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Report: British BMX Series Round 7/8

Photography: Luke Webber | Video: Corinne Walder

July 3-4 Platt Fields, Manchester
Results:  Round 7 - Round 8 | 2010 British BMX Series Standings - Rider | Team | Club
2010 BMX Coverage Home | 2010 British BMX Series Home | Braintree Club Report

Marcus Bloomfield and Liam Phillips shared the wins at rounds seven and eight of the British BMX Series, held at Platt Fields, Manchester. Bloomfield retained his series lead and takes it to the final two races in Gosport and Bournemouth.

Round Seven
Liam Phillips has taken the win at day one of the Manchester round of the British BMX Series. Phillips, who is currently mid-preparation for the BMX World Championships in four weeks took the win ahead of Series leader Marcus Bloomfield, despite a poor gate.

On a dry and dusty track Shanaze Reade made the Elite men's B-Final, finishing second and looking far sharper than her last British Series appearance in Derby.

Day two of racing could be significantly affected by inclement weather; current forecasts predicting rain between 1 and 4pm. A light shower would be appreciated right now, but heavy, prolonged rain could leave the track heavy and slow.

We'll have the full result, report and video rundown from the weekend of racing throughout the week; for now enjoy the photos from days one and two.

Round Eight
Despite predictions of rain, the worst weather faced at an overcast Platt Fields on day two of the Manchester-hosted British BMX Series was presented by gusting, swirling winds across the track. At one stage gravel from the track was sprayed across the spectators and e-zups went flying - but everyone survived to finals time, no rain materialised and there was some great racing.

Liam Phillips and Marcus Bloomfield lined up for their second showdown in two days, Phillips in the ascendancy all weekend, winning every race he gated. In the finals though it wasn't Liam's day, a decent gate followed by the big squeeze and some dead pedals meant Bloomfield could ride away to the win.

Possibly the biggest news from the day was Shanaze Reade's crash in the motos. Going down hard on the start straight, Reade took no further part in the weekend's racing.

We'll have more information as it comes in on this and the weekend of racing throughout the week.

The Rich Eames rundown - nobody sees more!
Rounds 7 and 8 of the British BMX Series saw a return to Manchester for some fun in the sun, let's see what went down..

6 and unders belonged to Jack Hawkins who had it going on all weekend from Elliot Bowyer and William Goode. I love watching the mini missiles race as I'ts a combination of intense concentration and looking round at other riders or the crowd. The young un's never disappoint!!

Billy Wright's Photostream

Ethan Craik was the man in the 7's! Gosport's finest was on fire but Messrs Chidley, Brookes, Wilson and McDermott were on him like a cheap suit all weekend long. Gotta shout out Oliver Cope for sending birthday cake up to commentary, it was delicious!!

Matt Hutt is usually top 2 in the 8's when I see him race but this weekend was two thirds as Ryan Brookes and Kobi Joyce took top honours. Keep an eye open for Connor Cassidy who is right up there in his first year of racing and Matthew Harman who took a second on Saturday.

Ross Cullen doubled up in the 9's with Josh Coppin right there on Saturday but some bad luck on Sunday saw him finish 7th. Josh Peters was consistent with top 4's and Nathan Wood was top 3 on Saturday too.

The 10's is super close with Gideon Orena just having that bit more than the rest of the pack. Ethan Vernon leads the chasing pack with the Preston duo of Shay Casey and Euan Hunt right there as well. Shay has his own reason for wanting to win, and it has four legs and barks! Let's hope he has that win before the season is out...

Harley Taylor blasted through every lap in the 11's on Saturday but Sunday was a different story as the win went to Haydon Green with Harley in 6th. Joseph Brewer stepped up from the B final on Saturday to a second on Sunday with Ben Armitage and Eddie Moore getting stuck in all weekend long.

The 12's saw a one weekend return for Reece Brownson with a third place behind Tom Novis and Kye Whyte on Saturday. Kye had to settle for second on Sunday behind Josh Moore with street dance superstar Diagoro Fortune taking 3rd.

Jimmy Orena owned the 13's with a display of power from gate 8 on Sunday!! Paddy Sharrock's sublime skills were in effect but if you aren't close enough to make the pass then it doesn't really matter. Owen Baxter took his Haro to a third on Saturday with Jack Clarke and his new found jump skills on the podium on Sunday.

Qullian Isidore has the 14's on lockdown, can we move him up please? Callum Wing and Harry Stickley put in consistent performances also but the class are chasing Quillan and the sight of his back wheel and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

The 15's was won by Dan Pullen both days but there is a pic of him getting a horrible gate on facebook!! Ryan Stack took a second and then suffered a horrendous crash on Sunday which took a while to get up from. Cam Howard pulled a 4th and a 2nd, with George Warner a 3rd and a 5th. This class is getting faster so watch out.

Was anyone gonna touch Jacob Roberts on home turf? Answer; no. Even after Jake binned it first moto round on Saturday he stepped it up for the finals but don't ever rule out Jordan Perry and Michael Hawker who are always within striking distance. Alex Metcalfe returned from fourcross for a 4th on Saturday with Michael 'Flip' Cummins pulling a top 4 too.

