Exeter Eagles ended two years of Preston-Birmingham-Manchester domination by 40 points – a title built on female riders, won from 5th place after Round 3, and never led by more than 80 points all season. The full 2026 story, club to individual rider.
2026 Season Ā· Full Results Broadcast
The Big Three
Get Broken
Exeter Eagles ended two years of Preston-Birmingham-Manchester domination by 40 points – a title built on female riders, won from 5th place after Round 3, and never led by more than 80 points all season. The full 2026 story, club to individual rider.
Who Topped What
Club Championship
For two years the podium read Preston, Birmingham, Manchester. In 2026 it read Exeter, Preston, Manchester – separated by just 80 points across ten rounds and 12,000 possible.
Final Standings Ā· Top 10
National Series, 55 clubs, Rounds 1-10
Championship Position After Each Round
Top five clubs. Exeter were 5th after three rounds and 1st from Round 6 onwards.
BURM INSIGHTExeter’s Round 5 maximum (1,200) lifted them from 3rd to 2nd; a 1,180 at Round 6 put them in front for good.
Who Led After Each Round
The lead changed hands three times and was never bigger than 80 points. Exeter were 5th after Round 3.
Andover’s Arrival
6th in 2025, 5th in 2026 – but with a squad of just 41 riders, 12 of whom race two classes (29% of the club, the highest doubling rate in the top 10). Andover manufacture points from a small roster better than anyone.
Round 5, Maximum Points
Exeter Eagles’ Round 5 score of 1,200 at Gosport is the only maximum any club posted all season. It took them from 3rd to 2nd, and a round later they had a lead they never gave back.
Movers & Shakers
Rank change from the 2025 final table. Bath BMX made the biggest verified climb (+12, from 35th to 23rd), while Cardiff and Redditch Premiers came from outside last year’s top 20 into 12th and 13th. At the other end, Nottingham Outlaws and Runnymede Rockets both fell ten places.
Rank Change, 2025 ā 2026
Clubs with a verified 2025 rank
BURM INSIGHTCardiff, Redditch Premiers and Bruntwood Park were outside the published 2025 top 20, so their exact climb can’t be verified – Cardiff and Redditch gained at least 8-9 places.
Points Change, 2025 ā 2026
Top-20 clubs from last year: who added points, who lost them
Bideford: 7 Riders to 9, 20th to 15th
The smallest squad in the top 20 added 736 points year on year – more than any club except Exeter. Three women (Rebecca Gohl in two classes, Lottie Brown, Elsey Blight) scored 78% of it.
Bournemouth: ā1,100 Points
Same-sized squad (53 ā 55 riders), 8th to 11th, and the biggest points collapse of any top-20 club. Zero female round wins from 10 female riders is the tell.
Nottingham Outlaws: 15th to 25th
Lost six riders and 1,285 points. Yet 92.6% of what they did score came from women – the most female-dependent club in the country (see Round 05).
British Championships
The Brits moved from Cyclopark, Kent to Platt Fields, Manchester. The home crowd got the result the preview flagged – and the venue shift flipped the form book for a dozen clubs. On points per rider the regional table reads very differently: Scotland 37.2, South West 19.5, East 15.8, Midlands 15.5, South 11.7, North 10.7 – the North’s 358 riders was volume, not conversion.
Brits Club Standings Ā· Top 7
One-day format, 57 clubs
Regional Table
South West edges the North by 40 points – despite the North fielding almost double the riders
The Geography Flip: Series Rank vs Brits Rank
Places gained or lost at the Brits compared to the club’s National Series finish
BURM INSIGHTIpswich, Nuneaton and Merseyside – all a short drive from Manchester or the Midlands – brought bigger squads to the Brits than to a typical round. Redditch, Gosport and Cardiff went the other way. Hayes Hawks (18th ā 8th) and Derby (9th ā 4th) had their best day of the year.
Elite & National Teams
Absolute Bicycle Motocross three-peated with a career-best 11,820. StayStrong retained the Brits Elite crown. Down a tier, Sorted Racegear won the National Series by 1,330 points – then lost the Brits National title by 10.
