The Thor British Youth National Championship headed over the border to the hardpack track at Duns in Scotland last weekend, for round four of the series, where Wal Beaney, Vinnie Guthrie, Dominic Lancett, Rossi Beard and Jed Etchells enjoyed the overall honours as the championship challenges really hot up.
In the junior 65cc class Wal Beaney and Ollie Colmer provided another weekend of outstanding racing at Duns, the newest venue to the British Youth National Championship calendar, which has previously held an array of major off-road events and is now managed by former British Motocross Championship star Bryan Mackenzie.
After a dominant first day, championship leader Beaney looked to be on the way to taking the top spot for the Duns round with three out of three wins, however Ollie Colmer put on a fine performance on day two to secure the final two wins of the weekend. Beaney’s consistency gave him the overall with Colmer second and Finley Evans in third. Keelan Hope and Fin Wilson rounded out the top five.
In the Small Wheel 85cc class we saw some great battles between Vinnie Guthrie, Alfie Jones and Charlie Heyman, who returned to racing following an injury earlier in the year. After some superb on-track action, Guthrie took the overall with Jones second,and Heyman third. Oliver Barr was fourth while Raife Broadley took fifth overall. With just 14 points separating Guthrie and Jones in the championship, the final two rounds are certainly expected to be exciting for these two juniors.
In the Big Wheel 85cc class Dominic Lancett had it pinned throughout all motos and in impressive style took all five chequered flags, further extending his championship lead to 124 points. It was a great spectacle of hard fought fights up and down the rest of the field throughout the five motos, especially between Kyle McNicol, James Smith and Bobby Bruce who took second, third and fourth positions.
In the 125cc class Rossi Beard continued his assault on the championship with four out of five wins, although Callum Mitchell, who won moto two of the weekend, and Ryan Allison certainly put up a strong fight for second and third overall. Drew Anderson was fourth and Ike Carter took fifth position. Beard is 125 points clear of Anderson in the championship with an impressive 15 wins from 20 starts this season.
In the open class it was a close one between the top three of Jed Etchells, Howard Wainwright and Tom Grimshaw who enjoyed some bar-to-bar battles throughout all of the five motos. Etchells looked to enjoy the hardpack circuit at the weekend as he took moto one, four and five wins from current championship leader Wainwright, who won races two and three. Wainwright leads the championship by 35 points over Grimshaw, while Etchells sits 42 points from the top of the field going into the penultimate round of the series.
Jed Etchells commented: “I really enjoyed this weekend at Duns for the BYN because it the track gets quite technical. Saturday started of well for me, as I finished first in qualifying and I finished first in race one. Unfortunately in race two my rear sprocket lost 20 back teeth from they chain going slack, making the power slower, but luckily it managed to stay on so I could finish third. In the third race I had a bad start, but was able to fight back through the pack to second. On the Sunday the track was ripped up and watered, so it very soon got very rough and technical, which suits me best. In race four I got third off the gate, but was able to gain first place early on. For race five I had the worst start of the weekend, but I was determined to get to the front. I was able to get in the lead after a few laps and have a comfortable lead for the win. Overall I felt the weekend went very well for me and I loved the track, especially on Sunday in the rough. I have gained some good points on Howard and Tom and I cant wait for Landrake.”
The Apico Factory Racing Holeshot awards were presented to Finley Evans, Vinnie Guthrie, Jack Galvin, Ryan Allison and Tom Grimshaw.