ACU British Supercross Report
December 1, 2009 11:06am
Words & Images: Rick Blyth
The evergreen Mike Brown and Canadian champion Colton Facciotti were the night’s big winners as the opening round of the Future West ACU British Supercross Championship kicked off inside Birmingham’s NEC on Saturday night. The traditional Sheffield series opener had been jettisoned in favor of taking the race to the NEC as part of the annual ten-day National Motorcycle Show at the NEC complex – round two runs on the second weekend of the show this Saturday – and inside the cavernous show hall, riders faced a very tight and technical track in front of a modest crowd.
As the lights went down for the evening show, it was time for the main event to take place, starting with the Pro heat races. The main drama saw U Tag Yamaha’s Zach Osborne in the SX2 LCQ after a crash. Osborne had no such trouble in the one-lap head-to-head races, however, the American taking the win in the final showdown with David Goosen to record his only victory of the evening’s finals.
The British Open final – open to UK riders only - got the main final races underway, and when the gate dropped it was privateer Carl Brogden who took the lead ahead of James Dodd, while one of the pre-race favorites, Kristian Whatley, suffered bad luck with a crash in the first corner. Experience counts for a huge amount indoors, and as the race wore down, GP vet Gordon Crockard put his experience to great use and pushed into the lead - and aboard a hybrid KX250 smoker, too! Dodd hung in there to for a superb second as veteran Danny Tollett claimed third.
Errors played a huge part in the night’s proceedings, and on such a tight, short track, one small slip or lapse in concentration had big consequences. But there was not much of that from eventual SX Lites victor Colton Facciotti, who pushed hard to keep in front of Mike Brown and bag his first win of the series, as fellow Canuck Kyle Beaton dropped out of the top three. Osborne claimed a solid third; but for a couple of small errors, he would have been further up the podium.
The final race of the night was the SX1 final, and it was a Mike Brown master class, as the British SX regular rode a solid and controlled race to claim the win. Gordon Crockard moved to the front impressively after a bad start to bag second place ahead of Colton Facciotti, who ousted Samsung Yamaha’s new American signing, Ben LaMay.
A full complement of Amateur and Youth racing supported the Pro classes, and the dominant force in both the Clubman Lites and Clubman Open amateur finals was local boy Chad Yarranton, who swept both class wins with gate-to-flag victories. The defending Clubman Lites champion took the win and the series lead ahead of Dominic Foreman and Jason Varnham in the Lites final, while he bested Jake Hassell and Jim O’Neill in the Open class showdown.
The Auto-class youngsters attacked the highly technical track with vigor, but it was Reagan Brooks who ruled the night. He took the race win ahead of Daniel Brough in second place and Lewis Thomas in third. The race of the night came from the 65cc class, where Conrad Mewse took the early race lead and began to check out at the front as he doubled his way through the rhythm sections like the Pros. With Mewse out front, the battle was for second place saw Alfie Wilkie chase down Connor Hughes. Wilkie kept the crowd on its feet every lap as he cleared the large finish-line double, but Hughes kept his head and took second.
Ben Watson was going for an 85cc-class double, and he got off to a winning start in the Small-Wheel division. He made a bad start and was mired in the mid-pack out of turn one, but come the end of the opening lap he was out front. It was plain sailing from then on, as Scooter Webster took second in front of Chubbie Hammond. A small mistake and a crash at the mid-race point denied Watson the double, however, and Bradley Ward stepped up to take the win as Watson came home in second ahead of Tom Neal.
The second round takes places at the NEC again this coming Saturday, December 5.
Pro SX1 Results
1. Mike Brown (USA)
2. Gordon Crockard (GB)
3. Colton Facciotti (CAN)
4. Ben Lamay (USA)
5. David Goosen (GB)
6. Spencer Knowles (CAN)
7. Ryan Blizzard (USA)
8. Carl Jones (GB)
9. Richard Worrall (GB)
10. Carl Jones (GB)
Pro SX2
1. Colton Facciotti (CAN)
2. Mike Brown (USA)
3. Zach Osborne (USA)
4. David Goosen (GB)
5. Kyle Beaton (CAN)
6. Ben Lamay (USA)
7. Ryan Blizzard (USA)
8. Spencer Knowles (CAN)
9. Jordan Booker (GB)
10. Kristian Whatley (GB)
British Open
1. Gordon Crockard (GB)
2. James Dodd (GB)
3. Danny Tollet (GB)
4. Lewis Rose (GB)
5. Kristian Whatley (GB)
6. Jason Varnham (GB)
7. Jordan Booker (GB)
8. Rowan Hill (GB)
9. Daniel Brough (GB)
10. Richard Worrall (GB)
Youth Lites
1. Matt Bayliss
2. Luke Norris
3. Edward Briscoe
4. Mark Perfect
5. Christy Harnett
Clubman Open
1. Chad Yarranton
2. Jake Hassell
3. Jim O’Neill
4. Christy Harnett
5. Richard Grey
Clubman Lites
1. Chad Yarranton
2. Dominic Foreman
3. Jason Varnham
4. Christy Harnett
5. Ross Clarke
SuperMini
1. Bradley Ward
2. Ben Watson
3. Tom Neal
4. Liam Garland
5. Adan Darbyshire
85cc
1. Ben Watson
2. Scooter Webster
3. Chubbie Hammond
4. Max Acres
5. Tom Neal
65cc
1. Conrad Mewse
2. Conner Hughes
3. Albie Wilkie
4. Dylan Woodcock
5. Troy Willerton
Auto
1. Reagan Brookes
2. Daniel Breen
3. louis Thomas
4. Charlie Burt
5. James Scott
The evergreen Mike Brown and Canadian champion Colton Facciotti were the night’s big winners as the opening round of the Future West ACU British Supercross Championship kicked off inside Birmingham’s NEC on Saturday night. The traditional Sheffield series opener had been jettisoned in favor of taking the race to the NEC as part of the annual ten-day National Motorcycle Show at the NEC complex – round two runs on the second weekend of the show this Saturday – and inside the cavernous show hall, riders faced a very tight and technical track in front of a modest crowd.
