The Love Not Money – RSD Sports team finished with impressive results in round 2 of the series at the National Indoor BMX Centre in Manchester.

With record numbers of riders signing up to compete, the action was switched from the planned double header to a format matching the British Championships; with Cruiser racing on Saturday and 20″ on Sunday. A mind blowing 890 entries from 770 riders took to the track over both days.

The Supercross race on Saturday evening saw some of the best riders in Europe take on the fearsome 8 metre hill, and we’re proud to say LNM’s Chris Potter signed up and finished a fantastic 40th in his debut SX race!!!

Overall, Love Not Money riders entered 19 National Series classes in round 2 and finished with; 9 A Final places (3 podiums) and 6 B Final places (4 podiums, 3 wins).

Thank you to our sponsors RSD Sports, O’Neal, Evans Cycles, Honey Stinger, Lizard Skins, Pedro’s and Rennen for the help and support!

The first ever National race at the £24million Indoor BMX Centre attracted the biggest rider turnout in over a decade with 710 signing up to face the challenging track. At stake was the glory of winning a National round as well as the prize of qualification for this year’s World Championships.

With Saturday’s Supercross showcase race having set the standard high, Sunday saw the action begin early with the Cruisers and youngest riders up first. Harry Ives had a great day in 7′s with a superb 2nd in the B Final to show for his efforts. He may be young but he didn’t seem overawed at the track or the scale of the event!

Fin Mead was LNM’s next rider up, hailing from Somerset he hasn’t had chance to get to grips with the track like his northern team-mates but that didn’t show as he rode brilliantly to a B Final win in 11′s. Mark Ferguson was representing in 30-34 and got through to the main taking 7th, a solid start to his season and his goal of at least 6th overall in the class. Damian Mead was right in the mix in the tough 35-39 class, making the main and coming away with 7th. He finished 4th overall the last two seasons so is a real contender in the class.

Shay Casey and Scott Dominguez were both doing double duty on 20″ and Cruiser meaning they had a very long day! Shay took the 9-12′s National Series title in 2011 so rode up in 13-14′s, alongside new team-mate Scott, for more challenge. Both riders made the track look easy with incredible skills on display delighting their fellow LNM riders and other spectators. On the big rigs, they made the A Final with room to spare and Scott narrowly lost out to Talent Team rider Paddy Sharrock, no stranger to the Manchester facility! Shay took 7th to round off a great day on 24″ wheels for the boys.

On 20′s they were in fine form too, with Shay getting the team’s best result of the day in the shape of 2nd place in 12′s. Scott made the A Final in 14′s  and came home in 5th, both are riders to keep an eye on not only for their results but the way they fearlessly jump the track!

16′s is a tough class with a lot of young talent. Love Not Money has two who rank up there with the best of them in Matt Saunders and new team-mate Mike Njuguna. Motos were no problem for either rider and they were drawn in the same quarter final. Matt was running 2nd with Mike 3rd down the final straight when an uncharacteristic crash left Matt in the dirt and out of the semi. 29th was his result but his riding on the day rated a much higher place. Mike went on to make the A Final and a strong ride netted him a great 5th place.

The posse of Love Not Money riders we have in 17-24 were in the thick of the action with Shaun Issitt taking time off from his busy schedule of interviewing other riders for the official edit of the weekend (the camera loves him) to make the main. Peeebz was storming through his motos to the delight of his team-mates with a 3-3-2 to make the quarters, where a 5th place left him disappointed not to advance further. His riding shows his potential and he’ll be hungry to build on a great opening round performance. Shane Dean is one of the youngest in the class and certainly felt like he needs some weetabix as he rode well but went out in the quarters finishing 25th for the day. He’s got bags of talent so will come back brighter!

Chris Potter was doing double duty and had encountered the rigidity of the stewards earlier in the day when they refused to allow him to get his bike in time to make his semi in 17-29. He compensated somewhat by winning the B on the big rig. On his smaller wheeled bike he impressed by making the B Final where he grabbed 6th place. Shaun took 5th in the A Final behind riders who raced Elite last year, showing he’s one of the contenders in the class. Overall out of 52 riders (by far the largest class on the day) LNM riders took 5th, 14th, 17th and 25th.

