AS THE East Anglian BMX Series ventures into the tail end of the season, Braintree Bullets BMX Club are still leading out the Inter Club Competition by 125.5 points from their nearest rivals with just two rounds to go.
At the most recent round in Ipswich the club showed their dominance with 50 entries amongst the 145 at the event and took a number of class wins to bolster their total.
The Ipswich track is one of the oldest in the country and was a great test for some of the new school riders with its slippery dirt turns and steep start hill. The young guns of the six and unders were first to put it to the test and Silas Maxwell rode his way to seventh with his brother Sebastian just missing out on the final.
Up into the sevens and Joseph Long finished with a flourish in his final heat race to take seventh overall. The super competitive eights saw Eddie Cannons dice through the pack to second in the A final with club mate Archie Bartlett also up with the leaders in fourth. In the B final Harley Neal took second with Harley Battle rounding off the field in fourth.
The first win of the day for the Bullets came in the nines with Adam Gilbert going unbeaten all day to take the win in the final by a large margin. Joseph Harris also had a strong finish as he battled with club mate Cameron Parrish to take third and fourth respectively. Also in the A final were Zak Acteson Rook, Kamran Neal and Ewan Thomson. The B final was won by William Hale with Ellis Challis in second. The riders in the tens traded places throughout the day and just four points separated the top three. When the points were tallied, Alex Doree was given second with Joe Little just behind in third and Jack Everitt was fifth. The girls' class had Roxy Hinton looking good for a podium finish but a crash in her last race saw her relegated to fourth with club mates Freia Challis and Amelia Parrish taking sixth and seventh.
There were more podium finishes to come for the Bullets and another rider to go unbeaten through all the heats, semis and finals was Sydney Allen in the 12s. Allen who is supported by Identiti Bikes looked on top form as he showed great technical ability ahead of the pack and romped home for the win with club mate Seb Pantlin chasing hard behind him in second. Owen Vaughan put in a strong performance in to finish fifth with Matt Goodwins sixth and Thomas Knight seventh. Lewis Woolcott rode in the B final to seventh.
The wins kept coming for the bullets as the riders got bigger and Christian White was the victor in the 14s as he powered away from the pack. The next Bullet home was Lee Butson who looked to be enjoying the loose conditions and Charlie O'Grady was awarded eight although he had to sit out of the final after a crash earlier in the day. Jake Newton took the B final win with Alfie Giles and Edward Parker hot on his wheels. Lana Redgewell mixed it up with the boys in the 16s and she looked on form to take third with Dan Gilbert in fourth. In the 15-16 girls, Isabel Potter took third.
The cruiser class saw some great racing throughout the day and when the dust settled it was Chris Potter who took the win. Also in the final were Paul Woolcott and Paul Neal who battled amongst themselves for sixth and seventh and Cameron Parrish also rode in the class. The ladies cruiser had club secretary Jen Cannons jockeying for position and she was looking good in fourth with Carolyn Pantlin in fifth.
The club coach Julian Allen rode in the 17+ class and was looking on course for a victory after wins throughout the heat races. Come the final and again, the Identiti bikes supported rider was out front. Down the second straight he was overtaken but undeterred he went for a move in the second corner to reclaim the lead when he collided with another rider and they both fell. Allen remounted and rode to sixth unhurt.
The final race of the day was the Superclass race. The fast boys had been wowing the spectators all day and the A final was a spectacular show of speed and ability. Out front from the gate was Ryan Hutchinson who showed that his British Cycling backing is working as he dominated the race and took the win for the Bullets. Back in sixth was Josh Butson who had been mixed up in the pack mid race with Shane Redgewell, Chris Potter and Charlie Giles rounding out the finals.
The Bullets summer race series continues on Wednesday evenings at their Deanery Hill track. For further information on the club, coaching and racing please visit www.braintreebmx.com or email coach@xlr8bikeschool.com
