CLUB NEWS: Busy weekend for the Hawks

HETHERSETT HAWKS / YELLOW BRICK MORTGAGES had a busy weekend of racing on Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th April. On the Saturday 14 members were at Eaton Park for the first round of the South East Grand Prix series and, despite the cold conditions, warmed to the racing as the afternoon progressed. Mason Martin was unbeaten in the Under-16s and duly won his final and the next most impressive rider was Aiesha Musa who competed well in heats combining three categories despite a heavy fall and then finished third in the Girls final. Also in this category Amelia Dodson was 5th.

The Under-14s saw Ollie Scadding make his debut finishing 10th just behind Matthew Sidell in the C final. Will Clarke started races well which was enough to get him in the B Final where he finished fourth. Jamal Musa and Lola Martin have stepped up to Under-12s and this age group looked strong so they finished 13th and 14th respectively despite plenty of effort.

In the youngest age categories Ronnie Harding was the most impressive finishing 6th in the Under-10s, one place ahead of Oscar Copeland with Arlo Davies in 9th. Noah Cameron should have also been in the Under-10s but a mix-up saw him in the Under-8s where he finished 5th, just ahead of his sister Grace and Remy Davies. So a lot of valuable expereince gained before heading to Ipswich for Round 2 where they will no doubt be joined by other members unable to attend because of school holidays.

On the Sunday it was back down the A140 for a second consecutive week for reversed league fixtures at Ipswich. The Division 2 match was very exciting. Hethersett got off to the worst possible start with an exclusion and a 7-2 reverse and spent the rest of the match trying to claw this back which they succeeded in doing in the penultimate heat with a 6-4 win by Leigh Cossey and Daniel Martin putting the Hawks one point ahead. It all hinged on the final nominated riders heat with Cossey out again with Mason Martin. It did not quite go as planned and Ipswich’s Kai Gowers and ex-Hawk Owen Wells snatched victory with a 6-4 to leave the Hawks ruing that dreadful start.

IPSWICH 80 HETHERSETT 79
(Leigh Cossey 20, Paul Delaiche 15, Mason Martin 14, Daniel Martin 14, Dave Martin 9+2, Nigel Longlands 7+1)

In the Youth League match the young Hawks gave a good show, especially Aiesha Musa and Matthew Sidell who won two races each and Ronnie Harding / Lola Martin combining for a consolation 7-3 in the final heat. Will Clarke also won heat 11.

IPSWICH 71 HETHERSETT 58
(Matthew Sidell 13, Aiesha Musa 13, Ronnie Harding 9+1, Lola Martin 9+1, Will Clarke 9, Oscar Copeland 5)