25-29 had two of The Brotherhood in the mix, it’s a small but physical class and Joe Davenport survived an interesting experience where he was forced to transition from the pro line to avoid a crash. He missed out on the final by a single point and vowed to come back stronger next round. Ross Gill was in his first National action since a very nasty crash at Redditch last year, he took 11th on the day in a solid outing.

Dave Ives was back on his preffered 20″ after a year spent focusing on Cruiser in 2011. He was always in the hunt in a super tough Masters class, which featured the likes of Dale Holmes, Dylan Clayton, Daz Reidy, Alan Hill and Tony Fleming, all World class riders. Three of last year’s top eight didn’t make it out of motos. Now that’s a tough class… Dave made the B Final and ended 5th, a brilliant result that validates his decision to return to the little bike.

Overall, Love Not Money had 15 riders in 18 classes and finished with 8 A-Final appearances and 5 B Final appearances including 2 wins!

With the countdown well underway to the 2012 BMX World Champs at the NIA in Birmingham, the website has all the details for riders and spectators;

http://www.bmxworldchamps.com/

It’s taken a while, but it was worth the wait! The Love Not Money clothing range is now available to buy online. The format for now is an interim shop whilst we sort the tech stuff out; check out the pages for Men’s, Women’s and Hoodies and get in touch at rooster@lovenotmoney.net we’ll check stock, calculate postage and reply with PayPal payment details.

The Children’s range will be online soon!

It’s now just under nine weeks until the first race of the 2012 British BMX Series

The event will be held at the fabilous new National Indoor BMX Centre in Manchester, £20million worth of BMX race goodness. It’ll be the same format as the British Championships; Cruisers on Saturday and 20″ on Sunday to give the venue chance to run a National without the added stress of a double header weekend.

This traditional double header format will return for the next rounds of the Series, also held at the Indoot Centre, on February 18th & 19th.

The 2011 National Series came to a thrilling climax in Manchester, with Love Not Money – RSD Sports claiming a title and capping the season in style.

Manchester was the finale to a brilliant year of National Series racing for LNM; as we’ve proved we’re a force on the circuit with race wins, high finishes and many finals appearances.

Shay Casey clinched the 9-12 Cruiser title with two wins, giving him 7 out of 8 (with a 2nd place in that round) for the season in a class he only picked up later in the year! Shay also rode brilliantly on 20″ all year, finishing 4th overall.

Roy Sutton has been battling all year with Dave Ives for the title in 30-34, with the wins divided between the two of them. Despite winning 3 rounds and never finishing worse than 2nd, Sutty lost out to Dave for the overall title.

Shane Dean clinched 8th overall in 16′s with a great weekend of riding, making the main on Sunday. Shane has been pushing himself hard this season and has suffered more than a few crashes as a result but always picks himself up!

Matt Saunders ended the year on a high too with some excellent riding at his home track, netting high finishes in his motos and a great weekend at his home track making the A Final on Saturday (7th) and the B on Sunday. Matty continues to develop as a rider and has a bright future as he’ll be moving up to 16′s next year.

Matty Glynn has continued his progression in his first year on 20″, with a pair of B Final appearances in Manchester. Since making the switch from Cruiser, he’s become comfortable on the smaller bike and has acquitted himself well in the tough 17-24 class.

Shaun Issitt is still out with an injury but finished 18th overall, with Matty 19th,  in 17-24, after only racing 4 rounds! He’ll be back in the class next year which may see a change to 17-29. Ross Gill and James Tresman also missed the Manchester rounds with injuries but like Shaun are aiming to come back brighter in 2012.

Thank you to our sponsors RSD Sports, One, O’Neal, Honey Stinger, Deb, Sutty’s Hoops and Very Own Studio for the support. Next up; THE BRITS!

all pictures in this report courtesy of Rob Dean

Love Not Money – RSD Sports riders had a mixed experience at the latest rounds of the National BMX Series, with Shay Casey and Roy “Sutty” Sutton taking well deserved wins on Cruisers whilst Ross Gill had a nightmare crash on Saturday.

Shay has been doubling up at recent rounds, with extra action on Cruiser not hampering his 20″ riding.  At Redditch he added to his win total with victory on Saturday, with his 2nd on Sunday enough to move him into 2nd overall  in the standings despite only having raced four of the eight rounds so far!

