The last round of 2012 Redbull Nationals concluded at Culham Motopark at the weekend which saw some epic racing. Powerband Racing 65cc top duo Tom Grimshaw & Christopher Mills produced some nail biting moments throughout the weekend, but it all came down to the last moto of the championship whenTom was able to ride through the difficult condition to clinch the race win & championship from Christopher who experienced some bike problems 3 laps from the end and was then unable to continue. Both boys have had there difficulty’s this year, and have both shared a DNF each which made for some tense and exciting moments throughout the year.

Powerband other star rider SW85cc George Grigg Pettitt finished of a great second half of the season by clinching 3rd overall in one of the most competitive classes. George really showed some great speed by topping qualification and producing some great rides throughout the weekend to nail 3rd overall i the championship.

Powerband Racing Redbull National Standing

65cc – 1st Overall Tom Grimshaw – 2nd Overall Christopher Mills
SW 85cc – 3rd Overall George Grigg Pettitt

Powerband would like to say a big thank you to all team sponsors, family & friends who have supported the team this year and we all look forward to a bigger & better year in 2013.

With the track looking in absolute awesome condition on arrival, I felt keen for qualifying. Yet again the Rookies were out first thing and feeling good set out on getting a good qualifying. Things didn’t go to plan managing 7th position; but could still get a good gate.

The first Moto of the weekend started with a top five gate pushing hard, having a small fall whilst trying to push into 3rd position set me back a few places but managing a solid 4th at the flag.

Only having two Motos on Saturday with the Pro’s being in the program of racing, our last race the track was looking super rough and in prime condition. Gating well in the top five I soon pushed into 2nd position for a solid ride to the flag.

Sunday, went out for Moto 3, the rain was just holding off, again securing a top five start I rode a solid Moto to finish in 5th position at the flag.

Moto 4; the rain came making the track more technical and very slippery. Not getting the best start for the conditions I pushed hard all race to move up to 4th position.

The final Moto of the championship and the track had really deteriated making the start very important grabbing the import holeshot started my race off well until bobbled on the second corner and lost a couple of positions. Getting filled as visibility was slim I had another small fall and this put me way down in the pack.

Regrouping the best I could make it back to 9th position at the flag.

After not one of the best weekends for me I managed 4th place overall on the day and secured 2nd overall in the Rookies championship.

My season has been very good claiming the Maxxis British MXY2 Title and 2nd in the Redbull Pro National Rookies; I would like to say a massive Thank You to everyone who has given me the chance to race at this level and get to me to where I am today!!

My Special thanks to Simon from Grittenham MX, Nigel from Meredith MX, Simon from Fusion, Jez from Zook, Ryan from Shocktech, Roy from Frampton Damproofers, Matt from MX Zone, Ray from Whites Transport, Guys from Scott/Acerbis, Sean from DBMX.

Lap of Hope the spinal injuries charity motocross and BMX day returns to Apex motopark in Worcester on 14th August. Established last year by ex-British MX champ Justin Morris and friend Lee Morgan Lap of Hope exceeded all expectations with a 1000 people turning up and nearly £8,000 raised on the day. The day last year was a who’s who of British MX with riders such as Tommy Searle, EBB, Brad Anderson, Jake Nicholls, Mel Pocock, Martin Barr, Kristian Whatley and Tom Church to name but a few. There was also an appearance of a signed Ken Roczen shirt which raised £200 in the auction!

There was also a BMX jump demo with former world champion Kye Forte accompanied by riders from as far away as Australia. The day saw lots of riding, lots of pics with the pros and a chance to see the pros in a relaxed atmosphere such as Kristian Whatley and Jim Davies attempt at a BBQ in the Apex car park! Lots of pretty girls were there on the day raising lots of cash for this fantastic cause.

So what is happening at this year’s event then? Lee states that “we just wanted to build on the brilliant platform that we had last year. We were chuffed with 1000 people but we want more spectators this year plus we have one extra kids group which means that we have spaces for 120 riders. The kids loved it last year so we really want to get more of them involved this year. We have also got a bit more savvy this year in that we missed a lot of opportunities last year to raise more money. This year MOTO will be the official media partner which is great news for the event associating ourselves with Britains’ biggest off-road magazine and website. We have also enlisted the help of Holly Divall sister of pro mx rider Jordan. Holly will be in-charge of selling advertising space in our programme and also coordinating the day to allow me and Justin run around like loons again!”

Justin tells us that the format is changing a bit this year and hopefully for the better. “Rather than just having the pros doing motos all day we want the end of the day to have a bit of a Day in The Dirt feel to it. We are going to try and get a kids/pro race going whereby we have kids partnering with the pros to do a relay type race culminating in a final and the winning kid will win the pro’s bike! Only joking…. the winning kid will get a Lap of Hope T-shirt. We are also in negotiations about putting on a pro BMX dirt jump competition with prize money of £500 up for grabs.”

Justin comments that “we have worked really closely with our charity of choice Wings for Life and as a result Red Bull have offered us some of their infrastructure such as the Red Bull archway and Wigwams’. We also have a promise that the majority ofUKbased Red Bull athletes will be in attendance so we are really pumped about that!”

Lap of Hope is a unique event in the MX calendar in the UK but in order to continue it needs people to support it to allow it to grow, so get the 14^th August in your diary or visit www.lapofhope.com for more details and up to date news. For general info on the day e-mail: info@lapofhope.com or for advertising/sponsorship opportunities e-mail: holly@lapofhope.com.

Words of advice from the GOAT

Getting the chance to ride with the GOAT isn’t something you’d pass up. Last week at FatCat Motopark in the UK, Ricky Carmichael’s University landed on European shores to be greeted by salivating up ‘n coming riders – hungry for their chance to charge the same dirt as Ricky and fellow tutors, Jeff Emig, Tommy Searle, Jeff Stanton and Jamie Dobb. See what it meant to the guys to be mixing it up together.