British youngsters put on a fine show

TOM Brennan (500cc) and Nathan Ablitt (150cc) were the class winners in the second round of the British Youth Championship at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon.

With the start-time delayed thanks to a rain shower, it was the 150cc class that started the afternoon’s proceedings, while the 500cc class followed the Scunthorpe vs Newcastle Knockout Cup meeting and brought the 37-race programme to a conclusion.

Ablitt was dominant in the 150cc class, registering five wins out of five. In the final, he streaked away, while Mason O’Rourke finished second ahead of James Laker and Kieron McCoy.

The 500cc class contained plenty of twists and turns, as a number of favoured contenders suffered troubles. Kyle Bickley, winner of the opening round at Glasgow, was eliminated after crashing in his final programmed outing, and Kean Dicken was another left ruing a crucial fall, after he looped at the start of Heat 2. Taylor Hampshire ran into trouble while leading his third outing and retired, which cost him a place in the final.

Ben Woodhull scored a superb 12-point maximum to qualify for the final, while Jordan Jenkins followed a third in his opening ride with a hat trick of wins to score 10 points. Sam Bebee rode consistently to make it through on 8 points. Tom Brennan was unable to take his final programmed ride, due to bike problems, but had already accrued enough points (8) from his previous three rides to qualify.

The final saw a cruel twist of fate for the previously unbeaten Woodhull as he suffered bike problems before the race and was excluded under the two-minute rule. Brennan soon took control of the race, while Bebee saw off Jenkins in an early battle to secure second place.

150cc

Nathan Ablitt 3 3 3 3 (12)
James Laker 2 2 1 3 (8)
Kieron McCoy 0 3 2 2 (7)
Mason O’Rourke 1 2 1 2 (6)
Josh Parnell 1 0 1 1 (3)
Jamie Bursill N F R N (0)

1: Ablitt, Laker, Parnell, Bursill (non-starter), 70.13.
2: Ablitt, Laker, O’Rourke, McCoy (fell, remounted), 70.94.
3: McCoy, O’Rourke, Laker, Bursill (fell), 74.19.
4: Ablitt, McCoy, O’Rourke, Parnell, 71.00.
5: Ablitt, O’Rourke, Parnell, Bursill (ret), 71.25.
6: (Re-run) Laker, McCoy (15m handicap for tape touching), Parnell, Bursill (non-starter), 75.44.
150cc Final: Ablitt, O’Rourke, Laker, McCoy, 69.87.

500cc

Ben Woodhull 3 3 3 3 (12)
Jordan Jenkins 1 3 3 3 (10)
Tom Brennan 3 3 2 N (8)
Sam Bebee 2 1 3 2 (8)
Kyle Bickley 2 2 3 FX (7)
Taylor Hampshire 2 2 R 3 (7)
James Hitchen 3 0 1 2 (6)
Kean Dicken FX 1 3 1 (5)
Sam Chapman 2 1 1 1 (5)
Sam Woolley 0 2 0 2 (4)
Luke Woodhull 1 1 2 R (4)
Carl Basford 0 0 2 1 (3)
Alex Spooner 1 F 0 2 (3)
Lewis Whitmore 0 F N N (0)

1: Brennan, Bickley, L Woodhull, Woolley, 60.25.
2: (Re-run) Hitchen, Chapman, Spooner (fell, remounted), Dicken (fell, excluded), 65.38.
3: B Woodhull, Bebee, L Woodhull, Whitmore, 62.62.
4: Brennan, Hampshire, Jenkins, Basford, 61.56.
5: B Woodhull, Bickley, Dicken, Spooner (fell), 63.07.
6: Jenkins, Woolley, Chapman, Hitchen, 63.50.
7: Bickley, Hampshire, Bebee, Spooner, 63.18.
8: Dicken, L Woodhull, Hitchen, Basford, 63.62.
9: Bebee, Brennan, Chapman, Whitmore (fell), 63.13.
10: (Re-run) B Woodhull, Spooner, Hampshire (ret), Bickley (fell, excluded), 64.25.
11: Jenkins, Basford, Brennan (non-starter), Whitmore (non-starter), 63.81.
12: (Re-run) B Woodhull, Hithcen, Dicken, Woolley 63.62.
13: Hampshire, Bebee, Basford, L Woodhull (ret), 60.37.
14: Jenkins, Woolley, Chapman, Whitmore (non-starter), 64.00.
500cc Final: (Re-run) Brennan, Bebee, Jenkins, B Woodhull (excluded, two minutes), 62.19.