After a long winter off season it was time for the SJP Moto Husqvarna Youth Squad to travel to Little Silver near Exeter for the opening round of the ACU Judd KTM British Youth Championship for 2020.
Following weeks of rain in the area the track created challenging conditions for all the riders as they looked to start their season in fine style. Following a delayed start to the event the weekend started with the practice and qualifying sessions for each class.
With the practice and qualifying out of the way it was time for the racing to start, but due to the delayed start and track conditions it was decided to run just two races for each class.
In the opening 65cc class before Jayden Jones and Stanley Siebert were going into the race as Rookies in the 65cc class but that didn’t stop Jones from taking a fantastic race win, while Siebert was riding well but a mistake saw him finish in 29th place. The second moto saw Jayden Jones take another great race win to make it two out of two, while Siebert rode well and had a good pace, but another mistake saw him finish 32nd.
In the Small Wheel 85cc class Billy Askew, Reece Jones and Lucy Barker were all competing in the class. The opening moto for the Small Wheels saw Askew take a strong race win by nearly a minute over second place and the fastest lap of the race, while Reece Jones finished a fantastic fourth in his first race in the class. Female rider Lucy Barker had a good ride to finish 20th. The second moto again saw Askew take the race win with Jones claiming another fourth-place finish. Lucy rode strong in the second race to secure 16th place at the finish.
Next up was the Big Wheel 85cc class with defend champion Charlie Heyman looking to retain his crown, alongside Charlie in the class was Hudson Roper, Finley Evans and James Barker. In the opening race Charlie opened the season in fine style with a race win, Roper rode well to finish 11thwith Barker 16th and Evans in 27th. The second race saw Heyman make another good start to take a start to finish race win. Behind Heyman was James Barker in fifth and Evans in 12th ahead of Roper in 14th.
The MXY2 (125/250) class saw Jayden Haigh move up to the 125cc machine over the winter after just a year in the 85cc Championship. The opening race saw Haigh make good progress after a bad start, but unfortunately due to a crash Jayden failed to finish. In the second race saw Jayden ride well to finish 23rd and 15th in the 125cc class.
After the racing a meeting was held regarding the remainder of the Youth timetable and the Adult British Championship due to take place on the Sunday. Following the meeting the decision was taken to cancel the rest of the meeting due to the overnight forecast, and the health and safety of all people at the venue due to the condition of the paddock areas.
The decision meant that the team now leads the 65cc, Small Wheel 85cc and Big Wheel 85cc going into the second round.
Leighton Haigh – Team Manager – It was a tough weekend for all and definitely one that you could become victim to massive variables with weather and the trickiest track conditions I’ve seen in a long time. The whole team dug deep and some of the guys didn’t get the results they deserved but to be leaving round one as a team leading 3 British championships is a credit to the class of our riders and the team effort as a whole on and off the track.
Words – Press Release
Photo Credit – Image Rich Media
