THE opening two rounds of the British Cycling National BMX Summer Race Series took place on the recently re-opened BMX track in Derby with Royston Rockets putting in some very good performances. The weather was generally dry but chilly although the very l

THE opening two rounds of the British Cycling National BMX Summer Race Series took place on the recently re-opened BMX track in Derby with Royston Rockets putting in some very good performances.

The weather was generally dry but chilly although the very long and demanding track made it hard work for the 460 or more riders taking part.

The Rockets B had 11 riders competing over the two days of competition with the youngest being Ted Dalleywater who took seventh on both days in the eight-year class B final.

The Rockets' representative in the nine year class was Daniel Blanche who took two fourth place positions whilst in the 10 year class Aaron Dalleywater took a fifth on Saturday followed up with a fine third place in the A final on the Sunday.

The 13-14 year class saw James Handleigh taking eighth in the class B final in round one but he failed to qualify for the finals in round two.

In the same class Aston Blanche took a fifth and a sixth in the B finals.

In the 19 plus class Richard Townsend's season got off to a poor start as recent illness took its toll and he failed to make the finals, and in the Masters (30+) category Lee Alexander came out fighting with a seventh and fifth placing in the A finals.

The Cruiser classes (24 inch wheels) saw the introduction of a new 40-44 class which attracted over 20 riders including Royston's Danny Ancell who just missed out on finals qualification in both rounds.

Teammate Lee Alexander took second on day one but elected to scratch from day two to concentrate on the Master class, meanwhile Mark Seaman took a third on day two having been unable to make the first day's event.

The final class on the track was the Elite class which included GB's Olympic rider and riders with many World and European titles to their name including the current National Champion Laurence Mapp who took a third and a fourth place to get his season underway.

The next event on the race calendar is the third round of the Regional Summer Series at Milton Keynes on May 3 where the Rockets will again be out in force to chase points for their ranking positions.

The Rockets own summer programme start on April 21 with their regular Tuesday night sessions at the club's track in Burns Road.

Full details of forthcoming club and regional events are published on the club web site at www.roystonrockets.co.uk

You can also call 01763 260959 for more information on BMX racing.