BRITISH UNDER-10S FINAL

PHILIP'S DAY

The British under-10 championship was epitomised by two thrilling tie-breaks to decide the rostrum places.  After two hotly contested races, Great Blakenham's talented youngster Philip Day took the title ahead of Adam Phillips.  Third place went to Day's team-mate Michael Blackwell who saw off a strong challenge from James Robinson to take bronze.

The big four, or more correctly little four, set the pace from the very start.  By heat eight they had already built up what turned out to be a match winning lead, Day and Blackwell leading on eight points, Phillips, Robinson and Wayne Chattin all on seven.

Heat nine was massive.  It brought together Phillips, Blackwell, Chattin and Robinson.  For the best part of three laps young Michael Blackwell had the race in his grasp but as he sped down the back straight, well clear of the chasing pack, his back wheel skidded and the Great Blakenham youngster fell, letting through Adam Phillips and James Robinson in the process.  It was a defining moment.

While Blackwell was slipping and sliding, his team-mate Philip Day was not putting a wheel out of line.  Looking assured and confident he put together four impressive races but he too had to admit second best to Blackwell in his last outing.  After dipping out to Day in heat five, Phillips came roaring back in to contention winning three races on the trot from the difficult number one draw to force a tie-break with the Suffolk youngster, both riders finishing on 19 points.

Meanwhile, just behind them, Blackwell had recovered his composure to move on to 18 points alongside pre-match favourite James Robinson from Newport. Blackwell underlined his superiority by blasting from gate four in the tie-break for bronze.  Try as he might, and try he certainly did, the Welsh youngster couldn't make up ground and was edged out of the medals.

The gold run was special - very special.  Phillips won the toss and elected to start from gate two but he couldn't match a tactically superb first bend from Day.  As the pair diced wheel to wheel, the Suffolk youngster never took his foot of the pedal as he powered round the first turn.  Showing remarkable balance and wonderful track craft, he sprinted a bike length clear.  Phillips rose to the challenge, the race was on but try as he might, the Astley starlet just couldn't find a way past determined Day.  They were four memorable laps worthy of gracing any national final.

So after 22 heats of captivating cycle speedway, the under-10's crown deservedly went to Philip Day ahead of Adam Phillips and Michael Blackwell, who was left wondering what might have been had he not lost concentration and slipped off his bike in nine.

Further down the field, Lee Kemp from Bretford really caught the eye, carefully crafting together 16 points including a good win in heat 14.  After a difficult opening race when she found herself trailling Phillips and Kent, Charlotte Cox improved with every race, finishing on 15 points and winning the under-10 national girls title by the proverbial mile.

Exeter's Will Turnbull has a mixed day scoring two wins and three seconds from his five starts. After being up with the pacemakers after two races, Sandwell's James Chattin slipped slowly out of contention finishing with a hard-earned 12 points, one behind Horspath's Marco Cooper.

In the end, one brilliant piece of first bend bravery, technique and style was the difference between success and failure.  It that one moment, Philip Day underlined his enormous potential.  Be afraid Lee Aris, be very afraid - this  young man is going places.

2008 British Under-10 Individual Championship - Final

Phillip Day (Great Blakenham) 19, Adam Phillips (Astley & Tyldeseley) 19, Michael Blackwell (Great Blakenham) 18, James Robinson (Newport) 18, Lee Kemp (Bretford) 16,  Charlotte Cox (Weymouth) 15, Will Tidball (Exeter) 14, Marco Cooper (Horspath) 13, James Chattin (Sandwell) H12, James Clanfield (Poole) 11, Jack Herbert (Exeter) 10, Adam Watson (Astley & Tyldesley) 9, Adam Bennett (Newport) 8, Alex Pursglove (Weymouth) 7, James Harriman (Wednesfield) 6, Liam Eagles (Wednesfield) 5
Under-10 Girls
1st Charlotte Cox (Weymouth) 2nd Libby Knights (Ipswich) 3rd Holly Morgan (Poole)
Referee:  Mike Legge (Dorset)

Editor's Note - Our apologies for not lining up these photographs correctly.  There appears to be a fault in the page formatting but we thought it worth including the unformatted pics in any event.  We'll try to put this right later.

Spills in Qualifiers

The qualifying rounds earlier in the day produced little in the way of surprises but some really quality races and some dramatic action including some spectacular spills.  Racing was delayed for several minutes after Adam Watson  hit the deck in his first race.  The Astley and Tyldesely youngster bravely got to his feet, to warm applause from the crowd, and went on the snatch one of the final places.

Qualifying heat 14 produced one of the best races of the day.  After two dramatic tussels, first Luke Whitehead fell and in the re-run Harry Ryan crashed heavily.  Unfortunately, the spills seemed to dent their confidence as both riders missed the cut.

Congratulations to all 25 riders.  They all turned up, tried their utmost and signalled that the sport has a bright future.

Eliminated Riders
Aaron Dennis (Poole), Ashley Pope (Poole), Harry Ryan (Poole), Libby Knights (Ipswich), Jae Dennis (Poole), Matthew Pope (Poole), Holly Morgan (Poole), Niall Instone (Poole), Luke Whitehead (Leicester)