A BIG Easter Sunday crowd witnessed some excellent, closely-fought racing during round three of the British Moto-Cross Championships, held at Cadder's Hill, Lyng, in Norfolk.

A BIG Easter Sunday crowd witnessed some excellent, closely-fought racing during round three of the British Moto-Cross Championships, held at Cadder's Hill, Lyng, in Norfolk.

The Norwich Vikings Club put on a superb event with the circuit in prime condition.

In the MX1 class, for 450cc machines, the 2006 champion, Belgian Ken De Dycker, took control after 10 minutes of racing, with Brad Anderson, Billy Mackenzie, Gordon Crockard and James Noble all chasing.

Then with 30 minutes gone and two laps remaining, De Dycker's Honda machine developed problems, but he managed to nurse the bike over the finishing line.

Unfortunately for him and his Cas Honda team, the bike failed the statutory noise test and he was docked a penalty of one minute, which gave him sixth place, giving Anderson the first win of his career in the Premier Class.

Noble took second on his Earls Colne-based Multitek Honda, followed by Mackenzie and popular Irish rider Crockard.

Race two produced more drama, as young Scot Mackenzie stormed into the lead, and built up an eight-second lead after three laps.

De Dycker, meanwhile, had fought through to second place, and proceeded to cut Mackenzie's lead, reducing it to a one-second deficit when more bike problems occurred for De Dycker, putting him out of the race, and costing him his lead in the series.

Mackenzie, celebrating his 23rd birthday, took a popular win from Anderson, who had a race-long battle with Crockard to take second place, and the overall win.

In the MX2 class for 250cc machines, the crowd were treated to some fast and furious racing.

Seventeen-year-old Tommy Searle, on his Factory KTM machine, led the pack as they charged into the narrow chicane and up the hill for the first time, but Kawasaki riders Gareth Swanepoel and Tom Church were giving chase, along with veteran American Mike Brown on his Cas Honda.

South African Swanepoel took over after 15 minutes, and despite Searle's attempts, took the win.

Church rode well for third, followed by Brown, Irishman Martin Barr and the Fork Rent Suzuki, ridden by Jason Dougan.

Suffolk youngster, Elliott Banks-Browne, back from injury, raced well to claim ninth place, just ahead of his team-mate, American Sean Hamblin, who had earlier held fifth position.

The 2006 champion Carl Nunn, still suffering from a back injury, held on for 11th place.

In race two, Swanepoel again took the win, after chasing early race leader Searle.

Brown rode consistently for third place, and Nunn had a better ride to hold off Church for fourth position at the finish of a gruelling race.

Banks-Browne again finished in the points, this time in 13th place, although it was not a good day for Ipswich youngster Jake Nicholls, who could only score a 16th place, despite showing promise earlier on in the day.

Round Three Maxxis British Championships

MX1 Race One: 1 Brad Anderson (Yamaha), 2 James Noble (Honda), 3 Billy Mackenzie (Kawasaki), 4 Gordon Crockard (Honda), 5 Jordan Rose (KTM), 6 Ken De Dycker (Honda).

MX1 Race Two: 1 Mackenzie, 2 Anderson, 3 Crockard, 4 Noble, 5 Rose, 6 Mark Hucklebridge (Kawasaki).

Leading MX1 positions after three rounds: 1 Mackenzie 159 points, 2 Crockard 153, 3 De Dycker 134, 4 Noble 134, 5 Anderson 126, 6 Mark Eastwood 88.

MX2 Race One: 1 Gareth Swanepoel (Kawasaki), 2 Tommy Searle (KTM), 3 Tom Church (Kawasaki), 4 Mike Brown (Honda), 5 Martin Barr (Yamaha), 6 Jason Dougan (Suzuki).

MX2 Race Two: 1 Swanepoel, 2 Searle, 3 Brown, 4 Carl Nunn (Yamaha), 5 Church, 6 Lewis Gregory (Suzuki).

Leading MX2 positions after three rounds: 1 Searle 148 points, 2 Swanepoel 139, 3 Shaun Simpson 133, 4 Brown 132, 5 Church 120, 6 Sean Hamblin 109.