Ronnie Harris takes MiniGP70 win at 2022 Fab-Racing season opener

Despite poor weather leading up to the weekend, the FAB-Racing British Minibike Championship enjoyed great - albeit cold - conditions for their opening round of the season in Lydd on 1-3 April. 

In the premier, MiniGP70 class, it was Ronnie Harris who came away with the overall win, going 1-2-3 over the three races to take the points lead to round two. 

Last year’s GP70 champion, Ethan Sparks, won the second two races, but an eighth in the first race ultimately cost him the chance of preventing Harris from taking his first 70cc overall. 

Completing the podium on the weekend was Marco Holt, who put in a strong performance in the final race to finish second from fifth on the grid. Finding a trademark move on the outside of the final corner, Holt was eventually able to fight his way through to second place, only to be denied victory by a defensively strong Sparks.

Ahead of round two, only 12 points split the top three in the GP70 class, with Henry McCartney - the only top-three race finisher at Lydd other than Harris, Sparks and Holt - 23 points off the points lead in fourth place.

The MiniGP50 class was rather less chaotic than the 70s, with the same podium repeated in all three races. Luke Fitchett ran out the winner, taking three wins from three, while Marco Holt finished second on all three occasions, and Archie O’Brien taking his first 50ccoverall podium with a 3-3-3 scorecard, after his domination of the minimoto classes in 2021. 

In the absence of O’Brien in this year’s minimoto classes, it became fascinating to see who would take the early mantle in 2022 and stamp their authority on the 40s. 

In AC40 Pro, that was certainly Harrison Day, who took the overall victory with a 1-1-2 scorecard, and finishing ahead of Byron Johnson who won the final race after finishing second in the first two to take second overall. 

Oliver Hall finished third overall after finishing third in the first two races, and fourth in the third; while the final podium spot in the third race went - arguably surprisingly - to Sam Gardner, who did not score in the first race, and finished sixth in the second. 

In the LC40 Elite class, it was again Harrison Day who came out on top in the overall, even though he did not win a race. A 2-4-2 was enough for Day on this occasion, but Austin Johnson could also leave Lydd with a great deal of confidence. 

Johnson did not score in the final race, but victory in the first two meant that he was able to finish on the podium, anyway. 

Byron Johnson finished fourth overall in LC40 Elite after taking the race three win, while Finley Polhill’s consistency (a trio of third places) was enough for him to take an overall podium at the 2022 season opener. 

Round two of the 2022 FAB-Racing British Minibike Championship will take place at Llandow in South Wales on 6-8 May.