Reaching new Heights

As an intrinsic part of the Red Bull Pro Nationals, the series is designed to bring on young talent by allowing them to race at the same events as the adult pros.

 

It's a mission that's paying off with the four-class championship now the UK's premier race series for youths, attracting the cream of the country's up-and-coming racers with classes for 65cc, Small-wheel and Big-wheel 85cc and Rookies.

 

After the opening two rounds at Landrake and FatCat, 65cc pace-setter Tom Grimshaw is already putting daylight between himself and the rest of the field following his five-race maximum in Cornwall and second overall in the Doncaster sand. 

 

After finishing off the podium at Landrake, Christopher Mills came good to grab gold at FatCat to move into second place, tied with Scott Russell who has finished third overall both times out.

 

But the pair are already 59 points behind Tom and as well as closing the gap to him they need to watch out for the rapid Rossi Beard who is only a further 14 points adrift in fourth.

 

It's a lot tighter in the Small-wheel 85cc class where despite finishing off the podium at the series opener Keenan Hird currently leads Marcus Phelps by 23 points following a dominant display in Doncaster. 

 

Drew Warren holds down third just ahead of speedy Scot Alexander Brown.

 

The Big-wheel 85cc division has already become a two-horse race, with Josh Gilbert and Todd Kellett slugging it out at the top of the table.

 

Josh holds a slender eight-point lead thanks to 1-3 overall finishes compared to Toddy's 2-4 card. 

 

Will Keogh is in third after winning at FatCat following a shocker at Landrake but he's 90 points off the leader's pace.

 

It's even tighter in the Rookie class for 

14-18-year-olds, with just 17 points covering a top three led by Dan Thornhill from Jake Millward and last year's Big-wheel 85cc champ Ben Watson. 

 

Dan has yet to win a round but his habit of taking the final race victory of the weekend has landed him two second-overall finishes and a nine-point lead over Jake with Ben – who was a sensational overall winner at FatCat – eight points further back.

 

Canada Heights has become a regular stop on the Red Bull Elite Youth Cup calendar and the track is a challenging one that always ensures incident-packed racing, especially around the tight left-hand first turn. 

 

The soil alternates between more hardpack clay at the top of the track and softer sand at the bottom.

 

But both surfaces cut up rough and that, combined with some big jumps and plenty of elevation changes, make for a 

real test of fitness, speed and concentration.