Evotech Stevens Honda ended the annual British Supercross season on a high note as its star rider, Neville Bradshaw, took the Supercross Lights crown and the overall British Supercross Championship title in a nail-biting finale. Bradshaw gelled with the track in the LG Arena at the Birmingham NEC from the start, and this paid off handsomely later in the evening's proceedings. The Lights qualifier saw Bradshaw take second, and he followed this up with a third place in the qualifier of the Supercross class.
The Lights Final saw Bradshaw get off to a blinder of a start, only to be punted off the track and having to restart in the back. Falling immediately into a rhythm, Bradshaw made quick passes before finding himself behind championship rival Nicolas Aubin. A battle then ensued, culminating in Bradshaw taking the lead with a few laps to go. From then, the pressure was on to stay focussed on winning. This Bradshaw promptly did with style, punching the air across the finish line to claim the Lights championship.
In the Supercross Final, Bradshaw found himself in second around the first corner. He soon became embroiled in a battle for the position with Gordon Crockard and Aubin, ending the race in fourth, and ending second in the championship. With many riders participating in both classes, a decision was made to tally up the points of both classes for the overall title. That title went to Bradshaw as well, making the win twice as sweet.
Matt Hutchins, team principal, declared himself very happy with the end result: "All our hard work last year and earlier this year has paid off handsomely. The final race was really tense, because Nev and Aubin had a race each in the championship and it came down to the wire. Nev eventually got past Aubin, and stayed ahead of him all the way to the end. This has given us a good platform to start the season with, and we're really glad to have the first British title of the year under our belt.
"I want to thank all the sponsors who are supporting us this year: Stevens Engineering, 365 Resourcing, TRM Honda and Honda UK, CI Sport, Acerbis UK, Haan Wheels, LR Designs, HGS, VG Builders, GSP MX, Muk Junkie, Optic, Dunlop, Troy Lee Designs, V-Force, Artrax, Twinair, Grotesk Design, Dantek Recruitment, Galvin, Catalyst, Samco, Raptor, Wemoto, SHR, Vortex Ignitions, Alpinestars, RipnRoll, Hardcore Race Products, Hinson, 272 Race Schools, Maxima Oils, and Evotech Race Engines & Suspension."
Said Neville Bradshaw: "It was a great weekend, I felt good on the bike from the first lap of practice. The track was really fun to ride with some nice rhythm sections and a few big jumps. In the final I got an awesome start, but got run off the track in the first turn. I rejoined around 9th, and made some quick passes in the first few laps. About halfway in I saw Aubin a few bikes ahead and knew I had to beat him for the championship. I managed to catch and pass him with a few laps to go and held onto third at the finish line, which was enough to clinch the title. Everyone at Evotech Stevens Honda has put a lot of hard work in for this and I'm glad I could repay them with a championship this early in the season."