By Carly Rathmell
May 29 2003

Blyton Raceway was the setting for the third round of the British Supermoto Championships at the weekend. A strong crowd gathered on the Sunday and Monday to watch the close fought out racing.

A few familiar faces were spotted in the crowd. Former British Superbike Champions Niall McKenzie and James Whitham, plus Virgin Yamaha boss Rob McElnea and current GSE World Superbike rider James Toseland, had come to inspect what was going on.

The highly competitive 450 class proved to be a two horse race between Bracken HM KTM rider Ady Smith and factory Honda UK rider Leighton Haigh. With two wins each between them it was close as to who would come out with the most points. Ady was to be jubilant as Leighton came into trouble in race one and losing a handful of positions, he still managed to power his Honda back up to a fine third place.

The race pace for the four ‘A’ class races was hot with main contenders Ady Smith, Warren Steele, Christian Iddon and Leighton Haigh out to prove a point to each other. Four races, four wins, four different makes of bike proved to be the end result. A fantastic display of Supermoto riding and the talent and skill that it is producing.

Leighton Haigh was confident from his wins on Sunday and was keen to kick start his day as strong as he left it the day before. A tough battle ensued with youngster Christian Iddon getting the holeshot. The first lap was full of drama with Husaberg rider Andy Mitchell falling on the fifth corner, next down was Champion Warren Steele when he touched the back wheel of Haigh, stalling his Scorpion backed Husqvarna and snapping the kick-start. With two top runners down it was a tight contest between Haigh, Iddon and Smith. Haigh gained a two second advantage over Iddon and Smith as he crossed the line.

Ady Smith was out for revenge on his KTM come race two and it was head down and flat out for the former Enduro Champion. Steele starting this race from the back of the pack fought his way through the thirty-strong field up to a creditable fourth place. Iddon again was snapping at the heels of the leader. With .04 of a second splitting the top three as they crossed the line it was a close call. It was Smith that bagged this win followed by Iddon and Haigh.

Race three and finally it was the turn of 18-year-old Husaberg rider Christian Iddon who took the win. He gained the lead from the start and took advantage, pulling a massive four-second lead over Smith, Iddon was keen to gain a well deserved win. Finishing the weekend as top points scorer was a credit to the young rider. Steele finally managed to get himself in the top three, he dropped down to third on the last lap after he suffered a front wheel puncture.

Anything could have happened in the ‘A’ class final but it was Steele that took the overall win. After having one of his worst weekends to date, Steele finally showed the form that we have all got so used to watching. It was Haigh who took off from the start and was beginning to look dominant pulling a slight lead from Iddon and Steele. It was a final last lap manoeuvre that claimed the win for Steele, a daring move on the back off-road section proved a good one. Again Steele, Haigh and Iddon crossed the line with less than a second separating the trio.

‘A’ Class - Race 1
Leighton Haigh (Honda)
Christian Iddon (Husaberg)
Ady Smith (KTM)
Nigel Scott (Honda)
Ian Cherry (Husqvarna)
James Andrew (KTM)

‘A’ Class - Race 2
Smith
Iddon
Haigh
Warren Steele (Husqvarna)
David Jackson (KTM)
Andy Mitchell (Husaberg)

‘A’ Class - Race 3
Iddon
Smith
Steele
Haigh
Mitchell
Jackson

‘A’ Class - Final
Steele
Haigh
Iddon
Smith
Mitchell
Jackson

450 Class - Race 1
Ady Smith (KTM)
Rob McNealy (Honda)
Leighton Haigh (Honda)
Andrew Jones (Honda)
Robert Cross (KTM)
Jarrod Frost (Honda)

450 Class - Race 2
Haigh
Smith
Cross
Frost
McNealy
Jones

450 Class - Race 3
Smith
Haigh
Warren Steele
Frost
Mike Wright
Cross

450 Class - Final
Haigh
Smith
Steele
Wright
Scott
Frost