TWENTY-THREE riders competed in Round 1 of the 2026 British Youth Championship which took place at a rather chilly Glasgow on Sunday April 12.
Eight riders competed in the 500cc class, three in the 250cc, and six each in the 125cc and 125cc support classes.
Glasgow, which has become the home of the Great Britain Academy in 2026, was the ideal place to start the series as such a fantastic race track and venue, and it again delivered some great races across all four classes.
Stene Pijper, who competes for the Glasgow club representing Ashfield in the Northern Junior League, used all his home track knowledge to only drop one point in the qualifying heats to Oli Bovingdon and then went on to win Round 1 having chosen to come off gate 4 in the Final and made a flying start to win the all-important last race.
Casper Kluczniak and Bovingdon, who finished first and second in the 250cc class in 2025, have both moved up to the 500cc class in 2026 and were both impressive on their debuts finishing Round 1 in second and third respectively.
Ollie Binns, who also qualified for the Final again in his first season racing a 500cc, was also very impressive and was unlucky not to make the rostrum due to a carburettor problem on lap three in the Final.
With the 250cc class just having three riders in this round Archie Rolph, Kane Newby and Demi Blu Harris, these three would also compete in the Final, and although they raced each other five times across the event, every heat was enthralling with each of the three riders putting in good performances.
Lewis Hague continued where he left off in 2025 with an unbeaten score in the 125cc class to go on to win Round 1 with 9-year-old Oscar Berwick claiming second and Fraser Buckle finishing ahead of Douglas Marshall to claim third.
In the 125cc Support class a very impressive performance from debutant George Climo to go through the day unbeaten and claim his first win, with Seb Kelly in second and Jessica Cox claiming third ahead of Cody Smith.
Round 1 Championship Points –
500cc – Stene Pijper 18, Casper Kluczniak 16, Oli Bovingdon 14, Ollie Binns 12, Charlie Southwick 11, Liam Morris 10, Rocco Webb 9, Charlie Luckman 8.
250cc – Archie Rolph 18, Kane Newby 16, Demi Blu Harris 14
125cc – Lewis Hague 18, Oscar Berwick 16, Fraser Buckle 14, Douglas Marshall 12, Ella Marshall and Callum Hague 10.5
125cc Support – George Climo, Seb Kelly, Jessica Cox, Cody Smith, Junior Travers and Erza McNair
Words and Feature Image courtesy of British Speedway
