This past weekend, just over half of the SC Sporthomes Husqvarna team riders headed to the East of England, to Blaxhall, Suffolk, for the third round of the ACU British Championship.
Fresh from their USA stint, Charlie Putnam and Tristan Purdon were eager to be back on UK soil. Further west, Syd Putnam decided to line up at Hawkstone MX Park for the Bridgestone British Masters. With a good position in the championship and two days of racing, he was in a strong position to climb the championship order. Meanwhile, Charlie Heyman remained sidelined with a wrist injury.
Elliott Banks-Browne lined up in the MX2 category, where qualifying was incredibly tight, with the top 10 riders all within 1.742 seconds of each other. Elliott started the first race with a holeshot, leading the pack into the opening laps. He settled back into third place before a collision with another rider resulted in a hard fall. Elliott was assisted by the trackside medical team and taken for further evaluation, which revealed a broken wrist. We are still awaiting feedback on recovery plans and times, but we wish him a speedy recovery and can’t wait to see him come back stronger.
The MX1 qualifying times were similarly close, with all riders within a few seconds of each other. Despite being 14th in qualifying, Charlie Putnam was less than a second off the top 10 qualifying times. He had a good start but found himself just outside the pack by the first corner. From 21st in lap 1, he made his way down to 16th, poised to make more passes before the race was red-flagged due to a crash on track, leaving him to finish in 16th place.
Tristan Purdon had his best qualifying results of the season, securing 3rd place. In Race 1, Tristan grabbed the holeshot, showcasing the power of the SC Sporthomes Husqvarna bikes out of the gates. Though he led into the first corner, he was passed and settled into 3rd place, where he finished when the red flag was pulled out. This strong performance moved Tristan up a few places in the championship, now just 3 points shy of 3rd place in the standings.
Due to safety and welfare concerns for the riders, crew, and spectators, the second block of races was ultimately cancelled, with Race 1 results determining the overall outcomes for the day.
MX1 Results: Charlie Putnam 16th Overall Tristan Purdon 3rd Overall
At Hawkstone, Syd Putnam had two days of racing underway for the weekend. Starting with a 4th place in qualifying, he was set up for a good gate pick for the four blocks of racing. Saturday’s races saw Syd finish in the top 5 in Race 1 and just outside the top 5 in Race 2. Sunday’s racing did not go as planned; an early crash resulted in a shoulder injury. Despite this, Syd persevered, lining up and nursing his injury to finish in 11th place. He found his groove a bit more in the last race, finishing in 7th place. The combined scores gave Syd a 6th place overall for the weekend. Although a tough weekend, this only bumped him down one spot in the championship standings, now in 3rd place, with his sights still set on climbing back up.
MX2 AM Results: Syd Putnam
6th Overall
The team wishes all those that came under medical assistance this weekend, including our own Banks-Browne a speedy recovery.
Words and Images by SC Sporthomes Husqvarna
