Matthew Gilston.

 Saturday Motos: 4th, 2nd,4th Quarter: 4th Semi: 7th B final: 2nd

Saturday wasn’t too good results wise however it was really good to set me up for Sunday and get used to national racing again.

Sunday Motos: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Semi: 2nd Final: 4th Sunday was miles better. I made good moves and felt smooth all day. Unfortunately I missed my gate in the final but brought it back to forth in the first corner!

Luke Mendes

With this being my GCSE year, this National came right in the middle of my exams, but with a half term holiday happening after the National weekend, I thought it should be ok to take part.

Training had been going ok, but obviously with the lead up to exams and then writing the exams 2 weeks prior to the National I wasn’t able to do as much as I would have liked too.

Then 1 ½ weeks before the National, I crashed at the Redditch track while training, which ended up with me having a large cut to my elbow.

I arrived at Cyclopark ready to race on the Friday, and took part in the practice session, but unfortunately with the injured arm and not having much track time, I made the decision not to race the National.

I’m looking forward to the trip up to Scotland in a few weeks’ time, my exams will be over which will be one thing less to worry about, so I can focus more on my racing.

Josh Butson

Round 3: Motos – 1, 1, 1 Quarter – 1 Semi – 1 Final – 3

I hadn’t been riding as much as I would have liked in the lead up to this weekend, being in the middle of exams I have prioritised my time focusing on revision rather than riding my bike. Practice went well and I felt ready for the weekend ahead. Taking 3 moto wins was a great start to the day and I qualified first out of the motos. I won the quarter final from gate 1, and chose the same gate with the same result in the semi final. 1^stpick in the final, for the first time in a couple of years, I decided to stick with gate 1. I gated well and entered the first turn in 3^rdplace and kept that until the line. I think this was the best chance I’d had to win a national again but I cannot be disappointed to finish behind a w2 and a w4.

Round 4: Motos – 1, 1, 1 Quarter – 1 Semi – 2 Final – 6

The plan for Sunday was to repeat that of Saturday. My gate in the first moto wasn’t the best but I hit the first turn first and that settled me in for the day. I followed this up with 2 moto wins and a 1^stin the quarter final. Sticking with the gate 1 strategy again in the semi, unfortunately I didn’t get to the first turn first in this one and had to settle for a second place. Gate 4 in the final wasn’t what I was hoping for but I still felt confident I could make it work. This race just didn’t go to plan and I battled for a 6^thon the line. A much better weekend than being quartered both days at Manchester, but I left feeling I should have done better with the way I had been riding.

Neil Stewart

Rounds 3 & 4 of the British BMX Series went down at Cyclopark Gravesend this past weekend, the weather was glorious for the whole weekend despite some major storm showers and electrical bolts shooting through the sky on Saturday Night.

I have been away the last 6 weeks commentating all over Europe in the UEC European League and the UCI World Cups, that with cancelled races and other commitments I haven’t actually ridden my bike for 8 weeks!

Saturday Morning came around and I was ready early doors and first onto the track in my block practice, they say you never forget to ride a bike, and that certainly was the case after a few hot laps on my fairly unused Pure V5.

Vets moto’s on Saturday had 23 riders, so semi-finals were on the cards as per usual, and I was fairly confident I could make the Semi’s… But it didn’t start well when I powered down the first straight lighting up my Maxxis Torch Tyres in my first moto, I was second at one point, but by the time I crossed the finish line, I ended up 6^th…  A position I wasn’t use to… Maybe the lack of bike time hadn’t helped. Second moto came around and I was in third going into the last corner, but Oggy left the door open, knowing I needed low points, I went for the move inside, but Oggy had already turned, luckily we both went up the Turn onto the grass rather than crashing out, but the race was done, and I ended up 6^thagain!  2 Moto’s down and with 12 Points already, It looked like I get Moto’d for the first time in about 7 years!  I knew what I had to do, and I got Rich at Pure to tighten up my Amazing HT SX1 Pedals… The gate went down in moto 3 and I took the Holeshot, in the first turn Gunner came through on the inside, and I gladly followed him round in 2^ndto the finish! Was it enough to get through?  I waited patiently for the results, and yes, I had made it into the Semi’s!
Seeing Jools and Dovey have a run off, knowing I was safely through, was all the more sweeter… (that could have been me)

Semi Final time, and I had been getting good gates all day, but both Jools and the Flying Fox snapped me, and from there I was struggling, exhausted and sad, limped home in 8^th!

The B Final was the same, had a major dizzy spell in the pens, tried to gate, but shut it down after the first turn, 8^thin the B Final it was for me on Saturday

Sunday morning, and despite the stormy weather during the night, the track was mint, and the sun shone… Today was going to be a better day for my Pure V5!

3rd in the first moto, 4^thin the second moto, and 3^rdin the last moto, saw me cleanly through to the semi-final without any dramas, even getting a little airborne occasionally.  For the Semi Final my gate wasn’t great again, and I knew before the gate had dropped it would be between Jools and Me for the 4^thspot.  I chased hard but it wasn’t meant to be and 5^thin the Semi, wasn’t what I had hoped for…  I was gutted, as I know with more bike time and less Kebabs, I should’ve been in that A Final, but it was the consolation Final again for me…

I went for it, hanging on for dear life to my ODI grips, as I powered my Pure V5 down the first straight and into the lead, and despite a late charge from Andy Coryn, I hung on for the B Final win, it was a better end to the weekend than expected after all…

All of which was made more enjoyable watching Neal Gibson come across the line in the same B final, fellow Vets giving him a massive congrats…

Everyone knows Neal’s’ story, he’s an Amputee, with a mission in life to race BMX, he rode the Brits last year, and has now competed at a National Level, and made his first Semi Final, which lead to this his first Final.
That is what I love about BMX, the support Neal gets is well deserved… I hope he continues to inspire people around the world with his incredible story…

Thanks to Rich at Pure as always, and of course all our other sponsors who without their support, none of this would be possible.  See you in Baku, where the man on the bike will be mostly on the Mic!  @theenglishspeaker