Hannah has high hopes

Written by Rob James and published in Matlock Mercusy on Thu 19th Apr 2007

Cream of the Crop - Hannah Styles, centre,is pictured on top of the podium in Morella, Spain, last week

AFTER a fantastic European victory in Spain last week, Hannah Styles has set her sights on capturing the British crown.

The 13-year-old from Stoney Middleton made light of a hastily reorganised course at Morella, with changes forced on the UEM International Ladies Class event by two days of torrential rain which caused localised flooding.

Although the bad weather affected the practice days, the sun did shine on the actual event which saw all the sections moved to one side of a nearby mountain slope.

After dropping 16 points on her first circuit, she reduced any concessions to just three on the second, giving her a total of 19 and victory by four points.

This weekend she will head to Lincolnshire for the opening round of the British Ladies Championship where she aims to steal a march on her rivals in the youth B class, a title currently held by Middleton-by-Wirksworth rider Joanne Coles, who was ninth in the European Ladies Championship event at Morella.

Hannah said of the British title: "I've been waiting for it for four years, so hopefully it will be mine this time."