All the young dudes
By TMX Archives on 14th Jan 15
The British Youth Nationals have been going from strength to strength, primarily thanks to the hard work of Gareth Hockeys RHL Activities team.And this year was their best yet, with five venues offering varied racing surfaces spread all over the country and ended north of the border at Leuchars MX in picturesque Scotland, in late August.
There were five youth classes, with most getting six or seven races spread over the weekend – that all important social side of motocross separating the two days nicely.
It all started back in April at the sandy FatCat MotoParc where, in the Youth Open class, Jay Lamb (Plant KTM) came alive on day two, winning all of his three races to claim the overall.
Ollie Osmaston took his MX World Honda into second, tied on points with Sam Braithwaite on an Underdog Honda.
A pattern started to emerge at the next round at Culham, Oxfordshire, as Osmaston took five wins from six rides to claim to top step on the podium with Tom Neal, who had trouble at the series opener at FatCat, second ahead of Lamb.
For the next two rounds, though, Neal beat Osmaston and the points gap narrowed as we approached the fifth and final round.
Both Braithwaite and Lamb had crashed out of the series and would not be seen again.
It was looking bad for Osmaston in race one in Scotland as Jay Hague went on to win that race, and four more before the weekend was out.
Osmaston's Honda stalled and just wouldn't start, with Neal clawing back some ground in second place. Osmaston settled down, though, and with three second places and a race-five win he clinched the championship with a race in hand. Neal was a strong second after a shaky start, with Joe Hodgson claiming third despite finishing in the top three only once all year.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS JANUARY 15 (ISSUE1954)