As the lights went down for the evening show, it was time for the main event to take place, starting with the Pro heat races. The main drama saw U Tag Yamaha’s Zach Osborne in the SX2 LCQ after a crash. Osborne had no such trouble in the one-lap head-to-head races, however, the American taking the win in the final showdown with David Goosen to record his only victory of the evening’s finals.
The British Open final – open to UK riders only - got the main final races underway, and when the gate dropped it was privateer Carl Brogden who took the lead ahead of James Dodd, while one of the pre-race favorites, Kristian Whatley, suffered bad luck with a crash in the first corner. Experience counts for a huge amount indoors, and as the race wore down, GP vet Gordon Crockard put his experience to great use and pushed into the lead - and aboard a hybrid KX250 smoker, too! Dodd hung in there to for a superb second as veteran Danny Tollett claimed third.
Errors played a huge part in the night’s proceedings, and on such a tight, short track, one small slip or lapse in concentration had big consequences. But there was not much of that from eventual SX Lites victor Colton Facciotti, who pushed hard to keep in front of Mike Brown and bag his first win of the series, as fellow Canuck Kyle Beaton dropped out of the top three. Osborne claimed a solid third; but for a couple of small errors, he would have been further up the podium.
The final race of the night was the SX1 final, and it was a Mike Brown master class, as the British SX regular rode a solid and controlled race to claim the win. Gordon Crockard moved to the front impressively after a bad start to bag second place ahead of Colton Facciotti, who ousted Samsung Yamaha’s new American signing, Ben LaMay.
A full complement of Amateur and Youth racing supported the Pro classes, and the dominant force in both the Clubman Lites and Clubman Open amateur finals was local boy Chad Yarranton, who swept both class wins with gate-to-flag victories. The defending Clubman Lites champion took the win and the series lead ahead of Dominic Foreman and Jason Varnham in the Lites final, while he bested Jake Hassell and Jim O’Neill in the Open class showdown.
The Auto-class youngsters attacked the highly technical track with vigor, but it was Reagan Brooks who ruled the night. He took the race win ahead of Daniel Brough in second place and Lewis Thomas in third. The race of the night came from the 65cc class, where Conrad Mewse took the early race lead and began to check out at the front as he doubled his way through the rhythm sections like the Pros. With Mewse out front, the battle was for second place saw Alfie Wilkie chase down Connor Hughes. Wilkie kept the crowd on its feet every lap as he cleared the large finish-line double, but Hughes kept his head and took second.
Ben Watson was going for an 85cc-class double, and he got off to a winning start in the Small-Wheel division. He made a bad start and was mired in the mid-pack out of turn one, but come the end of the opening lap he was out front. It was plain sailing from then on, as Scooter Webster took second in front of Chubbie Hammond. A small mistake and a crash at the mid-race point denied Watson the double, however, and Bradley Ward stepped up to take the win as Watson came home in second ahead of Tom Neal.
The second round takes places at the NEC again this coming Saturday, December 5.
Pro SX1 Results
1. Mike Brown (USA)
2. Gordon Crockard (GB)
3. Colton Facciotti (CAN)
4. Ben Lamay (USA)
5. David Goosen (GB)
6. Spencer Knowles (CAN)
7. Ryan Blizzard (USA)
8. Carl Jones (GB)
9. Richard Worrall (GB)
10. Carl Jones (GB)
Pro SX2
1. Colton Facciotti (CAN)
2. Mike Brown (USA)
3. Zach Osborne (USA)
4. David Goosen (GB)
5. Kyle Beaton (CAN)
6. Ben Lamay (USA)
7. Ryan Blizzard (USA)
8. Spencer Knowles (CAN)
9. Jordan Booker (GB)
10. Kristian Whatley (GB)
British Open
1. Gordon Crockard (GB)
2. James Dodd (GB)
3. Danny Tollet (GB)
4. Lewis Rose (GB)
5. Kristian Whatley (GB)
6. Jason Varnham (GB)
7. Jordan Booker (GB)
8. Rowan Hill (GB)
9. Daniel Brough (GB)
10. Richard Worrall (GB)
Youth Lites
1. Matt Bayliss
2. Luke Norris
3. Edward Briscoe
4. Mark Perfect
5. Christy Harnett
Clubman Open
1. Chad Yarranton
2. Jake Hassell
3. Jim O’Neill
4. Christy Harnett
5. Richard Grey
Clubman Lites
1. Chad Yarranton
2. Dominic Foreman
3. Jason Varnham
4. Christy Harnett
5. Ross Clarke
SuperMini
1. Bradley Ward
2. Ben Watson
3. Tom Neal
4. Liam Garland
5. Adan Darbyshire
85cc
1. Ben Watson
2. Scooter Webster
3. Chubbie Hammond
4. Max Acres
5. Tom Neal
65cc
1. Conrad Mewse
2. Conner Hughes
3. Albie Wilkie
4. Dylan Woodcock
5. Troy Willerton
Auto
1. Reagan Brookes
2. Daniel Breen
3. louis Thomas
4. Charlie Burt
5. James Scott