The Thor British Youth National Championship reached the halfway point at Desertmartin, Northern Ireland last weekend, May 20 and 21, for round three of the series where Wal Beaney, Vinnie Guthrie, Dominic Lancett, Rossi Beard and Howard Wainwright, enjoyed the overall honours.
At what is perhaps one of the best tracks in Europe, which really benefits the juniors in terms of developing their racing skills, the BYN racers were locked into some outstanding battles in the Irish sand. In the junior 65cc class Wal Beaney and Ollie Colmer enjoyed some really impressive racing, with an outcome that was determined on day two where Beaney eventually came out with the overall win with three victories and two second places. Colmer was runner-up with two wins and three seconds, with Fin Wilson, Finlay Boxall and Keelan Hope rounding out the top five. Beaney continues to lead the championship by 64 points.
In the Small Wheel 85cc class it went down to the wire as Alfie Jones and Vinnie Guthrie went into the final race of the day tied on points for the overall with 171 points each. Guthrie enjoyed a strong final race to take the top step of the podium as Jones clinched second place for second overall, Raife Broadley took a podium third, while Ross Simpson was fourth and Bailey Johnston took fifth.
The Big Wheel 85cc category again provided some exciting racing where the series leader going into the weekend, Dominic Lancett, had the goal of maintaining his championship point advantage over second-placed Bobby Bruce. Kyle McNicol took the opening two wins of the weekend with a near 10-second advantage in each, although Lancett’s consistency throughout the five motos made it three overalls from three rounds for the youngster. Jack Galvin’s final moto win secured second overall on the day, with McNicol third, Lewis Wood fourth and Bobby Bruce fifth. Lancett now leads Bruce by 87 points going into round four of the series.
Rossi Beard, the 2016 Thor British Youth Nationals Big Wheel 85 Champion, continued his 100% overall victory record for the 125cc class in 2017 with four out of five wins at the Desertmartin event for the number 123 who again took the overall and extended his series lead. For Beard’s title rival Callum Mitchell it was a weekend to forget, as he won the opening race of the weekend, but was forced to withdraw from the remaining races after moto two. Drew Anderson took a podium second position, Reece Martin was third, Jake Winnard fourth and Andrew Pohlen fifth. Beard commented on Round three “Round three was a very good weekend for me as I extended my championship lead. Desertmartin was unreal for me and a great venue to ride”.
In the Open class Howard Wainwright, Jed Etchells and Tom Grimshaw enjoyed some fierce battles. While Wainwright took his second overall of the season with three wins, a second and a third, round two winner Etchells was certainly fighting hard with his two wins, a second, a third, although an unfortunate issue in the final race saw him forced to settle for second overall. Tom Grimshaw was third overall, Ben Clark took fourth and David Robson was fifth. Wainwright commented on his weekend “ I had a mega time racing the famous Desertmartin circuit. It was of course a long way to travel but the track certainly did not disappoint with the layout and preparation being spot on and I enjoyed every moment I had on track. I can't wait to go back.”
The Apico Holeshot Awards were presented to riders who reached the first corner first in moto two on Saturday at this round. Congratulations goes to George Simmutch, Rossi Beard, Kyle McNicol, Reece Ross and Wal Beaney on their Apico Holeshot success!
The next stop for the Thor British Youth National Championship is at Duns, Scotland on June 24 and 25.