British Youth Championships – Round 7 (All Classes) @ Kent

Report

The 2022 British Youth Championship completed its 7th and final round at Kent on Sunday and what a scintillating event this turned out to be.

Although the three British Youth Champions had already been decided prior to Round 7 there was still plenty to race for in all three classes with rostrum places in all classes still to be decided.

The Kent Promotion and track staff must be given a whole load of credit and went above and beyond to get the meeting on with rain in the Kent area all week and up and including an hour before start time.

Unfortunately, due to the event being put back seven days and the rearrangement of the scheduled Leicester Mildenhall fixture only three riders competed in the 500cc class however those three Riders Jody Scott, Ben Trigger and Ace Pijper all rode as if they were racing for the Championship with Trigger and Pijper winning two qualifying races each, but Scott saving his best race for the all-important final.

By Trigger competing in this round meant they he had secured third place overall and passing Freddy Hodder score and claimed the Bronze medal for the series.

Even though out of the four qualifying races Trigger and Pijper had won two each, it was Scott who claimed top prize on the night by winning the all important winner takes all final, after the unlucky Pijper had fell on the 2nd lap when leading.

The race for the Silver medal in the 250cc class went right down to the final race of this years series with just two points separating Ashton Vale and Sonny Springer in the series scores and Springer knew he had to beat Vale in the final to claim Silver.

Like Pijper in the 500cc final, Springer was leading his final heat with Vale right on his exhaust pipe, but Springer went too wide coming off the 2nd turn and got sucked into the air fence, which meant Vale was to go on and win on the night and also claim the Silver medal for the 2022 series.
In the 125cc class even though it looked as if the race for Silver and Bronze Series medals was likely to be between Stene Pijper and Oliver Bovingdon, there was also the outside chance of both Archie Rolph and Seth Norman stealing a medal if results went in their favour.

As it’s been all season this 125cc class is simply breath-taking to watch and Round 7 was no different.

The tiny figure of Archie Rolph was simply fantastic all day and cruised to the final with four wins in his four qualifying races to get first pick of the heats for the final race.

Joining Rolph in the final was Seth Norman, Stene Pijper and Oliver Bovingdon , with Pijper knowing that finishing one place behind Bovingdon would be enough for him to claim the series Silver medal.

With Rolph picking the outside gate for the final, Norman who had 2nd pick of gates chose to go off gate 3 next to Rolph and it was Norman who made the better start and led from the front and went on to win his first 125cc round.

Rolph had the curse of the previous finalist, as challenging Norman for the lead locked up a little bit too much coming of the 2nd turn which threw him off sideways and ended his hope of making the rostrum on the night.

Pijper ended up riding a sensible and safe four laps, sat behind Bovingdon and claimed 3rd on the night and the Silver medal for the series for the 2nd consecutive season.

Round 7 Results
500cc
1st Jody Scott – 18 Championship Points
2nd Ben Trigger – 16
3rd Ace Pijper – 14

250cc
1st Ashton Vale – 18 Championship Points
2nd Jamie Etherington – 16
3rd Harrison Rogers – 14
4th Sonny Springer – 12

125cc
1st Seth Norman – 18 Championship Points
2nd Oliver Bovingdon -16
3rd Stene Pijper – 14
4th Archie Rolph – 12
5th Casper Kluczniak – 11
6th Oliver Binns – 10
7th Harry Fletcher – 9
8th Ellis Newell – 8

Support Class
1st Adam Sidyk
2nd Charlie Fletcher
3rd Stasiu Stevens
4th Joe Brice

Series Final Clarification
500cc –
British Champion – Sam McGurk – 97 Championship Points
2nd – Max James – 85
3rd – Ben Trigger – 73
4th – Jody Scott – 66
5th – Freddy Hodder – 64
6th Ace Pijper – 55
7th Owen Booth – 50
8th Billy Budd – 45
9th Laylan Richardson – 35

250cc –
British Champion – Luke Harrison- 72 Championship Points
2nd – Ashton Vale – 62
3rd – Sonny Springer – 58
4th – William Cairns – 53
5th – Jamie Etherington – 51
6th – Harrison Rogers – 14
7th – Charlie Wood – 10

125cc
British Champion – Cooper Rushen – 102 Championship Points
2nd – Stene Pijper – 89
3rd – Oliver Bovingdon – 88
4th – Seth Norman – 83
5th – Archie Rolph – 79
6th – Oliver Binns – 59
7th – Casper Kluczniak – 50
8th – Harry Fletcher – 9
8th – Caydin Martin – 9
8th – Daniel McTeer – 9
11th – Ellis Newell – 8

The Young Lions would like to thank all the clubs, series sponsors, Members of the BSP Ltd and supporters who have supported the British Youth in 2022, and special thanks to all the riders and their families who have taken part in this year’s series.

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARDS
500cc racecard available here
250cc racecard available here
125cc racecard available here
Support Class racecard available here

Photo credit: TILLYPICS