PARty in the park
By TMX Archives on 27th Apr 07
FOR round two of the PAR Homes-sponsored BYMX Championships the venue was Culham Park in Oxfordshire. It was dry, hard terrain as Lewis King found out to his cost but more of that later!
The course got rough in places as the meeting wore on, but it was all well watered with 80,000 gallons of the stuff to keep the dust down, and the meeting, hosted by the Northampton Schoolboy club, with a little assistance here and there from ACU officials, all went pretty well really, so enough of the formalities on to the action...
WITH just 12 points covering the top six riders by the end of Sunday's racing that will give you an indication of just how close and competitive the Junior 65cc action was.
Ben Watson started as the red hot favourite after his domination in Ireland but it was Michael Eccles who stole his thunder first time out with a storming win. Michael held everyone at bay including Ben as they battled all the way to the flag in a terrific scrap.
Ben Himself won the next two races and looked odds-on for the top step of the podium, but race four was cruel to Ben as he faltered and plugged the PAR KTM into a bank. He struggled to restart the machine and had to settle for sixth place overall.
Jack Heath took full advantage in that last race as he got past Oliver Osmaston and outpaced Callan Cooper for a terrific win, and with his other consistent finishes he ended up top of the pile by just one point from the excellent Callan Cooper. Callan had a string of consistent and pacey races himself and duly took an impressive second place overall from a resurgent Eccles in third.
Arguably the performance of the class came from Matty Callaghan in race two as he hurtled himself from a distant 31st place to end up an incredible fifth in a performance that took the breath away. The best of his young life I was told, and with another second placing on day two Matty finished a very creditable and fighting fourth overall.
Matthew Fleming looked absolutely awesome at times in the Small-wheel 85cc division. With three race wins over the weekend in a powerful display he has sent out a message to the others in the class: ''catch me if you can.''
PAR HOMES BYMX NATIONAL YOUTH MX CHAMPS
Rd 2 - Culham Park, Oxon (Northampton JMXC)
Junior 65cc: 1 Jack Heath 157 points, 2 Callan Cooper 156, 3 Michael Eccles 154, 4 Matthew Callaghan 152, 5 Oliver Osmaston 150, 6 Ben Watson 145
Small-wheel 85cc: 1 Matthew Fleming 175 points, 2 Jamie McCanney 164, 3 Scott Aldridge 158, 4 Rob Muscat 152, 5 Dan Thornhill 143, 6 Paul Coates 134
Big-wheel 85cc: 1 Josh Spinks 177 points, 2 Sam Davis 166, 3 Richie Worrall 152, 4 Connor Walkley 149, 5 Christian Taylor 147, 6 James Hutchinson 143.
Intermediate 125cc: 1 Lewis Tombs 165 points, 2 David Games 164, 3 Will Worden 157, 4 Scott James 149, 5 Ryan King 149, 6 Nathan Rooks 143.
Premier: 1 Alex Rockwell 174 points, 2 Josh Waterman 158, 3 Lewis King 136, 4 Ashley Wilde 135, 5 Matthew Moffat 134, 6 Luke Burton 131.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, April 27, 2007.