It is the youngsters who take centre stage this coming Saturday as Buxton Speedway host the final round of the British Under 15 Championship.
The club are proud to hold the event at their Hi-Edge track as they are renowned for bringing youngsters into the sport and giving them a solid foundation to build a speedway career on. This year’s title of British Champion is still undecided and four points cover the top four racers going into the final round.
Leading the standings in the 500cc class at the moment is Eastbourne’s John Resch and he sits two points ahead of Jason Garrity from Ardwick in Manchester and Sheffield’s James Sarjeant who are tied in second with Joe Jacobs only two points further back in fourth. Added to these are others who can be spoilers on the day like Jack Butler, Jack Hirst and Tom Woolley, a lad who has had a few spins around the Buxton track after recent Hitmen meetings.
Resch, with maximum points, won the opening round of the Championship which was held at Stoke. He finished ahead of Daniel Greenwood, now with Rye House in the Conference League, with Garrity finishing third, both suffering exclusions during the meeting. Greenwood fell in Heat 4 while Garrity was too forceful in passing Ashley Morris one heat later, causing the midlander to fall.
The scheduled round at Redcar was postponed due to the lovely summer rain and the youngsters then went to Northside, Workington for Round 2. Sarjeant came away with the victory for the second year running but it was Garrity who had been the better rider on the day. After winning all four qualifying races, Garrity suffered machine trouble on the way to the start line for the final and had to ride another bike. Sarjeant led from start to finish but Garrity managed to salvage something from the meeting by passing Resch for second place.
Last time out at Weymouth it was a surprise winner as Marc Owen, competing on a 500cc machine for the first time, came out on top one point ahead of Joe Jacobs. Owen had raced in the opening round of the 250cc class but having turned14 he stepped up to the bigger class and to some affect. Again it was Garrity who had the hard luck story as he won three out of his four races but his machinery spluttered to a halt in his other one to leave him third overall. With the riders being able to drop their worst score, the title will be there for the taking when the tapes go up at 3pm. Spectators should note that this isn’t on the Hitmen usual race day but on the Saturday instead.
As well as the 500cc class, there will also be the title decider in the 250’s which is currently led by Nathan Stoneman and Rhys Naylor who have a win and a second place counting towards their total. Stoneman took the round at Stoke but had to come from a poor qualifying position to take second behind Naylor at Northside. At Weymouth it was Ben Morley who took first place with a faultless maximum while Naylor beat Brandon Freemantle in a run-off for second. Stoneman could do no better than fourth but still holds top spot with just one round to go.
