MATCH REPORT: BYJL National Round 1

Report by Rob Mawhood

The riders, parents and spectators arrived at a dry, dusty Sheffield’s Graves track for National Round One of the BYJL and Little League. With no watering facilities, damaged during the Sports Centre upgrade, the conditions got drier and dustier as the day progressed (not helped by a strengthening wind factor).

Seventy-seven riders competed, with 109 races completed.

The under 8’s got proceedings under way (twelve riders on track), the Kesgrave trio of Tom Parr, Freddie Mower and Archie Rawlings dominating the racing, finishing as the top three and providing eight of the 12 race wins between them. Tom Parr was unbeaten from his five rides, pushed hard twice by Freddie Mower (eventual second). Nyla El-Labany (Hethersett) and Oscar Bartlett (Poole) both won twice during the qualifying races, Nyla winning the first race of the day. The crowd’s favourite (and receiving the biggest cheers) was three year old Reuben Spencer (Coventry).

Scorers – Tom Parr (Kesgrave) 16, Oscar Bartlett (Poole) 14, Freddie Mower (Kesgrave) 14, Archie Rawlings (Kesgrave) 14, Nyla El-Labany (Hethersett) 13, Alex Lawless (A & T) 10, Adam Palka (Poole) 10, James Vanner (Heckmondwike) 8, Freddie Fairs (Great Blakenham) 6, Olivia Reeman (Poole) 6, Iris Mace (Sheffield) 5, Reuben Spencer (Coventry) 4.

A Final – 1st Tom Parr, 2nd Freddie Mower, 3rd Archie Rawlings, 4th Oscar Bartlett.

B Final – 1st Adam Palka, 2nd Alex Lawless, 3rd James Vanner, 4th Nyla El-Labany

C Final – 1st Freddie Fairs, 2nd Olivia Reehman, 3rd Iris Mace, 4th Reuben Spencer.

Next up were the under 10’s, a slight increase in rider numbers to fourteen. Kesgrave riders were again to the fore, the three Oscar Pemberton, Lincoln Powling and Oliver Spurgeon winning four races in the qualifying heats. The only unbeaten rider was Bobby Dunphy (Bury) winning all four qualifying races. Roman Boaler (Horspath) won three races with some sharp gating (just like his Dad), also showing he was able to pass as well with a top move to get past Sheffield’s Lincoln Ackroyd in heat 10. Samuel Ridley (Hellingley) x 2 and Tallulah Curtis (Poole) were other race winners. Jacob Jewkes (Wednesfield) won the first race-off over Lincoln Powling to go into the B Final (race offs introduced this year, rather than countback to decide were riders would go should they be tied on points for the GP Finals. There was also a race off to determine the line-up for the A Final. Samuel Ridley defeating Oliver Spurgeon and Lincoln Ackroyd.

The A Final had the first re-run of the day, Bobby Dunphy crashing and bringing down Sam Ridley after clipping Roman Boaler’s back wheel at the end of the first lap. Roman making no mistakes in the re-run to claim his first National Round win, Bobby dusted himself down (literally) to get second place.

Scorers – Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 16, Roman Boaler (Horspath) 15,Samuel Ridley (Hellingley) 13, Oliver Spurgeon (Kesgrave) 13, Lincoln Ackroyd (Sheffield ) 13, Oscar Pemberton (Kesgrave) 12, Tallulah Curtis (Poole) 11, Jacob Jewkes (Wednesfield) 10, Lincoln Powling (Kesgrave) 10, Eddie Owolabi-Oshea (Sheffield) 9, Caiden Spencer (Coventry) 9, Jayden Bennett (Hull) 8, Magnus Smith (Sheffield) 7, Elijah Rechembei (A & T) 6.

A Final – 1st Roman Boaler, 2nd Bobby Dunphy, 3rd Samuel Ridley, 4th Oliver Spurgeon.

B Final – 1st Oscar Pemberton, 2nd Tallulah Curtis, 3rd Jacob Jewkes, 4th Lincoln Ackroyd

C Final – 1st Lincoln Powling, 2nd Eddie Owolabi-O’Shea, 3rd Caiden Spencer, 4th Jayden Bennett

D Final – 1st Magnus Smith, 2nd Elijah Rechembei,

The under 12’s saw the number of riders racing increase to 23. Kesgrave (5) and Coventry (4) having the most entries. Three riders really stood out – Demi Blu Harris (Kesgrave), Oliver Banyard (Sheffield) and Frank White (A and T), all wining their four qualifying races to finish unbeaten on 16 points. They would be joined in the A Final by Connor Jarrett (Kesgrave) who won three races. Other noticeable efforts came from Jayden Jenkins (Newport), Isaac Powling (Kesgrave) and Carson East (Coventry) who each managed double race wins. Jacob Jones (Birmingham) had been consistent in achieving four second places, often with excellent passing moves, and defeated Harry Gibson (Hull) and Carson East to make the B Final. A Four rider run off was required to claim the last place in the C Final, Theo Case (Kesgrave) managing the win. The A Final was won from the gate, with Frank first home from Demi, Oliver and Connor. Jayden Jenkins was unfortunate to gain the days first race exclusion. He was leading the B Final out of turn four on the second lap when he lost his pedals, while recovering he swerved violently across the track putting both himself and Isaac Powling on the Centre Green.