Elite Ā· National Series Top 5
15 Elite teams
Elite Ā· British Championships Top 5
One-day format
National Teams Ā· Series Top 5
39 National teams
National Teams Ā· Brits Top 5
One-day format
Relegation Zone Ā· Elite Series
Bottom three of 15, with their 2025 finish
| # | Team | 2026 pts | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Hardknox Byke Coaching | 8,890 | 10th |
| 14 | Alans Factory Supercross | 8,450 | 13th |
| 15 | Fluent Bicycle Motocross | 8,350 | 14th |
BURM INSIGHTHardknox collapsed in the last two rounds (620 and 590 after averaging ~960). Alans Factory and Fluent were both in the drop zone in 2025 and survived when the tier reshuffled (GT Factory BMX UK, 7th in 2025, did not return) – so treat the line as provisional until British Cycling confirms.
Promotion Zone Ā· National Series
Top three of 39, with their 2025 finish
| # | Team | 2026 pts | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sorted Racegear | 10,370 | 15th Elite |
| 2 | Halo Wheels BMX Race Team | 9,040 | 6th |
| 3 | Hotshot | 8,420 | – |
BURM INSIGHTSorted Racegear would bounce straight back up after one season down – the reverse of Alans Factory’s 2024-25 yo-yo. Halo Wheels did it with only 11 riders, the smallest squad in the National top 8. Meybo Factory Team UK (8th) and Evolve Collective (10th) both survived their first Elite season comfortably.
The Female Engine
Female riders are 24% of the National Series field but scored 37% of all counted club points. Per rider, a female entry is worth 1.9Ć a male one to a club’s championship total – and the 2026 champions are the club that understood it best.
A Quarter of the Riders, Well Over a Third of the Points
Each square is one rider in a hundred, or one club point in a hundred
Where Each Club’s Points Come From
Share of counted club points (top 6 riders per round) scored in female categories – top 12 clubs
Most Successful Female Club Ā· Four Ways to Score It
Depends what you count – so here are all four
| Metric | Winner | Value | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female points contributed to club total | Nottingham Outlaws | 7,395 (92.6%) | Bideford 6,885 Ā· Exeter 6,620 |
| Female round wins | Bideford BMX | 19 from 3 riders | Exeter 18 Ā· Braintree 16 Ā· Andover 15 |
| Female podiums (top 3 in a round) | Manchester BMX | 51 | Exeter 50 Ā· Andover 34 |
| Female riders on the books | Manchester BMX | 22 | Braintree 16 Ā· Nottingham 15 |
BURM INSIGHTOur call: Exeter Eagles – the only club to turn a female-first points model into a National Series title. Pound for pound, Bideford: Rebecca Gohl (won all ten rounds of Female 30+, 2nd in 30+ Cruiser), Lottie Brown (maximum score in Female 16) and Elsey Blight carried a nine-rider club to 15th. The most female-dependent club is Nottingham Outlaws, where Izzy Hurry alone scored 2,800 counted points across two classes.
Manchester: 47% Again
Measured the way last year’s piece did – share of a club’s point scorers who are female – Manchester sit at 47.1% (8 of 17), flat on 2025’s 47%. Not the 50% predicted, but not a reversal either. Exeter, Andover and Cumbernauld all hit 50%.
Exeter vs Preston: Two Blueprints
Exeter: 43% of points from under-13s, 58% from girls. Preston: 53% from cruiser classes, 13% from girls. Both work – but the youth-and-girls model has a longer runway than a cruiser core that ages out.
Three Clubs, No Female Points
Redditch Premiers finished 13th with 13 riders and no female rider at all. Derby (10.7%) and Preston (12.6%) are the only other top-10 clubs under a third. The next title contender will fix that first.
The Cruiser Class
Twelve cruiser categories, 358 Series entries (27% of the scoring field), and 34% of every club point scored in 2026. Cruiser is the second engine of the club championship – and for two clubs in the top ten it is the whole engine.
