CLUB NEWS: A busy few days for the Hawks

HETHERSETT HAWKS / YELLOW BRICK MORTGAGES staged Round 4 of the Norfolk GO-RIDE and Grand Prix series on a bright but cold Wednesday evening. Finally we had a change of winners with Ronnie Harding (U10s) and Matthew Sidell (U14s) taking gold medals in their first outings in this series. Nyla El-Labany continued to dominate the U8s as did Mason Martin in the U16 / Seniors. Norwich rider Zachery Eastwood picked up gold in the Under-12s.

Despite the track being dry and dusty there was some great racing with some impressive rides by Dave Martin and Paul Delaiche. Some of the loudest cheers came for U14 rider Cerys Williams who has learning difficulties and joined the Club through the WINGZ Access to Sport programme last year and races with the younger age group who she trains with.

Results of Finals (Hethersett unless stated) –

U8s & U10s
A – 1 Ronnie Harding 2 Oscar Copeland 3 Arlo Davies 4 Nyla El-Labany (U8 1st)
B – 1 Thomas Barnard 2 Alfie Gunn 3 Isaac Emms (U8 2nd) 4 Cerys Williams
C – 1 Henry Everson (U8 3rd)

U12s & U14s
A – 1 Matthew Sidell 2 Zachery Eastwood (Norwich – U12 1st) 3 Lola Martin (U12 2nd) 4 Luca El-Labany (U12 3rd)
B – 1 Amelia Dodson 2 Austin Brailey 3 Will Clarke 4 Jamal Musa

U16s & Senior
A – 1 Mason Martin (U16 1st) 2 Dave Martin 3 Paul Delaiche 4 Glyn Morgan
B – 1 Harry Everiss (Norwich) 2 George Larter-Dixon (U16 2nd) 3 Jamie Medler (Norwich) 4 Katie Adams
C – 1 Jack Western (Norwich)

Referee – Sarah Brailey

Round 5 is at Eaton Park on Sunday 25th June.

Seven Hawks made the long trip to Hellingly in Sussex to contest the fourth round of the South-East Grand Prix, which for some categories doubled up for the British Youth & Junior Regional Round. Team scores in the latter were Kesgrave 92 Hellingly 74 Hethersett 26 Ipswich 20 Gt.Blakenham 8 meaning Kesgrave and Hethersett qualify for the National Rounds, one of which is at Hethersett on July 29th.

The Hawks won two grand prix – Nyla El-Labany was undefeated at Under-8s while Dave Martin held off favourite Paddy Wenn in the Veterans Final. Oscar Copeland picked up a bronze medal in the Under-10s while in the Under-12s Luca El-Labany finished 4th in the A Final with Lola Martin 2nd in the B Final. Mason Martin was runner-up in the Seniors. All Hethersett riders with the exception of Dave Martin were unlucky to draw the outside grid in finals.

Round 5 of the South east Grand Prix is at Somersham on Saturday 8th July.

After weeks of combating a cold North-East wind it was extreme heat and dust that greeted riders for two matches between Hethersett and Ipswich at the Memorial Playing Field. Both matches followed a similar pattern with Ipswich riders sharper from the gate, looking more experienced and making less unforced errors.

In the Division 2 match Harley Hamill was in good form but aggravated a calf injury so withdrew after four races and with it went any chance of a late Hawks recovery. Mason Martin again belied his youth with another combative performance but others made little headway.

HETHERSETT 73 IPSWICH B 86
(Mason Martin 15+2 Harley Hamill 13+1 Dave Martin 11+1 Jamie Neill 10 Paul Delauche 9 George Larter-Dixon 9 Lola Martin 4 Amelia Dodson 2+1)
Referee – Ash Hill

In the Youth match Hethersett rested the riders on full first-team duty and with two top Under-14s absent it was very much a development team that took to the track. Some promising teamwork early on kept scores close but failure to find at least one heat winner meant they were always chasing.

HETHERSETT U16 71 IPSWICH U16 84
(Lola Martin 17 Luca El-Labany 13+4 Oscar Copeland 11+2 Amelia Dodson 11+1 Hugo Kemp 10+2 Will clarke 9+2)
Referee – Kevin Wells

All the Hawks attention turns to Birmingham this coming weekend when, despite the disappointment that three B & C teams were denied the opportunity to compete, the Hawks have teams in all eight categories at the British Club Championships, one of only two clubs to do so.