Junior Road Race Round 2 Rednal

The outlook weather wise was more the sort of April that we are used to in the UK, as it was, the meeting was briefly “clipped” by the forecast rain, and aside from “soggy” practice, the remainder of the day was dry.

First up was Junior Mini Moto, which saw the tiny Jake Archer stamp his authority on the day with 3 race wins, the battle for 2nd and 3rd was between Euan Miller and Sidney Hargreaves from London, with Hargreaves coming out top dog. The B class was a straight set of wins for Scott Breheney.

Junior Supermoto next, and this superb Shropshire circuit is ideal for this class of racing, with lots of twists and turns. The A class belonged to James Robinson, despite only one win out of three, against second place man, Aaron Murray winning the first and last race, but a fourth in race two was not in the plan, forcing young Murray down the order. Joe Ravenscroft came home third overall, pushed on more than one occasion by Sam Edwards.

The Bs saw Noah Lee come home first overall, although he was gifted it by 2 x race winner Lee Yates, who DNF’d in race one.

The British Pit Bike Championship was nothing short of stunning on this circuit, the Cat A class saw reigning champion, Kenny Owen take another hat-trick of wins to keep him top of the leader board, but the action was further down the field, with Adrian Hamilton coming home 2nd overall to keep the championship fight alive, 3rd overall went to James Field, doing well at the SEMRC championship curently, but he was pushed hard all the way by the likes of 2006 Junior Champion, Simon Napier and Stephen Yates.

The Cat B class saw “old hand” Mick Brierly come home 1st, followed by Dave Millington and Les Noble in 3rd.

The Jawa GP50 Auto class continued to be thrilling, and hard fought, 2 wins and a second were enough for Joe Ravenscroft to be top dog, but there was no way that Sam Edwards or Bob Varey were going to let him have it wasy, with Edwards claiming a race win in race 3, enough to get second overall, and Bob Varey haring to settle for 3rd overall, despite two second places. New boy, Badley Perie proved he was one to watch!

The GP50 Rookie class was another Lewis Black afair, with Andrew Fisher coming 2nd overall, helped by 3rd place man, Sidney Hargreaves having a DNS in race one.

The Conti Cup UK once again showed why it is the UK’s premier junior road race series. Series leader, James White was again placed first, but had to work very hard with a constant 4-5 rider battle up front, with the lead changing constantly. Second place man, Kieran Sturley, who didn’t manage a race win all day, was Mr Consistent, while Connor Tagg, winner of race 1, came unstuck after crashing in race three, leaving him 3rd overall with Jamie Thackerey, one of the other front runners having to settle for 4th. Everywhere down the field, riders were having to keep their wits about them, as the smallest mistake could see them lose 2-3 places, and the race craft, regardless of position, was impeccable for riders as young as 9 years of age!

The very quick GP70 classes demonstrated how much hard work was needed to muscle one of these machines round a circuit like Rednal. The Rookies class was expected to be a real battle based on practice and morning warm up, until one of the Wigley twins high-sided out of race one, and out of the meeting, with Kurt out, it was up to brother Matt to do the honours, but he also cashed out, leaving meeting winner, Aaron Murray to cruise home. Luke Thackerey came home second overall with total consistency, followed by Cory Smith, winning race 3 was the only consolation for 4th placed rider, Matt Wigley, after a faily miserable day.

The GP70 class was fireworks at Thee Sisters, and the theme continued at Round 2, Series leader, Adam Robinson kept his cool to come home 1st overall, with only one win out of three, 2nd place man, Ben Godfrey was pushing Robinson hard, along with 3rd place rider, Connor Tagg, who is currently leading the EMRA GP70 class. Kieran Sturley was also up their, swapping paint with the leaders, but hard charging Jamie Thackerey still pushed Sturley down the order into 4th overall! Team mates Andrew Asher and Steve Riach cleaned up for 1st and 2nd in the seniors.

More info on junior motorcycle road racing can be found at www.phoenix-minimoto-racing.co.uk