The two-day ‘Brits’ will see riders selected by their Nation or Region to compete for British honours, with the best riders from the Scottish Regional Series held over the season flying the flag for Scotland.
The Scottish contingent includes riders as young as seven and those in the 55+ categories, showing the breadth of the ages involved in BMX Racing.
With riders from both Broadwood-based Cumbernauld Centurions and Western Titans, who train in Clydebank, the Scottish team will be putting aside the friendly rivalry to aim for Scottish success in Derby.
The Scottish Regional Team wouldn’t be possible without the volunteer coaches, as well as parents that support the riders with travel down to Derby, and the tireless effort in delivering sessions at Broadwood, Clydebank and Knightswood tracks.
Eilidh Watson (Cumbernauld Centurions) has impressed this year in the Female 14 category and is excited for the Brits:
“I’m really looking forward to it. There’s a lot of support, and it’s a nice place to be and it’s a lot of fun.”
Watson claimed a second and a third at the last two rounds of the British BMX Series in Birmingham last month, and is aiming for another trip to the podium this weekend:
“I’m aiming for the podium; it’s been a pretty good so far I won a National Round, and I came third in the Series.”
Scottish Cycling Performance Programme rider Harrison Bell has unfortunately had to pull out of the Brits with injury, but as a coach with the Western Titans will still be heading down to support the team.
“I’m excited to see how the riders from the Titans get on, but as well it’s good to see the riders that are part of the RACE National sessions race at the Brits. I’m heading down to support the Region; we’re quite small in the BMX community, so it’s good to have everyone there supporting.”
His good friend and training partner, Cameron Reid, will make his racing return after a long layoff with injury, and Bell is relishing Reid’s return:
“To see him back, I’m happy for him, even though I can’t race with him. I know he’ll do both of us proud. I’m excited to see him race, because he’s not lost anything, he’s still as quick as he was before his injury, so I’m looking forward to see how he’ll do at the weekend”
How to follow
Live timing is available on Sqorz, and you can watch both days racing live on YouTube on BMX Race Hub, see the links below. We’ll wrap-up the best of the action in our round-up on Monday.
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