Cruiser Share of Club Points
Share of counted points scored in cruiser classes – top 15 clubs
BURM INSIGHTExeter (13%) and Manchester (11%) won the two club titles almost without cruisers. Preston, Cumbernauld, Bournemouth and Gosport built their seasons on them.
Cruiser Round Wins by Club
Round wins across the 12 cruiser classes, Rounds 1-10
BURM INSIGHTCumbernauld’s 19 wins came from just 9 cruiser entries: Eilidh Watson (10 from 10 in 13-16 Female Cruiser) and Stewart Campbell (9 from 10 in 55+) between them scored 3,980 of the club’s 7,150 cruiser points. Preston’s 18 wins were spread across 25 entries. Gosport scored 70% of their points on cruisers but won only four rounds.
Cruiser Champions 2026
National Series winner, margin, and the Brits winner
| Class | Series champion | Margin | Brits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9-12 Cruiser Open | Charlie Dowsing | 40 | Finlay Munro |
| 13-14 Cruiser | Oliver Arnold | 100 | Charlie Craig |
| 15-16 Cruiser | James Cottrell | 100 | James Cottrell |
| 17-29 Cruiser | Alex Brookes | 60 | Tomos Doran |
| 30-39 Cruiser | Daniel Pople | 140 | Connor Hudson |
| 40-44 Cruiser | Kieron McAvoy | 120 | Benjamin Martinez |
| 45-49 Cruiser | Norbert Marko | 110 | Norbert Marko |
| 50-54 Cruiser | Alan Hill | 160 | Zoltan Buday |
| 55+ Cruiser | Stewart Campbell | 230 | Stewart Campbell |
| 13-16 Female Cruiser | Eilidh Watson | 160 | Eilidh Watson |
| 17-29 Female Cruiser | Hannah Drew | 120 | Lily Chiziwa |
| 30+ Female Cruiser | Sarah-Jane Nichols | 60 | Sarah-Jane Nichols |
BURM INSIGHTSeven of twelve cruiser titles changed hands at the Brits – the highest one-day flip rate of any group of classes. Masters cruiser fields are also the most settled: 30-39 through 55+ were won by margins of 110 to 230.
Where Cruiser Points Come From
Share of each club’s cruiser points by age group
| Club | Youth 9-16 | 17-29 | Masters 30+ | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Pirates | 32% | 35% | 30% | 3% |
| Cumbernauld | 16% | 0% | 45% | 39% |
| Andover | 53% | 9% | 0% | 39% |
| Bristol | 7% | 0% | 90% | 3% |
| National average | 23% | 8% | 45% | 24% |
BURM INSIGHTPreston are the only club with a balanced cruiser programme across every age band – James Cottrell (15-16), Alex Brookes (17-29) and Christopher Evans (40-44) each scored over 1,500 cruiser points. Bristol’s cruiser points are almost entirely masters; Andover’s are almost entirely youth and female. Female riders are 18.6% of cruiser entries but 24% of cruiser points.
Speed Trap
The quickest hill time and the quickest lap at each of the five venues, split by male/open, female, cruiser open and cruiser women classes. Hill time is the gate-to-first-split figure in the Sqorz timing data – the sprint down the start hill. Preston riders hold 13 of the 40 venue bests; Nottingham Outlaws’ Lily Chiziwa holds five of the ten in cruiser women.
