It’s been a busy old time for our friends over at Red Bull over the past weekend with the Straight Rhythm hitting the spot with motocross fans around the world.
A little earlier in the day and over 5,000 miles away there was another Red Bull moto event going down. But shhh, this one is a bit of a secret.
Invited guests made their way to Rotherham – that’s South Yorkshire in England if you didn’t know – to watch Red Bull Breakers, the brainchild of former British MX2 champion Elliott Banks-Browne.
Red Bull Breakers attracted 15 of the UK’s top off-road racers to battle it out in what you could perhaps call a scrapyard but that would be a huge disservice to this fascinating event.
What made it way better than that description could ever make it sound was the brilliant design of the circuit that forced riders to eke out every little advantage they could during the short, sharp races that lasted just under 90 seconds.
The split-lane nature of the racing meant that wild passes, intimidation and aggression were redundant and the only way to beat the other guy – and transfer to the next round – was to simply be faster.
Amongst the rider line up were Adam Sterry, Jordan Booker, Ben and Nathan Watson (yes they had a busy weekend), James Cottrell, Alfie Smith, James Dunn, Jack Brunell and of course the host, Elliott Banks-Browne.
There was absolutely no stopping EBB as he romped home to victory in this unique event that he originally envisaged before making it a reality with help from his friends at Red Bull.
The Geartec Suzuki star stomped on all-comers, edging out James Dunn, Adam Sterry and Ben Watson in the qualifying rounds before meeting LPE Kawasaki’s Jamie Law in the final.
Law meanwhile knocked out Jordan Booker, Alfie Smith and Jack Brunell on his way to the Main Event, setting up a scorching two-lapper that would decide who would be crowned champion.
As the gate dropped EBB took an initial lead but Law just would not give up and tenaciously chased Banks-Browne to the finish.
Unfortunately, the Cumbrian just came up short in his challenge and crossed the line 0.6 of a second behind Elliott.
“It’s been amazing today,” enthused Elliott afterwards. “It’s so cool that everyone has come out and had so much fun.
“Jamie was pushing really hard in the final and I was really nervous to keep it all together on that last lap.
“It was really close but I wanted to win to repay all the people who have put in so much to make this happen.”
Although the inaugural Breakers event was a behind-closed-doors affair Elliott hopes it will grow in 2016.
“I’d like to make it happen in a bigger way next year,” adds Elliott. “It would be cool to build some fans and open it up to the fans.
“Every single person here loved it and you can’t ask for much more than that.”
