen had brilliant moto results going into the semi finals with style, he made it through to the main final and crossed the line seventh. Stu Dixon and Gavin Stokes were a bit further down the pack but missed out on the semi finals, along with the Steve’s – Steven Gilbert and Steve Hurst.

Not only do the riders compete in their own individual events but there are also a club, sponsor/teams and regional competitions and East Anglia came fourth in the regions competition; however Braintree in the club competition finished tenth out of 45.

Braintree summer club series has now come to an end however there will be two more practice evenings whilst there is still enough light. There is an Open Fun Meeting this Saturday at 1400 with racing, fun races, Mum and Dads race, bunny-hopping, high jump and long jump – everyone is welcome.

Winter racing starts in October and runs on the first Sunday of the month at 1100. For more information please call 01376 346523 or visit www.braintreebmx.co.uk