Fastest Lap by Venue
Quickest timed lap across both rounds at each venue
| Venue | Male / Open | Female | Cruiser Open | Cruiser Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester NCC | 27.891 George Hunt Superclass Ā· Nuneaton | 29.440 Freia Challis Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree | 29.392 Daniel Wilson 17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates | 33.474 Lily Chiziwa 17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Nottingham Outlaws |
| Glasgow | 33.109 Ross Cullen Superclass Ā· Preston Pirates | 36.941 Freia Challis Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree | 36.588 Daniel Wilson 17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates | 41.724 Lily Chiziwa 17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Nottingham Outlaws |
| Gosport | 30.694 Tyreese Bradshaw Open 19-29 Ā· Derby | 33.672 Elsa Rendall-Todd Championship Women (17+) Ā· Cyclopark | 31.307 Daniel Wilson 17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates | 36.020 Hannah Drew 17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Manchester |
| Cardiff | 33.249 Callum Russell Superclass Ā· Birmingham | 38.530 Annalise Cadman Carpenter Championship Women (17+) Ā· Royston Rockets | 35.117 Daniel Wilson 17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates | 41.284 Molly Nice 17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Braintree |
| Derby | 33.125 Jimmy Criddle Superclass Ā· Preston Pirates | 35.295 Freia Challis Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree | 34.867 Lucas Sealey 15-16 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates | 39.171 Anya Matern Alonso 17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Peckham |
Quickest gate-to-first-split time across both rounds at each venue BURM INSIGHTBrynley Savage owns the hill at Manchester and Gosport from Open 19-29. In cruiser women, Lily Chiziwa was quickest to the split at three venues and Eilidh Watson (13-16 Female Cruiser, Cumbernauld) at Gosport and Cardiff. Cardiff’s Superclass and Championship Women race the 8-metre hill with a different first split, so their 1.3-1.5s figures are not comparable with the other classes or venues. Readings more than 0.25s quicker than a rider’s own median at that venue were treated as timing glitches and excluded.Fastest Hill by Venue
Venue Male / Open Female Cruiser Open Cruiser Women Manchester NCC 2.428
Brynley Savage
Open 19-29 Ā· Manchester2.686
Freia Challis
Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree2.504
Daniel Wilson
17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates2.720
Lily Chiziwa
17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Nottingham OutlawsGlasgow 2.708
Callum Russell
Superclass Ā· Birmingham2.859
Freia Challis
Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree2.796
Alex Brookes
17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates2.961
Lily Chiziwa
17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Nottingham OutlawsGosport 2.306
Brynley Savage
Open 19-29 Ā· Manchester2.481
Jessica Marriott
Championship Women (17+) Ā· Peterborough Phantoms2.362
Daniel Wilson
17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates2.602
Eilidh Watson
13-16 Female Cruiser Ā· CumbernauldCardiff 1.324
Callum Russell
Superclass Ā· Birmingham1.467
Annalise Cadman Carpenter
Championship Women (17+) Ā· Royston Rockets2.575
James Cottrell
15-16 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates2.890
Eilidh Watson
13-16 Female Cruiser Ā· CumbernauldDerby 2.152
Jimmy Criddle
Superclass Ā· Preston Pirates2.281
Freia Challis
Championship Women (17+) Ā· Braintree2.240
Alex Brookes
17-29 Cruiser Ā· Preston Pirates2.451
Lily Chiziwa
17-29 Female Cruiser Ā· Nottingham Outlaws
Individual Riders
Twenty of thirty-nine matched categories produced a double champion – the same rider topping both the Series and the Brits. Twenty-three riders scored the 1,200 maximum (your best six rounds count), but only four actually won all ten: Henry Sullivan, Amelie Eaton, Rebecca Gohl and Eilidh Watson. Even the most dominant Series riders found the one-day Brits format a different challenge.
James Bibby: Three Titles, Three Age Groups
Maximum score in Male 11 (2024), Male 12 (2025) and now Open 13 (2026) – eight round wins from ten this year, aged 12. On the Sunday at Platt Fields the one-day format went Joe Rooke’s way; over a season, nobody in the category has been close.
Finlay Munro’s Double-Plus
Retained Male 12 at both events, then stole the 9-12 Cruiser Open Brits title from Series winner Charlie Dowsing. The Male 12 title was the 4th-closest in the series (40 pts over Connor Hemphill).
Alan Hill: Three Years, Two Classes, Six Titles
Maximum score in Grand Veteran 50+ and 50-54 Cruiser in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Unbeaten in all eight Grand Veteran rounds he entered, with a 260-point winning margin – the widest in any category. The cracks: six wins from ten in 50-54 Cruiser, and that Brits title went to Zoltan Buday.
