BRITISH UNDER 18 FINAL
 
The big question going into this meeting was 'could anyone stop Michael France taking the title'?  The answer was no - although not before he had a bit of a fright as overconfidence looked like it might cost him.
 
France cruised to 3 easy wins before the interval and he looked a class apart from the opposition he had faced to that point.  The same was also true of Tom Rawlings however and he joined France on 9 points, with 15-year-old Dan MacDonald, having the meeting of his young life, just a point behind them.  After Rawlings made it 4 wins from 4 in heat 15 MacDonald really put the cat amongst the pigeons by beating flying from the start to leave France in his wake and then holding off a late challenge to win the race.  
 
All eyes now turned to the heat 19 clash between France (11 points) and Rawlings (12) to see if the title would be decided.  After his surprise loss in his last ride France had clearly composed himself again though and made sure of at least a run-off for the championship with a commanding victory.  Rawlings seemed to let the pressure get to him a little and made his worst start of the day, battling back to pick up a point but he knew it wasn't going to be enough.  The attention now shifted to MacDonald - the young Scot hasn't really pulled up any trees in the Juvenile Jaunt this season, recently going out at the Semi Final stage without scoring a point, but could now forced a run-off for the British Under 18 title with a win!  He actually made another impressive start but got a nudge on the first bend and found himself relegated to 3rd before falling to the back in the latter stages.
 
So Michael France was crowned as the 20th British Under 18 Champion, 3 seasons after it was won by his brother Ray.  Previous winners include Scott Bridges, Luke Treadwell, Nick Ambrose and Liam Reay, who have all gone on to lift the sport's biggest prize, so Michael joins an illustrious list of names!  Tom Rawlings came close and in another year could have won it but just fell short against a deserving winner.  As for Dan MacDonald - was this a sign of things to come or was it a flash in the pan is the big question???
 
Most of the riders were 17 and so will not be eligible next season but of those who can return for one more shot at the title, in addition to MacDonald of course, Llifon Jones looked impressive and could have made the rostrum but for an exclusino in his third ride.  Nathan Green also matched his 9 point total and will want to join Jones in aiming for a return and higher finish next time around.
 
  1. Michael France............ 3  3  3  2  3  14
  2. Tom Rawlings.............. 3  3  3  3  1  13
  3. Dan MacDonald............. 2  3  3  3  0  11
  4. Jason Carter.............. 2  2  1  2  3  10
  5. Llifon Jones.............. 1  2  X  3  3   9
  6. Nathan Green.............. 3  0  2  2  2   9
  7. Harvey Hedge.............. 1  3  2  R  1   7
  8. Mark London............... 0  2  1  2  2   7
  9. Dean Underwood............ 0  F  1  3  2   6
 10. Jordan Osgood............. 2  1  2  0  1   6
 11. Henry Valentine........... 2  1  1  1  1   6
 12. Sebastien Cartwright...... 0  2  3  0  0   5
 13. Danny Davenport........... 3  1  0  1  0   5
 14. Jack Quinn................ 1  0  0  1  3   5
 15. Paul Hibbern.............. 1  1  0  0  2   4
 16. Karl Jennings............. 0  0  2  1  0   3
 17. Robert Pusey.............. Did not ride
 18. Malky Dawson.............. Did not ride
 
 No. Results
  1: Tom Rawlings, Dan MacDonald, Llifon Jones, Sebastien Cartwright 
  2: Michael France, Jason Carter, Harvey Hedge, Mark London 
  3: Danny Davenport, Jordan Osgood, Paul Hibbern, Dean Underwood 
  4: Nathan Green, Henry Valentine, Jack Quinn, Karl Jennings 
  5: Harvey Hedge, Llifon Jones, Jordan Osgood, Karl Jennings 
  6: Michael France, Sebastien Cartwright, Danny Davenport, Jack Quinn 
  7: Tom Rawlings, Jason Carter, Henry Valentine, Dean Underwood (F) 
  8: Dan MacDonald, Mark London, Paul Hibbern, Nathan Green 
  9: Michael France, Nathan Green, Dean Underwood, Llifon Jones (X) 
 10: Sebastien Cartwright, Harvey Hedge, Henry Valentine, Paul Hibbern 
 11: Tom Rawlings, Jordan Osgood, Mark London, Jack Quinn 
 12: Dan MacDonald, Karl Jennings, Jason Carter, Danny Davenport 
 13: Llifon Jones, Jason Carter, Jack Quinn, Paul Hibbern 
 14: Dean Underwood, Mark London, Karl Jennings, Sebastien Cartwright 
 15: Tom Rawlings, Nathan Green, Danny Davenport, Harvey Hedge (R) 
 16: Dan MacDonald, Michael France, Henry Valentine, Jordan Osgood 
 17: Llifon Jones, Mark London, Henry Valentine, Danny Davenport 
 18: Jason Carter, Nathan Green, Jordan Osgood, Sebastien Cartwright 
 19: Michael France, Paul Hibbern, Tom Rawlings, Karl Jennings 
 20: Jack Quinn, Dean Underwood, Harvey Hedge, Dan MacDonald