BYMX Cums to Brampton
By TMX Archives on 21st May 08
AFTER touching its furthest points West and East at rounds one and two, this year's Moggstar ACU BYMX Championship sets up camp next on its Northern most out-post this weekend when round three gets under way at Brampton, in Cumbria.
The event will again be hosted by the East Cumbria club at its superb sandy, undulating Maxxis standard circuit and with a bit of fine weather it's bound to be a real belter.
Scotland's Ryan Snaith will be looking to build on his fantastic start to the season in the Junior 65cc class as he defends a slender six-point championship lead over Ben Green. Local Cumbrian lad Ben will be a tough act to beat though around a course he knows only too well, but watch out for more fireworks from the flying Mildenhall victor, Jack Wilson, along with Casey Connolly, Jason Meara, Ryan Johnson, Alfie Bowtell and Robert Yates as they crank up the action in a really tight fought section.
KTM-mounted Ben Howell from South Wales has bagged three race wins so far in the Small-wheel 85cc chase for honours and he will be looking to extend his championship lead in a class that has been full of controversial incident so far this season. Ben's main challenge up to yet has come from a super pair of 65cc upgrades from last year, Callan Cooper and Team Green's Michael Eccles, who are currently second and third in the standings. Ben Watson returns from his European exploits at Brampton though, along with in-form Jordan Godwin who excelled at Mildenhall, and Suzuki's James Dunn will also be looking to climb the championship table.
PAR Honda's Luke Hawkins produced the performance of the championship year so far at Mildenhall with a complete demolition of the opposition and now sits comfortably in the box seat at the head of the Big-wheel 85cc stakes. Luke has an 18 point lead over Redline KTM prodigy, 13-year-old Ryan Houghton who has been a revelation so far this year with his confident smooth ability. Fellow Redline KTM runner Jake Page was really unlucky last time out as a broken chain possibly robbed him of the runner-up spot on the weekend and in the championship too. Jake will be looking to reassert his challenge along with Jamie McCanney and Dan Hutchinson who also fell foul of some ill fortune at Mildenhall. Storming Brad Pocock along with returning ACU academy member Dan Thornhill, KTM's Robbie Muscat, Paul Coates, Bryn Clarke and Luke Dean will also be worth keeping a close eye on over the weekend.
This year's Open Class is proving to be the runaway success everyone forecast out on the track but the chase for the ultimate top honour is by no means any kind of runaway affair.
Joe Gregory and flying Scot Sean McDonald currently share the top spot on 182 points each after the opening five races where consistency is proving to be the key to success. Scotland's Tommy Fenwick holds third place with two-stroke TM pilot Lewis King in fourth, and considering they both took race wins at the Cumbrian circuit last year you can expect a pair of top draw performances this time around too. Scott Elderfield after the disappointments of Mildenhall and Desertmartin will be looking for his first top-step on the BYMX podium for his new bosses at Swift Suzuki as will academy runners David Games and Kawasaki's Josh Waterman. In a competition that has a dozen or more riders capable of taking the chequered flag first Edward Allingham, James Hutchinson, and Lithuanian sensation Vytautas Bucas will also be looking to make the racing headline news come Sunday evening.