Scorers – Frank White (A & T) 16, Demi Blu Harris (Kesgrave) 16, Oliver Banyard (Sheffield) 16, Connor Jarrett (Kesgrave) 15, Jayden Jenkins (Newport) 14 , Isaac Powling (Kesgrave) 13, Carson East (Coventry) 12, Harry Gibson (Hull) 12, Jacob Jones (Birmingham) 12, Levi Edwards (A & T) 11, Millie Shear (Poole) 11, Theo Case (Kesgrave) 10, Robin Darlington (Sheffield) 10, Luca El-Labany (Hethersett) 10, Joshua Pilkington (A and T) 10, Will Holich (Hull) 9, Ben Pinfold (Coventry) 7, Caiden Rawlings (Kesgrave) 7, Ethan Lawrence (Birmingham) 6, Natalia Palka (Poole) 5, Bella Reynolds (Coventry) 4, Kian O’Dwyer (Birmingham) 4.

A Final – 1st Frank White, 2nd Demi Blu Harris, 3rd Oliver Banyard, 4th Connor Jarrett
B Final – 1st Jacob Jones, 2nd Isaac Powling, 3rd Harry Gibson, 4th Jayden Jenkins
C Final – 1st Millie Shear, 2nd Carson East, 3rd Theo Case, 4th Levi Edwards
D Final – 1st Luca Le-Labany, 2nd Joshua Pilkington, 3rd Wil Holich, 4th Toby Darlington
E Final – 1st Harry Whitehead, 2nd Ethan Lawrence, 3rd Caiden Rawlings, 4th Ben Pinfold
F Final – 1st Natalia Palka, 2nd Bella Reynolds, 3rd Kian O’Dwyer.

The final three categories, under 14, Girls and Under 16/18 Combined all ran at the same time, with races from each category (giving riders a good break between each race). Luca Woodhouse (Kesgrave) won the under 14’s, giving Kesgrave a second winner on the day. Luca winning three of his four qualifying races, losing out to Jamie Randall (Poole) in heat 1. Teddy Curtis (Poole) also managed a hat trick of race wins, while Jude Wilcockson (Coventry) won a very entertaining heat 6 that had all four riders vying for the lead.

Scorers – Luca Woodhouse (Kesgrave) 15, Teddy Curtis (Poole) 13, Jamie Randall (Poole) 12, Jude Wilcockson (Coventry) 11, Jayden Hancok (Bury) 9, Noah Lyon (Hull) 9, Charlie Spurgeon (Kesgrave) 7, Robin Darlington (Sheffield) 4.

A Final – 1st Luca Woodhouse, 2nd Jamie Randall, 3rd Jude Wilcockson, 4th Teddy Curtis
B Final – 1st Jayden Hancock, 2nd Charlie Spurgeon, 3rd Robin Darlington, 4th Noah Lyon

Nine riders lined up in the Girls competition, with the crowd treated to some excellent racing. Poole’s Lexie Curtis lost to team mate Natalie Goulden in the qualifying races, gaining revenge in the ​A Final after passing surprise package Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield). Natalie, Lacey, Rebekah Humphries (Birmingham) and Lilly Parr (Kesgrave) all managed double race wins in the qualifying heats. Kacey Bennett (Hull) defeated Kaitlin Jenkins (Newport) in a run off to make the B Final

Scorers – Lexie Curtis (Poole) 15, Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield) 14, Natalie Goulden (Poole) 14, Rebekah
Humphries (Birmingham) 14, Lily Parr (Kesgrave) 13, Daisy Sherwood (Poole) 11, Ella Case (Kesgrave)
10, Kacey Bennett (Hull) 8, Kaitlin Jenkins (Newport) 8.

A Final – 1st Lexie Curtis, 2nd Lacey Ackroyd, 3rd Natalie Goulden, 4th Rebekah Humphries
B Final – 1st Lily Parr, 2nd Ella Case, 3rd Daisy Sherwood, 4th Kacey Bennett
C Final – 1st Kaitlin Jenkins

The under 16/18 combined age categories brought some muscle to the proceeding, especially with several Young England riders on show. The speed and aggressive cornering the riders possessed produced the most amount of dust during these races. No rider dominated during the qualifying races. Kenzie Bennett (Poole) having the best return with three race wins, though he slid off when challenging for the lead in heat 7. Kesgrave duo of Noah Woodhouse and Charlie Parr both managed double race wins in qualifying, a feat matched by Shaun Kell (Ipswich).
Kesgrave added further top placings to complete a fine day for the Suffolk club, Charlie Parr (under 16) and Noah Woodhouse (under 18) winning the A Finals (both winning after making big gates from grid 2).

Scorers

Under 16 – Charlie Parr (Kesgrave) 14, Kenzie Bennett (Poole) 13, Shaun Kell (Ipswich) 13, Leon
Penketh (Southampton) 11, Oliver Saunders (Poole) 11, Corey Burt (Wednesfield 8, Tom Dunphy
(Bury) 6, Joe Brownell (Sheffield) 5.

Under 18 – Noah Woodhouse (Kesgrave) 14, John White (A and T) 13, Jack Brownell (Sheffield) 7.

Under 16 A Final – 1st Charlie Parr, 2nd Shaun Kell, 3rd Leon Penketh, 4th Kenzie Bennett
Under 16 B Final – 1st Oliver Saunders, 2nd Corey Burt, 3rd Joe Brownell, 4th Tom Dunphy

Under 18 A Final – 1st Noah Woodhouse, 2nd John White, 3rd Jack Brownell.

Kesgrave were clear winners of the team competition, for the eight teams that qualified as their regions top two. Poole taking second spot with Astley and Tyldesley in third.

Kesgrave 133, Poole 105, Astley & Tyldesley 50, Coventry 41, Hull 38, Birmingham 36, Newport 22, Hethersett 10.

Round 2 will take place at Hethersett on Saturday July 29th