MATCH REPORT: Great days racing at BYJL Midlands Round 3

What a great day’s racing that was – 63 young riders, including a number of first timers, plenty of good racing and a few upsets, who could ask for more? Hopefully a couple of passing youngsters who came to watch will take up an invitation to have a go themselves at Coventry’s next training night.

The U8s set the tone for the day with plenty of exciting races. The home pair of Jude Wilcockson and Finley Youson came to the fore, but the thrill merchant was Leicester’s Liam Wells.

The banking on the Coventry track suits his stand on the pedals style and having finally stopped giving away yards of the start, he became the first rider to defeat Jude Wilcockson in this year’s competition. In the final he managed to repeat that feat with Jude catching his back wheel on the last bend and coming off, which allowed Finley Youson to take second with Ewan Turner in third.

Overall, Jude retains his lead, but the gap is down to just one point, so an exciting finale is promised for the final round in Birmingham.

The competition though is not just about winning, but also about taking part and there was no better example than 5 year old Lucie Pearson. She soon learned that you are going to get plenty of people cheering you on even though you are at the back and loved every minute of it, so well done Lucie.

By comparison, the U10s was a more straightforward affair, with Ronnie Wassall again proving to be too good for the rest. Tom Pearson again took second, with Corey Burt, making his first appearance of the year, taking third place ahead of Charlie Buet-Gannonn.

Last year the U10s was the most hotly contested of the age group and with the main riders moving up a category, this year the U12s is proving the one to watch.

Whilst Kyle Wells was once again beaten by Connor Steel in Round 2’s final, a win over him there in the heats had given him confidence and he again did so in the second heat on the way to 16 points.

WATCH: Jerome Turner’s Little League action

Connor took three wins, though he had to work hard for the last of these coming from third to take the win on the line. Wyatt Jacobs also took three wins on his first appearance this year, and he was joined in the final by East Park’s Josh Dytor.

In the final it was Kyle who just held off Connor to make it two trophies for the Wells’ household, with Josh taking a well deserved third place. Birmingham’s Rebekah Humphries also featured in some excellent races.

The luck of the draw again meant that the two main contenders in the U14s did not meet in the heats but, after blowing his chances last time by moving at the start, Tyler Bould made no mistake this time in inflicting Ben Wells’ first defeat of the year.

This category also saw George Hunt, one of the Nuneaton BMX Club members who have been attending the Coventry training sessions, take part and he certainly held his own. A special mention to local youngster Abdullah Navsarka, who having seen the track first the first time on Friday night, decided to come and take part on Saturday – judging from his enthusiasm, he’ll be back again.

The second of the Nuneaton BMXers, 13 year old Markella Houli took part in the Girls, and it is fair to say that she made quite an impact, with everyone being impressed with some stylish and determined riding as she took a very creditable third place.

Lizzie Rigley once again took the win, but not before coming in third in her first race behind eventual runner up Chloe Whitehead and Markella, who enjoyed herself so much that she intends racing in the next round.

The day ended with an excellent U18s event. Although Round 2 winner Carl Parfitt and Ewan Hancox were missing, Jake White, returning after injury, and Haydn Rowley took their first rides in this year’s competition.

It was Jake who ended the qualifying races unbeaten, having taken the win over leader Brandon Whetton when they met, with Haydn Rowley and Cameron Gill also reaching the final. Jake was happy to have grid one, with Brandon off gate four, but it was Haydn who made the best start.

As he chased Jake for second place, Brandon caught his back wheel and came down to earn an exclusion. In the re-run it was Haydn who took the win over Jake, with Cameron, who had come off worse in the previous incident as he had hit the fallen rider, taking third.

Cameron only took up the sport less than a year ago through the Brandon Dirt Bike Club, and looks a real prospect, as he can hold his own competing against riders with years in the sport.

Team scores on the day:

Little League – Coventry 135, Wednesfield 54, East Park 18, Leicester 15, Birmingham 14

BYJL –  Coventry 132, Wednesfield 86, Leicester 84, Birmingham 52, East Park 51, Nuneaton BMX 24

Top four riders in each section are;

U8s – Jude Wilcockson 66, Liam Wells 65 Finley Youson 56, Ewan Turner 48

U10s – Ronnie Wassall 75, Lewis Middleton 60, Tom Pearson 50, Charlie Buet-Gannonn 46

U12s – Connor Steel 65, Kyle Wells 59, Jonathan Middleton 55, , Jack Reynolds 41

U14s – Ben Wells 70, Jude Painter 46, Tyler Bould 41, Alexsander Maslanka 33,

U18s – Brandon Whetton 61,  Cameron Gill 45, Ollie Morris 43, Ewan Hancox 36,

Girls – Lizzie Rigley 75, Chloe Whitehead 60, Honey Whitehead 44, Sophia Sinclair-Black 34

Team competition placings:

Little League –  Coventry 15, Wednesfield 11, East Park 10, Leicester 6, Birmingham 3

BYJL – Coventry 16, Leicester 12, Wednesfield 9, Birmingham 8, East Park 5, Nuneaton BMX 1