That’s just Champion Leon!

Congratulations to Leon Flint, 2022 British Under-19 Champion.

It proved to be lucky 13 for our local hero who was just perfect on Thursday night at Redcar reeling off five textbook starts to lift the title with a 15 point maximum.

The most important of his wins came in heat 19 when Leon, who will captain his home town side against Edinburgh on Saturday night, beat Belle Vue’s Jake Mulford, also unbeaten going into the race.

It’s not his first time on a national podium either as Leon finished second to Dan Bewley in the 2020 British Under-21 Final, raced behind closed doors at Shielfield Park during the Covid pandemic.

And it’s more national silverware having been British 150CC Champion in 2015, 250CC title winner in 2016 and 2017 and 500CC in 2018, the year he made his National League debut with Birmingham, aged 15, a year before breaking onto the Championship scene with his home-town club.

Leon has also been named in the starting 16 for this year’s British Championship at Belle Vue on 1 August and the Under-21 Final at Birmingham on 31 August.

Injuries to Scunthorpe’s Jordan Palin and Leicester’s Dan Thompson meant that Leon went into the final as the bookies’ favourite but Mulford, probably known more for his grasstrack exploits, matched him win for win on a night of competitive racing at Redcar.

Former Berwick Academy rider Luke Harrison, who has just turned 15, scored an impressive seven points while former 125 team-mate at Shielfield Sam McGurk had three points to his credit before taking a spectacular tumble after clipping the fence on the straight and having to withdraw.

Berwick Bullets’ Ace Pijper, one of five 15-year-olds in the field, scored a creditable five points on his Championship debut.

But the night belonged to Leon who had spent the early part of the week recovering from a back injury sustained in a heavy crash at Glasgow last Friday evening.

He showed little sign of the injury, or nerves, and stamped his authority on the meeting with back-to-back victories in heats four and five and gave a gating masterclass while Mulford was forced to work hard for his points.

In the end it all came down to heat 19 when the two title contenders lined up between Max James and Joe Thompson. After a tight first bend it was the Bandit who pulled away to claim the title

Harry McGurk beat Sam Hagon and Nathan Ablitt in a three-man run-off for third place.

But there was little time for the new champion to celebrate as he headed back to the workshop to prepare for another busy weekend in Bandits’ colours as they travel to Edinburgh on Friday night in the Championship Jubilee League, host the Monarchs the following night and then travel to table-topping Leicester in a rearranged Championship fixture on Sunday.

“It’s a good feeling,” Leon admitted after receiving his trophy.

“The way some people were talking in the build-up made it sound as if all I had to do was turn up and the title was mine but I never thought it was a foregone conclusion.

“The support team was focussed on getting both me and the bikes right and making sure there were no surprises on the night.

“From a championship point of view it couldn’t really have been better with me and Jake both going into heat 19 unbeaten which made it a straightforward winner takes all.

“It was my last year at this level so it was good to get my name on the trophy and I’m proud to do it as a Berwick rider.

“In the past I always seem to have had a problem, usually injury, leading up to championships or internationals and it was a bit touch and go at the start of the week.

“Now I’ve got to focus on three meetings in as many days for Berwick and then Wolverhampton and in Sweden.

“But that’s a good pretty good start to the weekend.”