Motorcycling: Teenage Cranwell rider ends winter with title haul

In the run-in to the winter season, Bell secured the championship title in the Mablethorpe Junior series, plus the Junior Open Class Championship, the Scunthorpe Amateur Speedway Flat Track Championship, and Leicester Junior Speedway championship.

The Cranwell rider also claimed numerous wins in other races.

The 14-year-old began 2018 with overall victory at a bitterly cold day at Mablethorpe Sand Racing Club meet before recording his first British Mini Bike win the following weekend at Stretton on the M2R 140.

He said: “In the first race I was second just behind Joe Duggan, then in race two I was second for most of the race, but made a move up the inside on the penultimate turn on the last lap to take my first British mini bike win.

“I have got my confidence back on wet tyres now, so thanks to dad for the new tyres.”

In February, Jack travelled to the Scunthorpe Amateur Speedway track where he was third overall in the speedway class, and then repeated the finish in flat track.

“The track was really bad and rutted up a lot,” he added. “But riding the CRF250 for the first time in flat track I was unbeaten until we got to the final where I finished in third. But I scored enough points to take the overall win.

“In speedway I finished second overall with a lot of good races in tough conditions and am really happy with the results.”

Later that month Bell took the win at Leicester Speedway before returning to Mablethorpe the next day to win all five of his races against tough opposition.

The March weather played havoc, with several meetings cancelled because of snow.

This included the Leicester meeting which confirmed Bell as champion because of his win in the previous round.

Bell’s attentions then turned to the final round of the winter series at Scunthorpe against some of the top riders in the flat track class.

Despite crashing out of the lead in race one he remounted and finished in fifth on his way to third overall on the day with enough points to become the winter series champion.

In the speedway category he won the B final and went through to the overall final where he finished fourth.

This gave him fourth place in the speedway winter series, and overall second in the pit bike championship.