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The British Extreme season kicked off this weekend with the Valleys 2 Day Xtreme at Walters Arena near Glyneath in South Wales. 

The Saturday morning session gave the riders a chance to practice on a section of the going and - as the steam rose - the air soon filled with the sound of curses and the smell of burning clutches. Suf Sella from Israel snapped his gear shaft and he had to compete on the D3 spare KTM.

The Pologues began at 12.30pm with each rider having 3 runs around the arena course. The assortment of rocks, skips and tyre obstacles coated in an oily film of wet slag resembled an episode of Kick Start from the Dark Side. 

Jonny Walker proved that he was fully recovered from the wrist injury he sustained at the Red Bull 11 Megawatt. He set the fastest time. Jono Richardson was runner up and Jack Spencer was 3rd. Paul Bolton was 4th, Charlie Frost 5th, Keelan Hancock 6th, Local rider Kip Herring was 7th, 2018 runner up Sam Winterburn was 8th, 2018 3rd Chris Windle was 9th and Army rider Stuart Mack 10th. Kalem Hicks had bad luck when his chain got jammed around the front sprocket and he had to remove the swinging arm while Joe Deacon was lucky to walk away from a high speed tank slapper on the fast straight.

Phil Webber was the quickest of the AM qualifiers ahead of Samual Davies with Ian Fortune 3rd, Lewis Moore 4th and Scott Booth 5th.

Sunday morning was a typically warm Welsh fifty shade of grey. The AM Race started at 9.00am Phil Webber and Samual Davies repeated their qualifying performances to finish first and second. At 11.30am the marshals swept the course and the woods rang with a sigh of relief.  

At noon Clerk of the Course Nick Plumb moonwalked along the start line releasing the riders in the PM Race. Jonny Walker took the holeshot but he slipped on the dumper tyres allowing Paul Bolton to take the lead. The battle was intense to be the first to complete 3 laps with Jono Richardson taking the win. The Big Hill was a No Help zone where Paul Bolton and Jonny Walker buddied up to get to the top. Jonny was runner up and Paul was 3rd, Jack Spencer 4th, Chris Windle 5th, Charlie Frost 6th, Keelan Hancock 7th and Sam Winterburn all finished on Gold.

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