Report: Thor British Youth Nationals - Rd 4, Milton Park

By TMX Archives on 31st Aug 16

The 2016 British Youth National championship smashed through its midway point this weekend.

For the second half of the season these young pilots will have to tackle some very different terrain.

And Milton Park in Northamptonshire gave the BYN series its first taste of the hard-pack stuff and set the tone for what is to come for the remainder of the season.

Mother Nature conveniently decided to throw everything she had at the place in order to see what it could really take.

It was a weekend that saw lightning-laced thunderstorms as well as skin-scorching sun – but credit to the RHL team managed to keep on top of track prep all weekend and maintained a good, rideable condition throughout.

After a somewhat disastrous turn in Scotland Charlie Heyman returned to his winning ways at Milton in the 65 class.

The young SJP Moto rider claimed five race wins from five races (the only rider of the weekend to do so) in dominating fashion.

Behind Heyman on the overall podium was Wal Beaney, who logged his best overall result of the year via some of the best racing we've seen from the stylish young rider.

Wal was able to keep his results a little more consistent over the course of the weekend which handed him the second place spot, whereas title hopeful and last round victo) Alfie Jones logged an under-par performance in race one on Saturday.

That meant that he could only climb to third place on the podium despite a string of four second-place finishes to round out the weekend.

Once again it was a two-horse race in the Small-wheel 85 class. Ike Carter's smooth and methodical style worked wonders on the slick and treacherous circuit as the rain drizzled down on Saturday afternoon and the MBO power rider claimed victory in the first two races of the weekend despite the best efforts of his championship rival Bobby Bruce.

As racing got underway on a far grippier and much deeper track on Sunday morning Ike Carter once again took control of the SW 85 class, leading from the front.

It was now or never for Bobby Bruce. However a slight mechanical issue meant Carter could run away with the race lead while Bruce was forced into damage-control mode, which saw him drop back to third, Louie Kessell inheriting second.

Carter continued his winning ways in race four, with Bruce in second and Kessell in third.

However Ike couldn't quite complete the perfect weekend and in race five an intense battle between Carter and Bruce saw Bruce come away with the victory as Carter rode off with the overall.

With that win in race five Bruce claimed second place on the overall podium. A smooth and consistent weekend for Louie Kessel meant that he claimed third place on the box.

The Big-wheel 85 class was as competitive as ever at Milton, with four race winners from five races. Dominic Lancett drew first blood as he took the opener despite pressure from a pursuing pack of riders that included Eddie Wade, Rossi Beard and Kacey Hird.

Wade took the chequered flag in race two in front of Declan Hunter but put in a sub-par result in race three as Rossi Beard took control.

Beard looked set for the win but Sam Nunn came from nowhere to nip through and take his first ever win.

A last-corner mistake saw Beard drop down to third behind a hard-charging Dominic Lancett.

Josh Peters rode his heart out all weekend and he took the race-four win in front of Joel Rizzi and Sam Nunn.

It was all to play for coming into the final moto with Lancett in a good position to take the overall and Wade desperately needing the win.

An intense three-way battle between Wade, Lancett and Joel Rizzi ultimately saw Wade come away with the race win, with Lancett second which was good enough for him to claim his first BYN Big-Wheel overall.

Wade came away with second overall after his two moto wins, with Beard third after an unusually inconsistent and mistake-riddled weekend.

Callum Green continues to set his sights on the 125 class championship and the SJP moto rider again dominated the 125 class, taking four from five race wins. Green kept a cool head all weekend, taking his time to make passes and move to the front.

He had to work for it, though, with Tom Grimshaw putting him under pressure throughout the weekend and race three saw a five-man battle for the lead that lasted almost the entire moto.

Ben Clark shot out of the gate in race four to take the lead and he never looked back to take win and end Green's hopes of a perfect score.

Todd Ritchie tried to nick another win from Green in the final race of the weekend but a mistake saw him drop back.

Nobody could match Green's consistency, with Ritchie 30 points behind him in second and Tom Grimshaw third, after a poor fourth-moto result spoiled his run of strong rides.

Green is right back in the championship hunt and he said: "It was a good weekend for me taking four wins. Obviously I wanted to take all five to grab the most points possible but sometimes you just can't win them all.

"It was just a solid weekend overall for me.

"To be fair I think I am more of a sand rider but I didn't think I did too bad on the hard pack.

"I showed good speed and I was always a couple of seconds quicker or at least matching the times of everybody else.

"I've been trying to use my head a bit more and take my time with things, while at the start of the year I was trying to rush things and get to the lead as quick as possible.

