Follow britishcycling.org.uk on 
Report: East Anglian Winter Series R4
17th January 2010, Braintree, Essex | Reports: Phil Townsend and Spencer Moret | Images: Spencer Moret
Report by Phil Townsend
The fourth round of the East Anglia BMX Region winter series took place last Sunday at the track of the Braintree BMX Club who have just received notification that they will be hosting a round of the 2010 National Series.
The racing attracted almost 100 riders from across the region and a few from outside of the area trying to find somewhere to ride after Christmas as the sports winter calendar has fallen foul of the weather, although many stayed at home because of the earlier forecasts which indicated rain showers throughout the event. However, the day dawned bright and dry sunny periods to provide good conditions for the riders on a track that had drained.
With novice and expert riders of all abilities compete together to gain points for their series rankings the racing was close and very competitive. Royston's only female rider at the event, Ella Tomsett took a hard earned 2nd in the 10 and Under Girls class and the male riders also had a series of good results in their classes with the Under 7 male class seeing Alfie Salmon take 5th in the main final and Will Frascoe in his first race at Braintree taking 5th in the B final and the 8-10yr male class Royston saw Myles Fisher finish 2nd in the "A" final ahead of James King in 6th and Daniel Blanche in 7th whilst in the B final Benjamin Mansfield took 7th. The Rockets took another good position in the 11-13yr category where Ethan Vernon took 4th place in the A final and in the 14-16yr class, Max Jenkins took 5th in the class B final. The 30+ class saw another podium position for Darren Foreman as he took 3rd place and the final rider for the Rockets competing in the 17+ Cruiser class was Matt Salmon who finished in 4th place in the B final.
Round 5 of the Series takes place on 21st February at Norwich BMX Club but before then the Rockets have a round of their own winter series programme on January 31st - registration closes at 12 noon. Full details of forthcoming club and regional events will be published soon on the club web site at www.roystonrockets.co.uk, or ring 01763 260 959 for more information on BMX racing.
Report by Spencer Moret
Round 4 of the East Anglia Winter Series was to be held at Codham Park Bmx Club. Due to the adverse weather conditions over the last month or so, track modifications could not be completed in time for this event. Where else could the organizers find another national standard track locally?
Well, as it just so happens, their neighbours Braintree Bullets Bmx Club, being just 3 miles down the road have just the thing, a recently rebuilt track finished only a couple of months ago.
Despite the cold conditions it was a dry and sunny day, 95 hardy riders from BMX Clubs from all over East Anglia and beyond travelled to Braintree for this round of the East Anglia Winter Series.
The day started off with the youngest riders the 7 and under class. Braintree riders dominated the top 3 A final places with Joe Read-Millard remaining unbeaten all day, Sydney Allen taking 2nd and Luke Shriever in 3rd. Milton Keynes Elliott Bowyer took the B final win.
The biggest class of the day was the 8-10 years. Favourite Daniel Blanche, unbeaten going into the final got it all wrong going over the last jump on the first straight and ended up off the track. Kyle Gladwell took full advantage and went on to take the win, Myles Fisher got 2nd and Braintree's Charlie O'Grady got 3rd with 7 year old Tom Stokes following home in 4th. Barking and Dagenham's Joshua Webb took a well earned win in the B final.
The 11-13 years was the second largest class of the day. Again, like the previous class the riders had to make it through semi-finals into the A final. Owen Baxter from Barking and Dagenham got the snap and from the start took top spot, George Moret and Lee Golder crossed the line almost together for 2nd and 3rd places respectively, Ethan Vernon came home 4th with Aaron Massey taking 5th place. Joshua Wallis came home 1st for the B final win, the youngest rider of this class; 8 year old Josh Peters from Codham Park took the B final 4th spot.
The race pace really started to show in the 14-16 year class. Braintree riders Oliver Cutmore and Christopher Potter made good use of their home track knowledge to take the top two places in style, with Ryan Stack claiming 3rd and Codham Park's Taylor Andrews getting 4th place.
The fastest class of the day was the 17+; the speed of these riders really impressed the crowd, especially those attending for the first time. Braintree's Jake Ward took the honours, with Ex-British champion Jason Jessop getting 2nd, with Harrison Slater rounding off the top three.
Some good racing came from the 30+class, Adrian Warden showed his class by remaining unbeaten all day, with Jason Bridge, back to Bmx racing after 25 years getting 2nd place with Daren Forman and Mark Read-Millard taking 3rd and 4th places respectively.
Braintree's only representative in the female 10 and under showed her class by taking the win, Royston's Ella Tomsett got 2nd, Peterborough's Mollie Foster took 3rd and close behind was Morgan Dorrell for 4th.
Moving up a wheel size we came to the Cruiser 17 and over, with some great entertainment from these riders the racing was close but Kai Riviere went on to take the win with one of the younger riders Joe Stupple getting 2nd and next was Kevin Carlin to round off the top three.
So it's off to Norwich for the next round of the East Anglia Winter Series on February 21st with Braintree's next club race on February 6th.