Sutty has been locked in a tight battle with SE’s Dave Ives this season in 30-34 Cruiser but his win on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday was enough to keep him atop the standings with four rounds left.

Matt Saunders had a great day at the office on Sunday, making the Semi in 15′s and taking 7th in the B Final.

Matty Glynn is in his first year in 17-24 after switching from Cruiser and rode brilliantly at Redditch taking 4th in the B Final on both days.

Shane Dean was also in the mix, with more B Final places for the team; he took 2nd and 3rd over the weekend. Rooster had a busy day on Sunday with 10 race laps; 4 on Cruiser and the rest in Masters thanks to a run off to make the Semi. In what he described as the best lap of his life he won the run off and went on to take 7th in the B Final.

Ross Gill was in the mix in 25-29 but a huge crash which wrote off his helmet and neck brace saw him taken to hospital in an ambulance.  Concussion left him out of action for Sunday and possibly the rest of the season.  He joins Shaun on the LNM injured list, with both riders looking forward to a proper rehab and 2012.

After a few weeks filled with Euro racing and Regional action, the National BMX Series returns with last year’s winners of the Best National award, Braintree, playing host to rounds 5 & 6.

For some of the Love Not Money – RSD Sports team it’ll be a chance to take some valuable points in the overall standings, but for some it’s a great test of form before they head off to Valkenswaard in Holland for the European BMX Championships in a week’s time.

Congratulations to Love Not Money Assistant Team Manager Roy “Sutty” Sutton for claiming his first National Series win, with victory in  30-34 Cruiser on Saturday.

The victory comes after a long offseason spent training hard and is also the first National Series win for Love Not Money.

The win capped a great weekend for the team, with Shane Dean and Shaun Issitt both returning to racing after injury; Shane after a nasty crash at Peterborough and Shaun after damaging his knee playing football. Shane won the B Final in 16′s both days, with Shaun taking the B Final win on Sat and 3rd on Sun in 17-24.

Shay Casey got 8th in 11 Boys on Saturday and bettered it with a fantastic 5th place the following day. Matty Saunders rode brilliantly to make the B Final in a stacked 15 Boys class (with 30 riders) netting 8th place on Saturday but a crash off the track that evening saw him sit out Sunday’s action.

Rooster was doing double duty, racing on Cruiser and 20″. Saturday saw him 6th on the big rig with a crash in Masters leaving him moto’d. Sunday saw him take 8th on the Cruiser but make the Masters B Final and get 7th.

Peterborough played a perfect host to the first two rounds of the 2011 National BMX Series with blue skies, bright sunshine and a record rider turnout.

Over 650 riders signed up each day, no doubt with a view to qualifying for the 2012 World Championships in Birmingham. With Shaun Issitt sidelined through injury, it was left to the seven other Love Not Money – RSD Sports team riders to fly the flag at the popular Peterborough track.

The Start Hill, or rather lack of hill made the first straight a very pedally affair and added to the challenge of the track.

Shay Casey was the first in action and performed brilliantly with a pair of 4th places over the weekend.

pic by Carl Lein 

Shane Dean had a huge crash in a moto on Saturday and was taken to hospital, thankfully he had no serious injuries but it left him unable to ride on Sunday.

Matthew Saunders battled it through to an excellent 6th place in the B-Final of 15 Boys, which had 32 riders. Sunday saw him make the Quarter Finals but advance no further.

Matty Glynn had a rough day at the office on Saturday, suffering from a severe headache and was sick several times. He showed courage and got on with the racing but didn’t make it out of motos either day.

Ross Gill was another rider who hit the dirt, looked good in his first moto in 25-29 until a trailing rider took him out and in the resulting crash Ross injured his foot. Not wanting to let a thing like a partially torn off big toe nail derail his racing, Ross carried on but didn’t make the main, with another crash on Sunday adding to his bruises he was moto’d on the day.

Rooster had the best weekend of racing in his short career and battled it out in 30-34 to 11th both days, but at the other end of the same class Sutty was in fantastic form and took 2nd place each day. On Sunday Roy crashed in his 2nd moto and injured his elbow and lost a tooth, but this didn’t slow him down and he was leading the Main until the first berm where a determined Dave Ives (SE Racing) managed to overtake.

The Nationals resume with rounds 3 & 4 on May 20th-22nd at Dagenham