No Rain, but LNM stars shine in Manchester
- February 23rd, 2012
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The National Indoor BMX Centre in Manchester has sometimes been controversial; the vast cost, the fact that it was an investment in what some consider a small sport and even the location have all been debating points in recent months. Events like the second round of the British BMX Series underline one essential fact though – the centre is a fantastic gift to BMX racing in Britain!
Weather-proofing never seemed important in our outdoor sport, but the Indoor has allowed top quality training and racing throughout the winter when many tracks are closed due to poor weather and damaged tracks. So, whilst the rain came down, the Love Not Money stars came out and shone on the track!
Round 2 saw the team debut the new race jerseys, designed by team rider Mark Ferguson who is a graphic designer in his day job with his company Very Own Studio. The tops, produced by team sponsor RSD Sports feature a superlight fabric that allows vibrant printing without distortion whilst still retaining strength, a feature tested by several team riders over the course of the weekend!
With racing switched to the same format as the British Championships, which sees Cruiser racing on Saturday and 20″ racing on Sunday, the event ran far more smoothly than the first round which was blighted by delays. Saturday night also saw another Supercross race, with Love Not Money – RSD Sports rider Chris Potter in action against some of Europe’s top pro riders, including Team GB’s Liam Phillips!
The big rigs action was every bit as intense as the small wheeled variety of Bicycle Motocross and saw Fin Mead take up the challenge in 9-12′s after some fine tuning of his Redline with our Pedro’s tool range. Fin came home with a fantastic 4th place, he’s now qualified for the 2012 World Championships in Birmingham on the 24″ as well as his 20″!
Scott Dominguez is no stranger to double duty and day one saw him in the mix in 13-14′s finishing in an excellent 3rd. Chris Potter warmed up for his crack at SX with a cracking 4th in 17-29 and Mark Ferguson rode brilliantly in 30-34, looking set to record his best finish in 4th down the last straight until a clash of wheels saw him sample the track surface and relegated to 8th.
35-39 is a tough class with all killers and no fillers! Damian Mead and Dave Ives are Love Not Money -RSD Sports’s battlers in this class and both were in the mix making it out of motos and into the hotly contested semi. Being drawn together in the same semi gave less margin for error and both riders gave it their all to try and make the main. That honour went to Dave as he crossed the line in 4th, one place of his team-mate. Damian was diappointed to miss out on the main, somehwere he’s been a regular visitor too in recent years, but a solid 7th in the B Final is a useful result when series points are tallied. Dave ended day one of his racing with 5th in the A Final.
The SX racing saw some of the most exciting action these shores have seen in a very long time, with Liam Phillips taking the win to the crowd’s delight. Chris made the monster start hill and daunting first jump look easy and finished in 40th, with 6th in motos his best placing. A great result from him, especially when you consider he’s barely ridden the pro line! BMXKit.com/Hunter Racing’s Vilma Rimsaite is co-sponsored by LNM and is no stranger to 8 metre hills and world class competition. She took 2nd in the SX on Saturday. For the record, Vilma’s favourite Honey Stinger flavour is the peanut butter energy bar!
Day two was another early start and straight into action was Harry Ives our youngest rider. “H” was looking good in motos but just missed out in a tough semi. He put a smile on everyone in the LNM team area’s faces though with a commanding win in the B Final (leaving proud dad Dave to wonder why he doesn’t do it in the semi’s too!)
Fin showed that he’s as good on his 20″ as he is on Cruiser and was once again the only rider in his 11′s motos to clear the first jump. He got a brilliant 6th in the main.
Shay Casey is well used to getting big air on the tough Indoor track and he was once again fearless in 12′s, at the front of all his races and coming home with a superb 2nd place in the Main.
Scott was also meaning business in his races, but had a tougher time on 20″ and missed out on the main. His B Final win goes some way to soothing his disappointment though!
16′s is no easy class, but Love Not Money – RSD Sports has two guys who make it their own; Matthew Saunders was looking set to make the semi in Rd 1 until an uncharacteristic error on the last straight saw him crash out. No such problems this time as he made it to the B Final and grabbed a very respectable 4th for his efforts. Keep your eye on him, he improves every round! Mike Njuguna is relaxed on and off the track – his smooth style took him all the way to the main where he took a brilliant 3rd place.
When we say 17-24 is stacked, we really mean it; 55 riders making it by far the biggest of the weekend, with 4 LNM boys in the mix! Josh Nicholas continues to improve each round, with some fantastic moto placings that show he’s a real contender. 3rd in moto 1 was followed by him sitting 2nd into the last berm in moto 2 when a clash forced him wide and took him from a comfortable qualifying position to having it all to do in moto 3. This was a moto with his team-mates Chris Potter and Shane Dean in, so all were going all out for the top 4. in 4th, 5th and 6th (Peeebz, Chris and Shane) down the 3rd straight, a rider crashed leaving no room for Peeebz and Chris to take evasive action and down they went. O’neal kit and RSD jerseys dusty but undamaged, they picked themselves up and headed for the line.
Shane and Chris had done enough to make the quarters but Peeebz had to steel himself for a run off. battered from the crash, he missed out on the quarters by a place. Shaun Issitt had been faring better then his team-mates and was the only LNM rider to make it to the semis, but he was disappointed not to make the Main. 1st in the B Final made him the best of the rest on the day though.
Ross Gill and Joe Davenport are our men in 25-29, a small but nevertheless fast and physical class where no quarter is asked for or given! Joe improved his results every moto, but couldn’t make the Main. Ross may give away size to several of the riders in the class, but what he lacks in stature he more than makes up for with speed and determination. Battling to the A Final he finished with a great 6th place. Both riders had done enough to qualify for the World Championships!
Masters is an incredible class; full of riders with talent and years of experience of top competition on the big stage. The first round featured former Elite World Champion Dale Holmes taking the win, Round 2 saw “Doc Smooth” Dylan Clayton take the spoils. Quality field from top to bottom. Dave was in the mix all the way through and 2nd in the B Final in such illustrious company is a fantastic result! He also added qualification to the Worlds on 20″ to his spot on Cruiser.
Overall, a fantastic weekend of action with a brilliant team atmosphere in the tents. Thank you to 2024 Magazine’s ace photographer Spencer Moret for the superb pics of the Love Not Money riders in action and a massive thank you to our super sponsors RSD Sports, O’Neal, Evans Cycles, Pedro’s, Lizard Skins, Honey Stinger and Rennen, without whom we couldn’t do this!
