No repeat for Smith at Hawkstone Park

July 01, 2008

Wayne Smith’s victorious display last weekend could not be repeated on Sunday at Hawkstone Park, Shropshire for round four of the British Open Championship though he still managed to extend his championship points lead despite being feeling unwell and the sandy, energy sapping Hawkstone Park circuit took it’s toll. In the Under 21 category the Pioneer Emberson Yamaha trio had an eventful day with all having strong and spirited rides showing that they do have the pace to run up front.

Wayne Smith is looking for a great second half to the season

Open
Wayne Smith posted third fastest qualifying time and got a reasonable start inside the top ten in the opening race and soon found himself up to 4th chasing Ray Rowson, Neville Bradshaw and Bryan MacKenzie. It was a steady race for Smith, really trying to save his energy but as the race was closing down he also found himself closing in on MacKenzie and made the pass to finish in third.
Smith was again inside the top ten as the gate dropped for race two and he made quick progress once again near the front of the race and again got himself into fourth. He maintained a strong position in fourth and could not mount a challenge to the leaders as his energy was all but gone but like race one he still managed to extend his series lead and now holds a commanding 54 point lead with just two rounds remaining and could well wrap up the championship at the next round at Blaxhall Pits, Suffolk in three weeks time.

Under 21
> Daniel Arnold was 2nd in qualifying, with Alan Keet in 4th and Robert Hamilton in 15th.

Embo's young stars and beginning to show form

Keet was the fastest of the three from the off in race one and was in 9th though a crash early on dented his challenge on the leaders dropping him back to 16th. A little further back and Hamilton was making a charge through the pack, initially outside the top ten he forced himself up the order with Arnold doing a similar job a few places further back in 17th. Hamilton was into 4th leading a freight train of eight riders and then received a puncture and then his disadvantage slipped him down the order. Both his team mates got past with Arnold recovering from a poor start to eventually pull through to a fine 7th while Keet also fought back just two places behind in 9th.
The heavens opened for race two and Hamilton got a good start into 4th after lap one with Keet just behind in 7th. Arnold was way down in 20th on lap one and had a big crash involving two other riders and was then 30 seconds behind the rest. Hamilton was having a steady race for the best part until championship leader Alex Snow came past with team mate Keet in tow who also got past Hamilton and finished in 5th and 6th respectively. Arnold never gave up from the back and fought defiantly to a 13th place finish.
Overall on the day Keet finished 6th, Hamilton 8th and Arnold 9th.

Report and Images by Toby Fuller