Young Edwinstowe race ace Joshua seals CIV title in Spain

Nerves were jangling with 11-year-old Joshua only needing five points to secure the title. That meant he only needed to finish race one and the championship would be in the bag for him.

Joshua knew that meant there was no pressure to push too hard but, while avoiding unnecessary risks, he still wanted to add to his race wins – but then suffered a crash in qualifying.

He set a good time early in Q1 and, with a few minutes left, decided to go back out and try to improve it.

But on a slightly colder tyre due to coming back through the pits Joshua tucked the front at turn seven going in ‘too hot’ and had to sit out the last minutes of the session at the marshall point until the track was clear of riders and the recovery trailer could return Josh and bike to dad in the paddock.

With only an hour until Q2, his dad had to get the bike fixed quick for Joshua to go out again and try to improve his time, which unfortunately he didn’t manage due to an issue with the bike halfway through the session.

Nevertheless, his Q1 time was enough to give him pole for the 85s and sixth overall on the grid, making it an impressive P1 qualifying for all six rounds this year.

In Race One, with an okay start, Joshua dropped a couple of places which he took back over the eight laps, finishing first in class and pinching fifth overall spot with some clever racecraft at the last turn.

So that was 25 points in the bag, giving him the championship with one race left.

His Race Two start wasn’t the best and he found himself 11th by the first corner. But, picking off the riders one by one, he was back up to sixth with two laps left.

He then made some awesome moves in turn one and again in the final turn, taking fifth from the same rider from the first race, again finishing first in class, making it 10 wins out of 11 races in the Corse Junior Cup 2022.

A few doors have been opened for Joshua by his performances and 2023 is looking to be a very interesting year. Any businesses would like to get on board to help his parents get Joshua to the next level can contact [email protected] or call 07967 308659.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​