17-24 was as crazy as always with Billy Luckhurst taking dad's steak and eggs diet to the win from Ash Davey and LovenotMoney's Andy Clucas who was riding through the pain barrier after smashing himself up on Saturday morning. He even picked up a second place on Sunday. BL had to settle for fifth on Sunday after gettting caught up mid pack so that left Ash Davey to take a very popular win with good performances from Robbie Goodman and Shaun Isssit who was returning from injury.

25-29 was won by Michael Smart on Saturday and Stay Strong's Gaz Bates on Sunday. Top 3 both days was Danny Heath from CGR who was returning to BMX after about 8 years off. Last time he raced he was about 6 stone wet through but now eats house bricks for breakfast and is a tad bit bigger...

Masters: After Hilly's cruiser disaster on saturday he wanted the 20 inch win which he took from Dale Holmes and Zoltan Buday. Dale stepped up his game on Sunday and did the business from Dylan Clayton and Hilly with Flemdog throwing in a front flip for the fans. Add Daz Reidy into the mix and it could have been 1996 all over again. To get an idea of how hard this class is now, current No 1 Matt Barnard was semi'd both days..

Veteran: Phil Charnley's comeback rolled on with a second on Sunday, you could see the legs burning as he entered the last straight and it just wasn't to be. Lee Alexander got it done on Saturday and Wayne Foster won on Sunday. Gotta mention Russ Hanlon for his third place as well, he rode like someone had nicked his pint.....

Junior Men: Holy Guacamole!!! Sunday was all drama as Jack Hall performed a pirouette in the last turn and hit the ground hard then got pile driven by other riders. Thankfully he was alright after a hospital check up. Grant Hill took Sunday's win after he binned it on Saturday. Jordan Hayes was on fire to take the win. Ben Clarkson seemed to have a quiet weekend, maybe I just didn't take it all in!! Curtis Manaton was throwing in some fine berm moves as well.

Girls: 6 and under was all Emily Hutt along with Imogen Hill in the 7-8's and Kim Baptista in the 9-10's. Lauren Stack got the better of Chloe Taylor on Saturday but Chloe had it back on Sunday. 13-14 was won by Manchester local and Redline's Valerie Zebrokova on Saturday but she had to settle for second on Sunday as Beth Campbell sent Peterborough wild with a win. Cruiser Ladies saw Nikki Spiers win Saturday from a returning Kim Bent with Claire 'No Chocolate' Morrison getting the win on Sunday. Louise Abbott has joined this class as well and looks so much more comfortable on a cruiser... look out ladies!!

Cruiser: 9-12 was spilt between Tom Novis and Scott Dominguez with 13-14 split between Roy Jones and Quillan Isidore. 15-16 saw Cam Howard and Toby Bearne swap wins. 17-29 saw the return of 'Juan Sheet' but no-one had an answer for Mark Maddox when the chips were down. Ryan Bauer and Pete Warner are right there though.

30-34: Step forward National Champ Neil Harbour!! Staly Vegas transplant /confused Man U fan Neil landed two more wins to get the title. The bacon butties are on him at Gosport!! Sutty charged hard for a second on Saturday followed by Mark Sleigh.

35-39: As mentioned before Hilly had a bad time on Saturday but made up for it on Sunday. Clive Hawkins took the Saturday win from Paul Eccles. But what of Damien Mead? he had a shocker of a weekend with damaged ribs but he'll be back I'm sure. Other injured parties were Rich Stevens and TJ Baldwin who has damaged his knee, rumours abounding of no more TJ this year... say it ain't so!!!

How mad is 40-44? Jon Moore got two wins, Karl Sanderson was slipping pedals, Bernie Schaale was letting married life interfere with his bike polishing schedule, and Rog le Dodge was a one day wonder... Andy Restall had gearing anxiety 15 minutes before racing on Sunday. Who cares about the result? They're all bonkers!!

45 and over: The old boys know how to get it done, Ady was just... well....Ady, Keith Wilson is my tyre swapping doppelganger (facebook reference...sorry!) Phil Beer hit the deck hard and Will.I.Am Fieldhouse was on the scene. If we can get Pork Pie Parry back on the case it'll be perfect..! Again...result? Pffffftttttt!

Championship Girls saw Abbie Taylor and Charlotte Green battling every lap but Abbie took the big cheque both days. Izzy Ferrada bought the farm not once but twice along with Emily James. Add Ayesha McClelland and Lauren Smith into the equation and you have some close racing which is great to watch.

Finally... Elite. Saturday was all about the number plate panto. If Kelvin was the handsome prince then who's Widow Twanky? And do the Ugly Sisters wear grey polo shirts and a headset each? Was Kyle Evans 'Cinderella' as he did go to the ball with a storming 2nd and 3rd place. I can think of a few contenders for 'back end of a panto horse' and do the riders get paid in magic beans from now on? Is the glass slipper actually a disco slipper with cleats? Who's lamp do we rub for 3 moto wins? And do we shout 'He's behind you!' as the leader enters the last straight? Anyway, it's done now so let's just all move on eh..?

Sunday saw carnage as no one gave an inch on the first straight which took LP and KB55 down which left Bloomy to take his big cheque for the win. Let's face it, he needs the cash now...

So that's Manchester in the books for 2010, next stop Gosport!!