Maximum Score in 2025 and 2026
Ten riders moved up an age group and kept scoring 1,200
| Rider | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Sullivan | Male 9 | Male 10 |
| Ethan Shore | Male 10 | Male 11 |
| James Bibby | Male 12 | Open 13 |
| Holly Bishop | Female 10 | Female 11 |
| Ruby Warren | Female 13 | Female 14 |
| James Cottrell | 13-14 Cruiser | 15-16 Cruiser |
| Tyreese Bradshaw | Open 19-29 | Open 19-29 |
| Rebecca Gohl | Female 30+ | Female 30+ |
| Daniel Pople | 30-39 Cruiser | 30-39 Cruiser |
| Alan Hill | GV 50+ & 50-54 Cr. | GV 50+ & 50-54 Cr. |
BURM INSIGHTFifteen of 2025’s 25 maximum-score riders fell short of 1,200 in 2026 – including Coby Wrayford (1,180), James Miller (1,160) and Billy Luckhurst (1,160), who all still won their titles.
Closest and Widest Title Races
Gap between 1st and 2nd in the final Series standings
| Category | Winner Ā· Runner-up | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Open | James Clitheroe Ā· Kai Bowen | 20 |
| Female 17-18 | Sophie Ellwood Ā· Sahbina Ashman | 20 |
| Open 14 | James Miller Ā· Ethan Howell | 30 |
| Male 12 | Finlay Munro Ā· Connor Hemphill | 40 |
| 9-12 Cruiser Open | Charlie Dowsing Ā· Leo Bradley | 40 |
| ⦠| ||
| Superclass | George Hunt Ā· Ben Cornish | 220 |
| 55+ Cruiser | Stewart Campbell Ā· Chris Maddren | 230 |
| Grand Veteran 50+ | Alan Hill Ā· Stuart Little | 260 |
BURM INSIGHTEthan Howell beat James Miller at the Brits in Open 14 – the one-day flip of the series’ third-closest race.
Twenty-Two Things the Data Told Us
Reconstructed from 43,903 individual race results across ten rounds – every moto, quarter, semi and final. Things you can’t see in a standings table.
Home Rounds Are Worth 55 to 114 Points
BURM INSIGHTAverage round score at the club’s home venue minus every other round, for the five host clubs. Every host scored better at home, mostly because they turned up: Cumbernauld fielded 39 and 37 riders at Glasgow against 25 elsewhere; Derby 43 and 42 at Derby against 26.
How Many Riders Actually Score?
BURM INSIGHTShare of each club’s counted points from its top three riders. Manchester spread the load across 17 scorers with only 36% from their top three. Cumbernauld’s top three (66%) are their whole season.
61% of Main Finals Won by the Fastest Hill Time
BURM INSIGHTWhere the winner ranked on the first split, across 418 timed main finals. Quickest to the split won 61%, the top two won 85%. Only 3.8% of finals were won from the slower half of the gate.
164 Riders Race Two Classes
BURM INSIGHT12% of the field. Preston and Andover lean on it most – 29% of Andover’s squad race twice. The commonest pairing is Open 15 + 15-16 Cruiser. Eight riders made all 20 starts, including Andover’s Newton Hindley.
Only 29.5% of Riders Did All Ten Rounds
BURM INSIGHTRiders by number of rounds attended. 399 of 1,354 did all ten; another 300 did eight. The even numbers dominate because each venue hosts a two-round weekend – riders come for the weekend or not at all.
Riders Per Round
BURM INSIGHTUnique riders entered, all classes. Rounds 5-6 at Gosport drew the biggest fields of the year (989, 986); Glasgow and Cardiff dipped to around 850-870. The travel rounds cost about 140 riders.
Is a Cruiser Actually Faster?
BURM INSIGHTMedian difference in best lap for the 161 riders who raced both bikes at the same venue (490 pairs). A dead heat overall – the cruiser was quicker in 48% of pairs. Gosport favoured the big wheel by 0.17s; Glasgow, Cardiff and Derby favoured the 20-inch by 0.13-0.14s.
