With a forecast of heavy rain and strong winds for the weekend racing looked to be interesting. As predicted the 44Racing Rockstar team woke up to the sound of heavy rain. With things starting to clear up come the start of practise the team riders were able to set to work dialling in the pro section of big doubles and figuring out their lines in the wide and super loose first corner. With the first four corners on the track being so wide open riders had to really think about line choice to ensure they can hold onto first. Having all bikes now fitted with Kore Distance saddles and T-Rail seatposts the team hoped to do well as racing soon got under way.
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| 44Racing Rockstar Energy Drink Pits |
Up first was Rockstar athlete Bardolph Kerr in the Youth category. Taking wins in a few of his motos Kerr moved through to the finals. Having had some crashes in the loose conditions in other motos Bard could only make the small final. Despite getting the snap Kerr was pushed wide into turn one. Crashing in turn two and ripping the shifter off the Factory Last Rufus, Kerr placed fourth, finishing eighth overall.
Following Bard in the Youth category was Connor Hudson. Getting a reasonable start in his first three motos holding down all third places Chudson needed a good result in his final race to ensure qualification for the finals. Getting a fantastic start in a tough heat Hudson held first throughout the top section of the track. Catching a soft spot on the inside of the following corner Connor slid out losing him the win and a place in the finals.
Riding his newly built up factory Last Rufus Joe Mallinson looked favourite to perform well in the tough Junior age group. Despite taking an off in one moto, Joe still raced well and went on to take some impressive results in his following four races. Making it through into the B final, Mallinson placed fourth here and finished eighth on the day.
Having missed the previous round with illness Senior racer Jack Hudson hoped to come back with a good result at round four. Making a lot of silly mistakes in the motos and crashing out from a solid second place Hudson scraped through to the quarter finals with a first, a second and two third place finishes. Scoring eleven points Jack got last pick in the gate, putting him on the outside. Not being able to move inside on turn one Hudson didn’t continue in the racing and placed thirteenth overall.
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| Jack Hudson |
Mop Head (Pete Goddard) got off to a good start in the Senior motos taking wins and a second place. Crashing out on turn one in his final moto Mop made it through to the quarters with twelve points. Not enough to get a good choice of gate Mop Head had to settle for third having not been able to put a pass in on turns one or two.
In the Pro / Elite category AJ Boardman made a good start in his motos taking a second and two thirds. Having crashed out in his final race, finishing fourth, Boardman was not able to proceed further in the racing but still scored seven points to ensure a good placing in the overall series.
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| Jake Ward getting the snap |
Also in the Elite class was Jake Ward. Winning every one of his motos Jake moved through into the semi finals. Looking great in his Fox race kit from Freestylextreme.com, things seemed good for Ward with first choice of gate. Coming into turn one Jake came together with another rider bringing them both to the floor. Not being able to remount quick enough Jake wasn’t able to make the top two and instead went through to the B final. Getting a good snap Ward was able to take second and placed sixth overall.
The following day the weather had changed for the worse. Despite the winds calming down the rain was falling heavily and showed no signs of stopping throughout the day. With the Sunday being the British National Championships the Elite and Senior category were put into one group. Running on the same format as a World Cup each rider got a time qualification run to determine gate pick for the knock out stages. With a large group of riders and an even more slippery track, anything could happen.
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| Wet weather for the 2011 British 4X National Championships |
Qualifying got under way with Jack Hudson being the first 44Racing rider down. Having banged his head hard in a practise crash Jack was surprised to go into fourth place, twenty-fifth at the end of qualifying. Following Hudson was Mop Head. Liking the format of timed runs, Mop hoped to do well at the event. Unluckily though, Mop had a huge crash on his qualifying run. He took a huge knock to the head and cruised down into forty-third. Also crashing on his qualifying run was AJ Boardman, going over the bars on the final jump on the pro line. The final rider left for the team was Rockstar athlete Jake Ward. Putting in a fantastic run Ward went into first place with only a few riders left to come down. With only a fraction of a second separating the top riders Jake finished fourth with Identiti’s Scott Roberts in the number one spot.
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| Mop Head |
After the Senior categories qualification the Youth’s were able to start their motos. With the rain still pouring down Bardolph Kerr got a great start in the motos taking a win in his first. Going on to take a second and a fourth Kerr went through into a super tough semi final. With the other two favourites taking some bad moto results the three found themselves together. Bard got tangled up with fellow Rockstar athlete Cameron Howard and was forced to settle for fourth place and a spot in the B final. Going on to take second here Bard finished sixth overall.
With conditions continuing to worsen Connor Hudson got a lot of attention in practise for his brilliant drifting skills in the muddy conditions. Holding three third places in the motos Chudson was not able to make it through into the finals but was able to threaten a few of the top boys in his category.
While practising the evening before Joe Mallinson crashed on the final straight. Injuring his arm Joe chose to sit out the days racing. Having tried to ride through practise Joe thought the pain was too great and instead supported his 44Racing team mates from the sidelines.
With the other categories finished their racing the attention was drawn back onto the Senior class. Jake, Jack and Mop Head were all able to make it through the first round of racing. With his crash in qualifying AJ Boardman was drawn a particularly hard heat and was not able to progress.
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| Jake Ward out in front |
As the second round got under way, things looked to get a bit tougher. Jake Ward cruised through his round and then went on to win an even harder quarter final. Being drawn up against three elite riders Jack Hudson was knocked out with a fourth place despite leading into turn one. Mop Head also went out after a close fought battle for the second place spot.
Having made it through in to the top eight Jake Ward looked likely to make it through further to the main final. Getting a good snap the Rockstar athlete had a coming together with Nathan Parsons coming into turn one. With both riders down it left a clear path for Pat Campbell Jenner and Luke Limbrick to cruise into the final. Jake suffered the same problem in the B final, crashing in turn one Jake finished eighth overall.
The Senior final looked like it could go to anyone with Scott Roberts, Scott Beaumont, Pat Campbell Jenner and Luke Limbrick lining up on the gate. The two Scott’s got out in front as the gate went down. Both riders went for the same spot in turn one and came together. Going down hard Pat was able to squeeze passed and take the lead. Going around the outside in turn two Limbrick carried speed and made a pass on Pat on the following straight. Defending his lines Luke was unable to be passed and went on to take the win and be crowned National Champ.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
Senior1 – Luke Limbrick
2 - Patrick Campbell Jenner
3 – Scott Beaumont
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| Senior Podium |
1 – Katy Curd
2 – Nicola Anderson
3 – Suzanne Lacey
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| Ladies Podium |
1 – Isaac Mundy
2 – Jordan Lunn
3 – Jonathan Jones
Masters1 – David Richardson
2 – Peter Bowcock
3 – Andrew Hibberd
Veterans1 – Darren Howarth
2 – Simon Paton
3 - Anthony Fisher
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| Pinkbikes very own Si Paton took the Veterans National win on Saturday but could only make 2nd for the National Champs. Darren Howarth owned that one |
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| 2011 Senior National Champion - Luke 'Limbo' Limbrick |
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