PREVIEW: 2016 British Club Championships
The 2016 British Club Championships take place this weekend and for the first time appear all on the same weekend in the Midlands.
Teams of four featuring British nationals from UK clubs take on each other in semi-finals and finals at Leicester, Wednesfield and East Park over the three days of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Saturday – Leicester
Leicester host two straight finals on Saturday, with the U19s category at 2pm, followed by the Womens at 4pm.
Leicester’s girls won their 10th club championship in a row last year at their home track, and have the opportunity to make it an 11th at home once again.
Competition for the favourites comes in the form of Ipswich, Poole and Sheffield. All clubs have talented riders at their disposal and will push the Monarchs all the way.
In the U19, Ipswich hope to retain their title, won last year in Newport. Wednesfield, East Park, Sheffield and Poole will all be gunning to prevent them taking home the title once again in the straight final.
Sunday – Wednesfield and East Park
Sunday sees a healthy 10 teams battle it out in two semi finals at Wednesfield in the Over 40s category.
Vet heavy weights and title holders, Leicester, will go in as favourites once again, they will have to see to the advances of Poole, Hull, Astley & Tyldesley and Wednesfield in semi final two, which they should do at 12:30pm.
Semi final one, which takes place at 11am, features Birmingham, Kesgrave, East Park, Northumbria and Ipswich. The top four teams qualify for the final, which starts at 4pm.
In between the vets semis and final, the U10s straight final takes place at 2pm. Holders Kesgrave will be strong as always, they face a stiff challenge from Astley and Tyldesley, Ipswich, Poole and Wednesfield to keep hold of their title.
Moving onto East Park, the U16s battle it out, with current champions, Wednesfield, featuring in semi-final two against Coventry, Sheffield and East Park at 12:30pm.
Semi final one takes place at 11am and includes five teams, Astley & Tyldesley, Poole, Ipswich, Horspath and Bury. The final takes place at 3pm.
Monday – East Park
The busiest day of the weekend is Monday, with the U13s starting the day bright and early at 10am. Coventry, Wednesfield, Bury and East Park all battle for a spot in the final in semi final one, with holders Kesgrave featuring in semi final two at 11am. They must fight off Sheffield, Ipswich and Poole to make the final, which takes place at 2pm.
The open category starts at 12pm, straight after the second U13 semi final. East Park, Stockport, Coventry and Bury take each other on, in what could be a bruising encounter.
Semi final two will certainly up the ante, with Wednesfield, Newport, Poole and Ipswich clashing, which will surely include some fireworks.
The big surprise in the open category is holders Birmingham not defending their title that they superbly won last year in Norwich.
The open final takes place at 3:30pm and brings to a close a busy weekend of Cycle Speedway!