47% of Riders Carry a Team
BURM INSIGHTShare of each club’s riders with a trade-team affiliation. Manchester and Andover are almost fully affiliated; Peckham Challengers got to 8th nearly team-free. Bruntwood Park NRT is 28 riders deep from its own club.
Superclass Has the Highest Non-Finish Rate
BURM INSIGHTShare of race starts ending in a DNF or relegation, by class. Championship Women finished 99.7% of races. Gosport Round 6 was the most attritional round (1.2%); Glasgow Round 3 the cleanest (0.5%).
Brynley Savage, Best Average Out of the Gate
BURM INSIGHTAverage gate-to-first-split time across at least 15 timed starts. Anya Matern Alonso (Championship Women) is second overall. By club, Nuneaton average the quickest gate splits in the country (2.763s).
Points Per Rider, Top 10 Clubs
BURM INSIGHTBig squads buy consistency, not efficiency. Bristol’s 19 riders returned 506 points each; Manchester’s 76 returned 149. Exeter won the title at 220 per rider with the fourth-largest squad. Bideford (15th) top the whole table at 990.
Twelve Overseas Riders
BURM INSIGHTNine from Ireland, two Latvians (Agris and Alberts Aleidzans) and Hungary’s Adam Buday, who podiumed in 45-49 Cruiser at the Brits. None are attached to a UK club.
Where the Top Five Clubs’ Points Come From
BURM INSIGHTShare of counted points by age group. Cumbernauld (not shown) are 69% cruiser. Exeter and Manchester run on under-13s; Preston on cruisers; Andover a balance of 13-16 and cruiser; Birmingham the most evenly spread.
105 Different Riders Won a Round
BURM INSIGHT390 round wins across 39 classes and ten rounds. 31 riders won exactly once; 14 riders won eight or more times and between them own a third of every win in the series.
13 Finals Decided by Under 0.05s
BURM INSIGHTGap between 1st and 2nd in the 429 main finals, in seconds. The closest of the year: Daniel Wilson (Preston) over Charlie Roy (Braintree) by 0.001s, 17-29 Cruiser, Round 2. The average gap was 0.79s.
Bradford Bandits’ Late Surge
BURM INSIGHTPoints per round in Rounds 6-10 minus Rounds 1-5. Bradford (+110) and Derby (+94) finished fastest; Western Titans (-173, from 1,070 in Round 1 to 695 by Round 7) and Bristol (-112) faded hardest. Exeter’s second half: +36.
Team Riders Score 98 a Round; Unaffiliated 64
BURM INSIGHTAverage points and finishing rank per round. Teams pick fast riders, so it is selection as much as support – but the gap is the whole difference between a final and a semi.
19 Club One-Two Finishes, One Clean Sweep
BURM INSIGHTTimes a club took 1st and 2nd in the same class and round. Only once all season did a club go 1-2-3: Peckham Challengers. Depth in a single class is rarer than the standings suggest.
16 Tied Positions Across Six Tables
BURM INSIGHTThe Brits club table alone had eight (Derby/Andover for 4th, Hayes Hawks/Cumbernauld for 8th). One-day formats produce ties; ten-round series barely do.
Male 12 Has 7.5 Times the Field of Female 30+
BURM INSIGHTRiders per class, biggest and smallest. Male 12, Male 9, Open 15 and Male 10 are where the crowds are; Female 30+, Female 16, Junior Open and 13-16 Female Cruiser are where a podium – and 160 club points – is most within reach.
A Quarter of the Field, Every Single Round
BURM INSIGHTFemale riders as a share of each round’s field: between 24.4% and 25.5% at every round, the most stable number in the data set. 147 under-9 riders raced without scoring club points; 23% of them were girls.
Four Riders Won All Ten Rounds
BURM INSIGHTRound wins by the 24 maximum-score campaigns. Twenty-three riders scored the 1,200 maximum; only Henry Sullivan, Amelie Eaton, Rebecca Gohl and Eilidh Watson (10 from 10) never lost a round.