The second weekend of competition in the British Sprint Championship saw Champs Parc in Kettering provide a tight and technical challenge, in stark contrast to the opening round. The course included an MX track and tight woodlands which combined to provide a superb sprint test across the whole weekend. Things got tougher on Sunday, when the course was reversed and a few of jumps from the previous day were cut to provide a shorter, more flowing track. The weather was pleasant and helped the track conditions, although the first few tests of both days were slippery as the MX track had to be watered.
The event was significant in as much as it saw three Edmondson’s all competing against each other. Jack Edmondson rode the Championship class whilst Paul and Harry rode in Expert – a very rare occurrence indeed and as expected it turned out to be extremely competitive between all of them, especially considering the number of competitors in the Expert ranks. Paul adopted a sleep between tests strategy in order to beat his son Harry, but ducked out of Sunday as his aching bones caught up to him.
Sherco Factory Enduro rider Jack Edmondson had an outstanding weekend winning 11 out of 16 special tests across the two days. Sherco teammate Hamish Macdonald and GasGas UK’s Alex Snow were the only riders to really push Edmondson, each winning at least one test on the opening day. Though Alex Snow posed a threat to Jack Edmondson on Day One, winning three of the eight tests, Edmondson still gained an impressive win with 15 seconds on Snow, and 1 minute 17 seconds on third place competitor Alex Walton. Tom Ellwood, following his podium finish in second place at Round 1, unfortunately had to pull out on Saturday due to a thumb injury, but luckily returned for Round 3 on Sunday. Mark Roberts placed fourth in Round 2 with Jed Etchells taking fifth.
Hamish Macdonald also set some competitive times and was on track for third place until a crash in test six saw him lose 1 minute 45 seconds, leaving him with a lot of work to do on Day Two. However, he returned on Sunday to challenge Jack Edmondson and took the win on Test 2, putting in consistently fast times for the rest of the day to take second place. Edmondson responded to the challenge and got faster on each sprint to take the win with a close 2 second margin over Macdonald. Jed Etchells placed third in Round 3, staying close to the top two at only 6 seconds behind Edmondson. On Sunday, Mark Roberts took fourth place followed by Alex Walton in fifth.
In the Expert class, Jack Teale continued his good form to win both days with a margin of over 30 seconds on 2
nd place Max Ditchfield on Saturday. Both were followed by Paul Edmondson, who didn’t make it easy for them and took third place. However, on Sunday Harry Edmondson rose up through the ranks, closing in on Teale to finish with just 3 seconds between the two. With Paul Edmondson retiring from the competition on Sunday, Cole Cookland grabbed an impressive third spot only 1 second behind Harry Edmondson. Richard Tucker was on track for a podium finish on Saturday, but was forced to DNF after crashing into a tree.
The Clubman ranks saw an outstanding performance from James Palmer, who did the double by a significant margin, winning the class on both days. His usual rivals of George Yardley, Saul Hirst and Josh Lucy were close to each other but some distance from Palmer, and the overall results remained nearly the same for the second day of racing between the four, with George Yardley in second place both days, with Saul Hirst in third on Saturday and Josh Lucy taking the final podium spot on Sunday.
Tobias Sammut had a blast on Saturday as he took the Sportsman class win with 1 minute 15 seconds to spare ahead of Lee Brady and Henry Harman but it was Brady who took the win on the second day with Sammut second and Henry Harman remaining in third.
Ellie Cooke blitzed the Ladies class by posting a double win with Kate Smith taking second both days, leaving Gemma Holtham in third on Saturday.
Adam James had the Youth class nailed! Two impressive wins with plenty of time to spare to second placed Doug Lote saw James well on his way to a championship title. Henry Life grabbed third spot on both days too.
Champs Park certainly proved to be a hit. It was quite technical compared to other Sprint venues in the Fast Eddy calendar but it certainly made riders work hard with no room to rest anywhere.
The next Fast Eddy Sprint will be Rounds 4 and 5 at Brow Farm, Rattlinghope, near Shrewsbury on the 1
st and 2
nd June, whilst the Club Championship will continue at a new venue near Llanfyllin, Powys on the 21
st April 2019.
Report by Tilde Tighe and images by Vision Off Road Media
Round 2:
Championship
Jack Edmondson Alex Snow Alex Walton
Expert
Jack Teale Max Ditchfield Paul Edmondson
Clubman
James Palmer George Yardley Saul Hirst
Sportsman
Tobias Sammut Lee Brady Henry Harman
Vets
John Shirt Jamie Jenkins Anthony Dean
Ladies
Ellie Cooke Kate Smith Gemma Holtham
Youth
Adam James Doug Lote Henry Life
Round 3:
Championship
Jack Edmondson Hamish Macdonald Jed Etchells
Expert
Jack Teale Harry Edmondson Cole Cookland
Clubman
James Palmer George Yardley Josh Lucy
Sportsman
Lee Brady Tobias Sammut Henry Harman
Vets
Jamie Jenkins Anthony Dean Keith Jones
Ladies
Ellie Cooke Kate Smith
Youth
Adam James Doug Lote Henry Life