MATCH REPORT: Hethersett beat the weather for BYJL

Hethersett Hawks/Swinton & Co faced their biggest challenge last Saturday when, following 22 hours persistent rain, they had to be ready to entertain 109 youngsters from as far afield as Exeter and Lancashire for a National Round of the British Youth & Junior League.

Early morning pumping of the drainage system and teamwork erecting facilities in wind and rain meant that all was ready by the 10am start. The Under-8s had the worst of the conditions being on first and the very young ones found it difficult to manage just one lap of the track yet along the regulation three but they got lots of encouragement from the big crowd and lots of consideration from the referee.

As the track eventually started to dry out there was some spectacular racing, especially in the Under-12s and Under-14s. Race of the day was the Under-12 Grand Prix final when favourite Lewis Brinkhoff (Kesgrave) spun on the starting gate but with determination and skill he picked off his opponents one by one to take the chequered flag.

The support throughout the day was terrific and the riders responded making the most of difficult racing conditions to put on a show.

Poole won the overall Club event fallowed by Ipswich and Kesgrave. The South Coast side only won the Under-14s but scored well in all categories. The other age groups were won by Kesgrave (Under-8s, Under-10s and Under-12s) Ipswich (under-17s) and Exeter (Girls).
In addition to Brinkhoff the other Grand Prix were won by JJ Wildman (Exeter), Olly Reynolds (Kesgrave), James Bunting (Sheffield), Haydn Rowley (Wednesfield) and Lauren Hookway (Exeter).

Hethersett only had one rider who had qualified from the Regional Rounds. Katie Adams was doing well in the Girls event but crashed heavily in a collision during her third ride. She reappeared in the rerun to beat Sammi Marsh from Birmingham but could not finish her final race. Bravely she took her place in the “C” Final which she won convincingly as a reward for her efforts.

This Friday Dan Chambers will be racing at Poole in the World Championship qualifying rounds in an attempt to make Saturday’s Quarter-Finals in Exeter.