44 Racing - Nps 4x Round 3 - Redhill Extreme

44 Racing Nps 4x Round 3 Race Report

After being rained on at the first two rounds it was a nice surprise for the 44 Racing Team to arrive at a very sunny Redhill Extreme for round 3 of the NPS 4X series. After setting up the now double sized Rockstar Energy pits (we are now doubling up with fellow Rockstar rider Cameron Howard), the riders were left to spend the rest of the day learning the track. Unlike the first two rounds which the riders hadn’t seen before, Redhill was quite a familiar track which has been used for the past couple of years, so we didn’t require too much practice. To save as much energy for the following day's racing the majority of riders chose to chill out in the pits with a can of Rockstar. Race report inside,
On Saturday evening Redhill ran a small pump race down one of their mountain board tracks. Each rider got two timed runs down the smaller of the two courses. These tracks are very good fun to ride so the event attracted a lot of entries – 17 in the senior category. As Jake and Jono had returned to their hotel, it was left to Hatch, Mop Head and Jack to represent the team at the pump race. All three riders placed well with Mop coming in 2nd place with a time very close to the winning time of Lewis Lacey. Hatch also placed well in 4th and Jack came home in 8th position.


On Sunday morning the team awoke to the same scorching hot weather they had seen the previous day. From 10am riders were given the chance to practice the slightly changed track. During the night the majority of the rock garden had been removed and two new grassy corners had been added. This was not a problem for any of the riders and everybody continued to ride at the same speed that had worried the competition at the previous rounds.


As AJ was still out due to an injury from a crash at the first round of the World Cup, there was only five riders flying the flag for 44 Racing, the first of which to get racing under way was Jono Jones. Racing in the Youth category Jono had some very good motos picking up a couple of wins. From here he easily made it through to the Semis where he met his brother, Matt, and series leader Isaac Mundy. This was the harder of the two Semis and, despite a close battle with the two other riders, Jono finished 3rd and was put into the B final. Here he took a convincing win finishing in 5th place overall.



Next rider up was Mop Head in the senior category. Senior’s is very competitive with 37 riders trying to make the semi finals and qualify to race the world cup. After getting off to a shaky start in his first two moto’s Mop was then able to win his following two, meaning he easily qualified for the quarter finals. Mop got off to a good start, after coming together with DMR’s Olly Willkins, he was forced off the track. Despite this, Mop fought back to get 3rd, putting him in ninth place overall. This was Mop’s best result this year and should give him the determination to push for the top 8 at the following rounds.



Team manager Christian ‘Hatch’ Hatcher was racing in the Masters' category and took another good result for the team. During the moto’s Hatch rode very well putting up some convincing battles with all the other top riders. From here he easily cruised through to the finals where he was met with tough competition. Hatch got off to a good start in the A final, but was in 4th position coming into the last corner. It was here where he was able to put a move under Keith Wilson sending both riders to the floor. Riders were left running for a line, but it was Hatch that came out in 3rd position.



The Junior category was next up with two of the team’s riders competing here. Jack Hudson got off to a good start in his first two motos with two second places. Coming into the last corner in the 3rd moto it looked like this was going to be repeated. Sadly Jack clipped a pedal on the floor sending him over the bars and into 4th place. Feeling a bit shaken another 4th came from the last moto meaning he wouldn’t make it through to the semi finals. Despite this Jack still took joint 13th position.



The other 44 Racing rider in Junior is super fast, Jake Ward. After recently finishing highly at his first world cup race Jake is riding very well and is becoming a dominant force in the Junior category. This good form continued at Redhill with Jake winning three of his four motos. The missing win came from a fall in his third moto. Jake easily made it through the semi finals with a very convincing win. This set up for a good final with rivals Tom Knight and Elliot Simmons. Despite being faced with tough competition Jake won the event with a very big lead from Tom Knight in second place. After Knight being disqualified from the final Jake increases his lead in the Championship even further, setting him up very well for the following three rounds.


After Redhill, 44 Racing has increased their lead in the team championship. With 424 points 44 Racing have an 85 point advantage over Naked Racing.

A big thank you to Last Bikes / Funn Components / Rockstar Energy / Freestyle Extreme.com / Fox Racing Europe / Funn Brakes / Kuwahara BMX / 2026 Distribution / English Bay Photography, along with Christian Hatcher for all the extra support this weekend...it made a big difference!


Photos from Stephen Kavanagh (www.englishbayphotography.co.uk) and Chris Ratford.