The regions South East and East teams swept all three national leagues on Sunday in the Battle of Britain competition.
The North and Scotland arrived at Great Blakenham for the Junior and Senior matches with a match in hand and the potential to force a playoff. The East were at full strength and took both matches comfortably to win the titles.
The Juniors showed how far they have developed under Richard Fellgett and Ashley Hill’s coaching, dropping only two heats to the visitors and all riders returning a three point or better heat average.
Eathan Mitchell’s match finished early with a spectacular crash, flipping over his handlebars and landing on his feet, walking away with a smile and sore wrist.
Pierce Bacon, in his last competitive meeting, captained the Junior team, signing off with a final heat 7-3 win alongside brother Harrison and collecting the series trophy.
South East and East Juniors 107: Tyler Brinkhoff 17+3, Harrison Bacon 14+1, Pierce Bacon 15+1, Ben Clarke 16+3, Adam Cooper 13, Lewis Brinkhoff 19, James Porter 8, Ethan Mitchell 2, Owen Wells 4+1
North and Scotland 71
The Seniors went one better than the Juniors, conceding just one heat to the North’s Ed Morton and Adam Watson.
The racing was closer than the Junior match, the East providing 15 of the 20 heat winners and the work being done by their partners to deliver ten 6-4 heat wins.
Jonjo Slaughter deserved more for his efforts than his 9+2, and 15 year old Lewis Brinkhoff delivered another display of confident team riding against older more experienced riders.
South East and East Juniors 113: Josh Brooke 21+1, Matt HIll 11+1, Jonjo Slaughter 9+2, Lewis Osborne 16+1, Richard Fellgett 21, Ashley Hill 20, Lewis Brinkhoff 9, TylerBrinkhoff 6
North and Scotland 86
At Cookson Park in Sheffield the combined Eastern and Northern region Women’s squad completed their season as champions of the Battle of Britain Women’s League. Ipswich’s Gemma Hill won the Intermediate Pairs competition with Exeter’s Miah Laing, and Ipswich’s Charlie Jane Herbert finished second in the Expert Pairs with Exeter’s Lauren Hookway.
Meanwhile, Great Blakenham will travel to Poole on Sunday to face Poole, Astley & Tyldesley and Wednesfield in the KO Cup finals. Blakenham beat Ipswich by a point to secure their place on the south coast.
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