"Now I don't try to force the pass I try to wait for the opportunity.”

In the Open class there were a few new faces at the front of the field. So far this season it has pretty much been the Alexander Brown show, although Team Green's Dylan Woodcock looked to put a stop to that.

In race one Brown took the race lead early on and it looked to be game over for the rest of the pack. However a combination of mistakes from Brown and the hard-charging of Dylan Woodcock meant there was a titanic battle for the lead.

The duel lasted almost the entire race as Brown and Woodcock swapped places and made passes.

Perhaps not accustomed to this amount of pressure Brown made a few more mistakes towards the end of the moto and Dylan took the flag with a slight gap over the Scotsman.

A torrential downpour and lightning storm on Saturday afternoon meant the Open class second moto was rescheduled to take place on Sunday morning, leaving the 250F racers to endure four gruelling motos in one day. A tough ask.

For race two on Sunday morning the circuit was still deep and soggy after the downpour and it definitely shook things up. It looked as though George Grigg-Pettitt would take the holeshot but the treacherous conditions saw him sliding down the track before he could even reach the first corner.

This left 14-year-old Lewis Hall himself in the lead in his first ever weekend of big-bike racing.

After completing his European adventures on his Team Green Big-wheel 85 Hall made the move up to the big bikes.

And he kept a cool head and mastered the tough conditions despite the pressure from Dylan Woodcock. to hang on to the lead and take the win in only his second-ever 250F race.

Grigg-Pettitt was able to remount after his first corner crash and work back to third.

Alexander Brown had a troubled race, though, and was knocked out with a mechanical problem.

Race three saw Woodcock again take the win in front of Brown, the latter riding smart, knowing Woodcock is no threat to the championship after missing the opening two rounds.

Brown then eased to the front in the fourth race, taking the win ahead of Woodcock and Grigg-Pettitt.

Race five saw bad starts for Woodcock and Brown allowing the consistent Grigg-Pettitt to take the early advantage and control of the race stretching a nice lead over Woodcock, .

Grigg-Pettitt was able to hang one and take the race win despite a last-lap rear puncture.

His consistent results gave Woodcock the overall and that last moto victory handed Grigg-Pettitt second from Brown, who was able to salvage a so-so weekend.

Woodcock was excited after his first win on a 250F and said: "This is my first overall on a big bike at a national, that's pretty cool, it's a good feeling.

"I really like this track with the jumps and stuff, it suits my style, getting greasy and it was good fun.

"I suppose I've just got to carry this on now to the next one now.”

Thor British Youth Nationals Motocross Championship

Rd 4 – Milton Park, nr Northampton (RHL Activities Ltd)

Open Class

1 Dylan Woodcock (TG Kawasaki) 45 + 42 + 45 + 42 + 42 = 216

2 George Grigg-Pettitt (KTM) 40 + 40 + 32 + 40 + 45 = 197

3 Alexander Brown (Husqvarna) 42 + 28 + 42 + 45 + 40 = 197

4 Jed Etchells (Kawasaki) 38 + 38 + 38 + 38 + 36 = 188

5 Lewis Hall (TG Kawasaki) 36 + 45 + 34 + 34 + 31 = 180

6 Keenan Hird (TM) 35 + 35 + 40 + 35 + 34 = 179

7 David Galvin (KTM) 33 + 32 + 36 + 32 + 38 = 171

8 Dexter Douglas (Husqvarna) 27 + 31 + 35 + 36 + 33 = 162

9 Ben Burridge (Suzuki) 34 + 33 + 29 + 31 + 30 = 157

10 John Joe Wright (Honda) 31 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 32 = 154

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Grigg-Pettitt 803 points, 2 Brown 798, 3 Douglas 774, 4 Galvin 702, 5 Etchells 684, 6 Wainwright 630, 7 Wright 579, 8 Burridge 560, 9 Hird 559, 10 Edey 479,...

Youth 125cc Class

1 Callum Green (Husqvarna) 45 + 45 + 45 + 40 + 45 = 220

2 Todd Ritchie (Yamaha) 42 + 38 + 26 + 42 + 42 = 190

3 Tom Grimshaw (Yamaha) 40 + 42 + 42 + 26 + 38 = 188

4 Ben Clark (KTM) 30 + 35 + 40 + 45 + 36 = 186

5 Harry Kimber (Husqvarna) 36 + 32 + 36 + 38 + 40 = 182

6 Aaron Colley (Husqvarna) 38 + 30 + 34 + 36 + 34 = 172

7 Ryan Allison (???) 32 + 28 + 38 + 34 + 35 = 167

8 Denny Rapson (Husqvarna) 33 + 31 + 33 + 35 + 32 = 164

9 Troy Willerton (TM) 35 + 40 + 35 + 27 + 26 = 163

10 Cameron Turley (???) 31 + 36 + 30 + 32 + 33 = 162

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Ritchie 787 points, 2 Green 759, 3 Clark 749, 4 Kimber 734, 5 Winnard 669, 6 Turley 633, 7 Rapson 621, 8 Colley 586, 9 Grimshaw 561, 10 Coffey 557,...

