THE first two rounds of the British Cycling National series took place at the Indoor Cycling Centre in Manchester.

While Man City played at the Etihad in the background, the battles on the BMX track were just as exciting.

A total of 14 Hayes Hawks riders made the journey and, while the contingent was small, they made their presence felt. Hawks finished 14th out of 51 in the club standings after two rounds.

Sisters Maisee and Georgia Surtees made some good moves in their motos but could not  quite make the top four in their semi final. They rounded of their B finals in 8th and 4th respectively.

Joel Prichard, racing at Manchester for the firstst time, was flying in his motos and quarter-final. An unlucky semi saw him come over the line in the dreaded fifth spot.

He dominated his B final, however, taking the win. He took a nasty tumble on day two, which ended his route to the final.

Another rider who sustained some injuries was Nate Barata. After a fall that ended his race on day one, he came back stronger on day two and was just pipped on the line in his quarter final.

Dylan Slatter, another first timer to Manchester made the quarter-finals and rounded off his weekend 31st in the stacked 13-year-old boys.

Charlie Rough had a tough set of race days in the 15-16 Cruiser category.

Shaun Tobin, who has found time to train while studying for his medical engineering degree, reached the semis finals on day one in the stacked 19-29 class.

Hawks veteran Michael Baggs achieved a comfortable fourth in his B final and Zoltan Buday made a top-three podium on day one.

Hawks youth coaches Chay Young and Dylan Seaman demonstrated their resolve over the two days.

Chay triumphed on day one to make his second National A final. Dylan, one of the youngest competitors in the 17-29 Cruiser class made it to the semi finals on day two.

There were top podium steps for another three of our riders. Tate Kitson wowed the crowds to achieve a spectacular win on day two in his Cruiser final.

Two Hawks riders, however, blew away the competition on both days.

The current national and British champion, Iris Hajda, took confident wins in the Female 11 class to win consecutive national rounds.

Cody Coker surprised and delighted everyone at Hawks to take his first national win on the Saturday, without dropping a lap.

Having got the winning bug, Cody stepped up and did the same again on day two, storming to a commanding win in the male 15 category.