Superb finish
What a finish to the 2018 Acklams Beta ACU British Youth Championship rounds at the tough and demanding Bracken Rocks venue. The Mansfield Maun MCC had laid out a three-lap course taking in twelve hazards. The sunshine of a warm July kept the action ‘hot’ as the riders battled for the top spots in their respective classes. It’s been an exciting series which has seen good support in the various classes, apart from the A Class. The ACU gave two choices of championships for the riders, which has left a divide of which one to compete in. Taking away no credit from the winner it is a fact that it’s killed this championship for the A class riders with only five pointsscoring riders during the whole season.
A Class Champion: Joe Faunthorpe (Acklams Beta) Taking the championship by the closest of margins, with a single point being the difference between Joe Faunthorpe (Beta) and Daniel Slack (Sherco) has seen the winner hold the upper hand with three wins to Slack’s two in the five rounds contested. At Bracken Rocks the first lap swung both ways before they both finished on 24 marks lost. On the second and final lap it was time for Faunthorpe to stamp his authority on the event as he returned two single-lap scores, pulling away from Slack who had no answer to the eventual winner’s fantastic form when it mattered. These two riders have fought very hard for the championship and Faunthorpe left himself some work to do as he slipped to third position at round three, but he never lost sight of the championship and is a very worthy winner. ROUND 5: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: Joe Faunthorpe (Beta) 41; 2: Daniel Slack (Sherco) 55; 3: William Clarke (Beta) 115. 2018 A CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Faunthorpe 92; 2: Slack 91; 3: Harris 45; 4: Dalton 41; 5: Clarke 26.
B Class Champion: Ben Dignan (Gas Gas)
What a tight championship this has been, with Scotland’s Ben Dignan remaining focussed to eventually take the title after a season-long battle with eventual second and third-placed finishers Jack Dance and Reece Gazzard. Despite Dance and Gazzard winning the opening rounds, with Ben finishing as runner-up on both occasions he knew that once had taken the win at round three he was on a level playing field with his two rivals. Competing in the Trial125 class of the Trial World Championship has seen him use this experience to take a vital victory at round four as Dance slipped to third on the day. As both Dance and Gazzard battled with one another it was allowing Dignan to creep ahead of these two to take the championship with a small but clear advantage. Small in stature but big on talent, Harry Turner made fourth position his own keeping well in front of an interesting battle for fifth position. This revolved around Harry Bowyer, brothers Ross and Jamie Galloway and Harvey Taglione, with Bowyer eventually winning this close battle at the close of the championship having had better consistency in his results. ROUND 5: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: Jack Dance (Gas Gas) 7; 2: Ben Dignan (Gas Gas) 12; 3: Reece Gazzard (Scorpa) 30; 4: Harry Turner (Gas Gas) 48; 5: Harvey Taglione (Gas Gas) 92; 6: Harry Bowyer (Gas Gas) 94; 7: Ross Galloway (TRS) 101; 8: Frankie Rhodes (Beta) 102; 9: Owen Chestnut (Gas Gas) 103; 10: Jamie Galloway (TRS) 106. 2018 B CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Dignan 91; 2: Dance 85; 3: Gazzard 84; 4: Turner 61; 5: Bowyer 47; 6: Ross Galloway 45; 7: Jamie Galloway 42; 8: Taglione 42; 9: Minta 30; 10: Chestnut 26.
C Class Standard Wheel Champion: Harry Hemingway (Beta-UK) Already looking like a star of the future the elder (by two years) of the Hemingway brothers Harry stamped his authority on this championship from the word go with his younger brother George second. Performing on the Beta with a maturity above his young years Harry convincingly won every round, with George following suit in second position. Behind these two the eventual third-placed championship finisher Max Agar had a series-long battle with Charlie Crossland. The final podium step was decided in the last two rounds as Crossland undid all the early-season hard work with a close finish giving Agar the verdict by a mere two points. Just off the pace in fifth position was Corey Peters in this Beta-dominated youth class. ROUND 6: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: Harry Hemingway (Beta) 2; 2: George Hemingway (Beta) 19; 3: Max Agar (Beta) 60; 4: Corey Peters (Beta) 72; 5: Charlie Crossland (Beta) 75; 6: Alfie Ray-Turner (Beta) 100. 2018 C CLASS STANDARD WHEEL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Harry Hemingway 120; 2: George Hemingway 102; 3: Agar 82; 4: Crossland 80; 5: Peters 71; Ray-Turner 60. C Class Medium Wheel Champion: Jasper Fox (Beta) Winning four of the six championship rounds gave Jasper Fox the ability to pull away from his fellow competitors as eventual series runner-up Euan Sim won one round, as did third-place finisher Toby Shaw. Apart from the first round, where he finished third, Fox has been super consistent always having the upper hand on his closest challenger Euan Sim, who has tried his best at every round to challenge for the wins. Beta machinery once again dominated this class. ROUND 6: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: Jasper Fox (Beta) 93; 2: George Clarke (Beta) 97; 3: Euan Sim (Beta) 108; 4: Summer Peters (Beta) 139. 2018 C CLASS MEDIUM WHEEL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Fox 112; 2: Sim 95; 3: Shaw 71; 4: Fannon 56; 5: Peters 39.
D Class Medium Wheel Champion: Elliott Smith (OSET) Little Elliot Smith will be very happy with this championship win as he follows his older brother Oliver through the trials ranks learning his trade. This championship has been a very open one with no clear leader showing up until the final rounds. Eventual championship winner Smith has battled all season with Joe Drysdale and William Sagar who was riding the Beta. Individual round winners include Stanley Cubbon at round one, Joe Drysdale at round five with William Sagar taking two including the final round, and championship winner Smith two. The battle at the final round was very close between the top two championship contenders with Sagar closing the season with the win over Smith by just three marks. These top riders in this class have learnt the hard way that consistency in any championship is the key factor for winning. ROUND 6: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: William Sagar (Beta) 35; 2: Elliott Smith (OSET) 38; 3: Max Dance (Gas Gas) 69; 4: Stanley Cubbon (Beta) 70; 5: Joe Drysdale (OSET) 91 2018 D CLASS MEDIUM WHEEL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Smith 106; 2: Drysdale 93; 3: Sagar 85; 4: Cubbon 76; 5: Dance 74. D Class Small Wheel Champion: Ellis Barton (OSET) Full of entertainment, this is the class where the trials adventure on the championship chase begins for many. Super consistent Ellis Barton made all the hard work pay off as the season concluded, as he had managed with some excellent riding to pull away from the chasing pack. The last round winner on the rocks at this tough venue, Archie Bremner, did not contest the full series missing the first two. Riding in only four rounds he won three, much to his delight. Ruari Younie took the runner-up position in this well supported class despite not winning a round, finishing just a few points in front of Jacob Wilson. ROUND 6: MANSFIELD MAUN RESULTS: 1: Archie Bremner (OSET) 11; 2: Ellis Barton (OSET) 12; 3: Ruari Younie (OSET) 22; 4: Liam Barker (OSET) 27; 5: Jacob Wilson (Beta) 31; 6: Robbie Bremner (OSET) 41; 7: Corey Shepherd (Mecatecno) 41; 8: Kai Fairhurst (OSET) 49; 9: Tom Gibbins (OSET) 51; 10: Oliver Watson (OSET) 56. 2018 D CLASS SMALL WHEEL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS RESULTS: 1: Barton 109; 2: Younie 88; 3: Wilson 82; 4: Bremner 77; 5: Shepherd 59; 6: Fairhurst 54; 7: Barker 38; 8: Gibbins 31; 9: Crawford 25; 10: Watson 24.