Big-wheel 85cc Class

1 Dominic Lancett (Husqvarna) 76 + 63 + 70 + 63 + 70 = 342

2 Eddie Wade (Husqvarna) 66 + 76 + 59 + 61 + 76 = 338

3 Rossi Beard (KTM) 70 + 66 + 66 + 57 + 63 = 322

4 Sam Nunn (KTM) 59 + 61 + 76 + 66 + 59 = 321

5 Josh Peters (Husqvarna) 61 + 51 + 61 + 76 + 61 = 310

6 Joel Rizzi (KTM) 57 + 59 + 53 + 70 + 66 = 305

7 Kacey Hird (TG Kawasaki) 63 + 57 + 55 + 55 + 57 = 287

8 Declan Hunter (KTM) 47 + 70 + 63 + 50 + 50 = 280

9 Preston Williams (Kawasaki) 55 + 49 + 51 + 59 + 55 = 269

10 Kyle McNicol (KTM) 51 + 55 + 57 + 41 + 49 = 253

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Beard 1,363 points, 2 Peters 1,213, 3 Lancett 1,177, 4 Nunn 1,109, 5 Rizzi 1,020, 6 Hird 1,011, 7 Ingham 973, 8 Wade 963, 9 Mitchell 963, 10 McNicol 944,...

Small-wheel 85cc Class

1 Ike Carter (Husqvarna) 76 + 76 + 76 + 76 + 70 = 374

2 Bobby Bruce (Husqvarna) 70 + 70 + 66 + 70 + 76 = 352

3 Louie Kessell (KTM) 63 + 66 + 70 + 66 + 59 = 324

4 Jack Grayshon (TM) 66 + 63 + 44 + 63 + 63 = 299

5 Toby Potter (???) 53 + 53 + 63 + 61 + 66 = 296

6 Travis Steels (???) 61 + 59 + 59 + 59 + 57 = 295

7 Jack Lindsay (Husqvarna) 59 + 61 + 51 + 45 + 61 = 277

8 Oliver Barr (KTM) 50 + 57 + 61 + 49 + 55 = 272

9 Raife Broadley (Husqvarna) 57 + 49 + 48 + 57 + 51 = 262

10 Buster Hart (???) 55 + 55 + 57 + 44 + 49 = 260

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Carter 1,474 points, 2 Bobby Bruce 1,365, 3 Grayshon 1,247, 4 Lindsay 1,222, 5 Kessell 1,205, 6 Toby Potter 1,126, 7 McCraner 1,077, 8 Steels 1,021, 9 Broadley 1,012, 10 Hart 1,007,...

Junior 65cc Class

1 Charlie Heyman (KTM) 45 + 45 + 45 + 45 + 45 = 225

2 Wal Beaney (KTM) 42 + 38 + 38 + 40 + 40 = 198

3 Alfie Jones (KTM) 28 + 42 + 42 + 42 + 42 = 196

4 Kiean Boughen (KTM) 40 + 40 + 40 + 38 + 34 = 192

5 Bailey Johnston (KTM) 38 + 35 + 34 + 36 + 38 = 181

6 Roan Delaney (KTM) 35 + 36 + 36 + 32 + 36 = 175

7 George Hopkins (KTM) 36 + 34 + 35 + 34 + 24 = 163

8 Finley Evans (KTM) 34 + 31 + 32 + 31 + 32 = 160

9 Ashton Boughen (KTM) 30 + 32 + 20 + 35 + 35 = 152

10 James Barker (KTM) 22 + 29 + 30 + 33 + 27 = 141

SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Heyman 862 points, 2 Jones 809, 3 Kiean Boughen 745, 4 Johnston 745, 5 Beaney 735, 6 Hopkins 561, 7 Barker 555, 8 Utting 536, 9 Delaney 518, 10 Drewell 518,...

NEXT ROUND: September 10/11 – Rhayader, Wales (RHL Activities Ltd).

Thor British Youth Nationals Motocross ChampIONSHIP

Rd 4 – Milton Park, nr Northampton (RHL Activities Ltd)