44 Racing - British 4X Series Round 1 - RLS

After a long winter break the 2011 British 4X series kicked off at Leamington Spa with reigning team champions 44Racing in full attendance. With riders fully trained and all looking super fit the team looked to continue the dominance set during the 2010 season.


Big news for the team was that manager, and master’s racer, Christian Hatcher would not be racing. Having sustained a bad knee injury training the weekend before Hatch decided to sit out round one in order to ensure full fitness for the rest of the year’s racing and, instead, attended the event to offer full support to the rest of the team and bring along the new, double sized, Rockstar Energy Drinks pits. This, along with a fresh new Fox kit from Freestylextreme, continued to enforce the authority of the team onto their opposition.


With strong winds blowing against the track the motos got underway for the team in the youth category. New signing for 44Racing Rockstar was juvenile National Champion Bardolph Kerr. Looking at regaining his title in the youth category Bard got off to a great start in the motos winning three and finishing a close second in the final moto. With these impressive results Kerr made it through to the semi final, placing third he failed to qualify for the main and was forced into the B final. Coming out of the gate in second Bard put in a good effort to try and make a pass on the leader. Fighting the whole way down the track the Rockstar Energy athlete finished in second place, putting him sixth overall in the youth category.


Joining Bard in the youth category was Connor Hudson. Despite struggling to adjust to a different gate, ‘Chudson’ was still able to put in some good results in his motos. With an unlucky crash in the first race Connor achieved a fourth, two seconds and a third. Scoring nine points he failed to make it through to the knock out rounds but still placed eleventh overall.


Following the Youth category was Seniors. Having moved up from Junior, Jack Hudson got his motos off to a good start with two moto wins and two second places. With better results compared to last year Jack made it through to the quarters. Having the first choice of lane, Hudson got a good snap and lead throughout the first section of the track. Casing the third double Hudson fell back into third place where he stayed for the rest of the race. With the good moto scores Jack placed ninth in a packed senior category.


Mop Head also got off to a good start in the senior category by starting the race season with two second places. Throwing in some great moves on a really loose track Mop Head looked a real threat. Getting some tough races Mop fought hard, battling with the top riders in the category, to finish the motos with two third places. With a huge field of forty riders, Mop didn’t make it through to the knock out round but still placed highly in eighteenth.


Coming from a 2010 season filled with injuries AJ Boardman looked to be back on form racing in the Elite category. Taking a huge crash in the first moto Boardman was lucky to walk away and had to settle with fourth place. Unshaken by such a large spill AJ was back up to his usual fast pace placing second in the next two races and third in the last. Racing the fastest riders in the UK, Boardman placed fifteenth.
Moving into the Elite category was last year’s Junior title contender Jake Ward. Starting off his first Pro race with a comfortable win it was clear Ward had been putting in a lot of effort over the winter break. Backing this up with two seconds it was clear Jake would qualify for the semi’s. Leading the final moto Ward took a huge crash at the end of the first straight. Luckily Jake was able to remount for the semi’s but failed to make it through to the main. Still slightly shaken Ward got a reasonable start. Sitting in the middle of the pack Jake was forced onto the grass on top of the large concrete berm. Not backing down the young star continued to carry his speed into the final section. Diving down the inside on the final turn Ward took the lead. Jumping the pro-line smoothly ensured him fifth place overall and a podium spot at his first Pro National. A fantastic result for a first time racing such a tough category.


Team Sponsor Snapped Action Photography put together this great video documenting the day’s action for the team...



The next race for the team will be the second round of the British 4X series at PORC in Kent.


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Here’s a few more photos from Snapped Action Photography.