BYMX round five at Canada Heights has ACU Events in the organisational hot seat but the iconic Kent circuit takes a weekend lashing from the elements. Thankfully day two has less rain on offer and the famous old course holds up wonderfully well.
The championship continues to boil and there are superb overall wins for Alexander Brown (65s) and Conrad Mewse (SW85s) as they tighten their grip. It’s a different story in the other two divisions however with series leaders Liam Knight (BW85s) and Nathan Watson (Youth Open) both now having mounting pressure to deal with as the title chasers close in.
On day one the unrelenting rain produces truly tricky conditions and there are three different heat winners in the Junior 65 section – Alexander Brown, Harry Kimber and Jed Etchells. Brown on the MotoOne KTM follows up his single Saturday victory with a brace of second place results and then goes on to cement his championship lead with two more brilliant heat wins on Sunday. Kimber on the Twisted 7 Kawasaki races to second overall with a 2-1-4-2-3 card and Manxman Etchells takes third overall.
In the battle for the remaining top six places it’s a tight old scrap and Oliver Costerdine delivers his best performance of the year so far. He narrowly misses out on fourth overall however and that goes to Ireland’s Calum Meara. Adam Dunn battles away weekend long and he claims the final sixth place on the end-of-day podium.
In the SW85cc section Michael Ellis aboard his Honda 150F enters the fray as a wildcard and it simply gets better and better for him as his weekend progresses. Ellis eventually goes home with a classy hat-trick of heat wins following his 10-4 start.
The Ellis factor aside, in championship terms Conrad Mewse now extends his series lead over Jay Hague following his fourth overall win of the year from Will Keogh and Taylor Hammal. Mewse claims the maximum points haul in races one, three and four with the victory in races two and five going the way of speedy Jordan Eccles.
Both Keogh and ACU academy rider Hammal turn in terrific performances with a single second place finish each as their stand-out highlight. Jay Hague remains in championship second place but is now a massive 32 points adrift following his disastrous seventh overall finish.
There is even more race four harsh luck around but this time in the other 85cc section as BW championship leader Liam Knight suffers a suspected broken wrist in an innocuous looking incident. Knight on the Maverick Racing KTM had previously posted 2-3-3 scores but his championship fortunes are now in some doubt with the extent of his injury currently unknown.
Jack Gardner and Brad Todd are now joint second in the championship chase just nine points off Knight’s total and it is Gardner who wins the weekend spoils. Racing the MX World Honda, Gardner goes 1-2-1-1-14. Todd finishes in third overall.
Todd Kellet, another member of the Twisted 7 Kawasaki team, has the best day of his BW racing career and on day one he lays down a 3-1-2 card and holds his nerve in Sunday action with a 6-6 and ends up as the more than worthy section runner up. The fifth and final heat win goes to Stuart Fee and he takes sixth overall, Scotland’s John Adamson claims fifth overall with Ireland’s Jason Meara in fourth.
Over the past month or so Adam Sterry on the RMJ Academy Honda has been nothing short of sensational and he’s at it again down in Kent as he records his second overall win on the bounce.
At the close of play it’s a slender four-point victory over second-placed Jamie McCanney and Sterry’s final two heat wins prove to be absolutely decisive.
James Dunn on the Lanes Kawasaki also takes a brace of heat wins and he leads the section overnight but a final race DNF unluckily drops him down to eighth overall. Nathan Watson claims the other race win together with third overall but he will now surely be feeling the championship heat from both McCanney and Sterry as they are now just 10 and 12 points away with just two rounds remaining. Fourth overall goes to Jordan Divall with his best saved until last – second place in heat five. Damon Brooks also saves his best for Sunday action and his 3-5 flourish gives him fifth overall with Jake Millward in sixth.
In the Adult British two-stroke championship TM-mounted Stuart Edmonds tops the 250cc division following three thrilling battles with KTM runner Carlton Husband. Luke Remmer, Jim Davies and Frazer Viner score first, second and third in all three 125cc championship races while mixing it with their bigger capacity brothers.
