Hundreds of BMX bikers from across Europe descended on Burnham-On-Sea at the weekend when the town’s BMX Club hosted two rounds of the British Cycling National BMX Series along with a Pre-Olympic European invitation race.
Top elite and junior BMX riders were in action from as far away as Latvia in the hope of taking away a share of the £4,000 prize fund.
Battle commenced with round eight of the National BMX Series on the Saturday under the watchful eye of Burnham’s soon-to-be-Olympian Liam Phillips.
“Local riders Sophie Gilroy, Rebecca Duckering, Lauren Stack and Amelia Silvestre did the girls proud,” Burnham BMX Club secretary Matt Duckering told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“The boys held up their end of the bargain with Howard Manaton, James Duckering, Roy Jones, Finley Mead, Kurt Pugsley and young Ben Saunders all performing well with many making the finals and taking home silverware.”
As the afternoon continued and the temperatures rose, some of the club’s more experienced riders, including Ryan Stack, Curtis Manaton and Tom Palmer did battle.
Tom was unfortunately in a commanding position in the final when he fell and could take no further part in the weekend’s racing.
As the meeting progressed, Bristol’s Marcus Bloomfield was commanding the elite male class with Burnham club riders Adam Brazil, Aaron Curry and Dan Tipton looking fast and smooth on home turf.
Round nine of the national series was held on Sunday and the local riders continued where they left off, with many of the club’s riders reaching the finals again with Lauren, Amelia, Ryan and James winning trophies.
“Temperatures again soared around the track, and the hose pipes were deployed not only to keep the dust down on the track, but to turn on the spectators and cool them down as well!,” added Matt.
“The club would like to thank Sedgemoor District Council and the local community for their help and understanding during the event as without this the event would not be possible.”
