RHAYADER Youth Motocross Club hosted The Welsh National at Penybont on May 26/27, writes Brooklyn Evans.

A huge amount of effort was put into organising the event by the club, so it was good to see a large numbers of riders supported the event in a bid to be crowned Welsh Champion. The club would like to thank all of the businesses who sponsored the event, which allowed for trophies and various prizes for every group.

The auto class was dominated by Ollie Waters who won all four races in convincing style. Matthew Morgan claimed a hat trick of second place finishes and a third in race 2 which gave him second overall. Ifan Rhys and Ollie Bebb shared podium place finishes, but Bebb’s 2nd place in race 2 gave him the final podium position.

Consistency proved to be the key in the 65s. Romeo Roper was fast all weekend, taking three out of four race wins. However, one mistake in race 2 handed the overall to Ollie Bubb. Bubb picked up three second-place finishes, as well as taking the win in race 2 from Alfie Davies, who led for the most part. Shaun Wright and Shane Jones also had podium finishes, but Alfie Davies took 3rd overall with a pair of 3rd’s and a 2nd.

Sion Evans had 3 wins and a second as well as numerous holeshots in the small wheel 85 class to take a deserving 1st overall. Jake Smith was the only rider able to stop Evans, after catching and passing him in race 3. Lewis Roden, Jake Randall, Jacob Harley, Jake Smith and Dylan Williams duked it out for 2nd and 3rd on the podium. Roden came out with 2nd after mistakes from Randall and Smith, but Smith picked up the final spot on the podium.

Sam Davies took the first win in the big wheel 85 class after being pushed all the way by Tomos Wright. Davies injured his knee in race 2 whilst leading which ended his weekend. Wright stepped up to the plate taking 3 race wins giving him 1st overall, but was kept honest in each race by Jak Taylor. Taylor claimed 2nd overall after 4 consistent races. Josh Noon had 3rd overall despite a puncture the first race, which meant he narrowly beat Daniel Arkell by just 1 point.

Very close racing in the senior class was entertaining for all spectators. All four race wins in the senior open group went to Jaydon Murphy. However he was pushed in every race by James Hanscomb who had to fight through the pack in most of the races. Hanscomb had four race wins in the senior 125 class, with Callum Beeken close behind in all races and taking four second-placed finishes. Iwan Roberts took second place on the podium of the senior open class with four solid second places ahead of Tommy Davies in third overall. Marshall Smith took third place in the senior 125 class, with James Parkin fourth.

Ryan Reynolds took the top spot in the novice group after withstanding pressure from Scott Mayhew as well as Corey Szpadt in race 4. Mayhew had two second places and a win in race 3 which left him with second overall. Paul Evans had the last podium position in the Novice group.

Gary Davies took the vet class back to school, winning every race by over 15 seconds. Neil Thomas and Edward Jones shared out the second place positions, and ended tied on points, but Jones had second overall due to his second place in the final race, leaving Thomas third overall.

Corie Southwood topped the MX2 class in style after winning the first three races. Rhys Newman won the final race after Southwood went down hard, but a DNF in race 1 meant Newman was off the podium. Karl Haycock ended second MX2 with 3 seconds and a fourth whilst Shane Dalley rounded out the podium.

Carl Jones was fast out of the gate in MX1 with good speed in all races, but Andrew Gillett was too much for Jones and pushed him off the top spot with 3 wins. Shaun Buchan was never far behind and claimed 3rd overall, even with a few mistakes and some bad starts.

Out of the girls, Emily Noon scored the most points with Shauna Hope second and Shelley Walters third.