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British Youth and Amateur

A BSMA Report: Pontrilas

Insight and analysis from Pontrilas.

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The Apico BSMA national series moved on to Pontrilas for the penultimate round of the championship incorporating the Georgie Evans Memorial Cup and indeed the last time they will get to race this ex-British championship circuit as its in its final year of use! Heavy rain on Friday had put the track in prime condition on Saturday eliminating the need for the use of bowsers, although where the berms from previous meetings had been left to stand the dust was waiting to break through, but it was only until late into the last of three blocks of racing that it really started to make itself known.

Now put that into contrast to Sunday and the track crew had done exactly what was needed to allow at least some racing. Saturday night the track was only given a light rip to remove the bumps then tracked back in in advance of the impending heavy rain that was forecast! The rain started at 7.30am and didn’t stop, and it was heavy, but as practice got underway dust was still coming through and for a while dry lines showed through!

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Ady Cowshall

Saturday’s racing got underway with the quick boys, the MX1 and MX2 combined, and really set the standard of racing for the day. Adam Harris aboard his two-stroke Yamaha against Tyron Cleaver on the KXF was such an intense battle it wasn’t clear which way it was going to end, as Harris threw everything in his arsenal at Cleaver to try to break him, but lap after lap he held his nerve and crossed the line to take the first win. Jack Timms was gradually losing touch with this battle royale but held a solid third as Jonny Roderick Evans, Kris Ayres, Karl Haycock and Dominic Lancett all fought for that fourth spot pushing the remaining MX1 riders further down the order.

It was Lancett who came through to take fourth, second in class behind Timms, and Roderick Evans rounding out the hard-fought battle for third in class. Timms set the pace in the early going of the second moto, but a few laps in dropped a whole bunch of places to regroup for third by the flag behind Lancett and Cleaver. Harris had made an error on the opening lap and dropped down the order and managed to come back to fifth at the flag behind a solid ride from Roderick Evans. Cleaver inherited the lead off Timms and went on to take the flag for the second time.

Race three and the sun was dropping and the dust becoming more of an issue, as Cleaver got a mare of a start and found out the hard way only managing to come through to fifth, but that was good enough for second in class. Harris wasn’t going to miss an opportunity and scorched off to the win, Timms followed him across the line for the MX2 win with Roderick Evans behind. Darren Webster and Ieuan Harris had a mid-race dice before Webster started to fade giving Harris a well-earnt fourth.

The combined vets and novice class was again a total domination by the vets with Andy Marchant really pulling the pin in the first two motos and clearing off into the distance, leaving Christian Seldon somewhat scratching his head at his championship rival crossing the line on both occasions as runner-up but not without having to deal with Derek Roberts as they changed places on more than one occasion. Trying his hand at the BSMA championship for the second time, Craig Chamberlain got in the mix holding down a couple of fourth places in the opening two just staying in front of a hard charging Scott Senter in the first. A horrendous start from championship-hopeful Simon Bracey saw him come up from outside the top fifteen to nab sixth in the first moto demoting Lee Spurr on the final lap.

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Ady Cowshall

Josh Senter took top honours in the novice two places behind his nemesis! Luke Price was top dog in the other novice battles taking the overall, Senter still managed two seconds with Phill Evans holding down to thirds and fourths to take runner up on the weekend. Jack Partridge benefitted from the slippery conditions on Sunday grabbing a second and taking third overall. The vets third race got interesting as Marchant didn’t get the start but rival Seldon did and made the most of it pulling a gap over the field. Roberts started off in second, but was soon victim of Chamberlain and Marchant as that pair took on a race-long battle with Chamberlain riding the widest 450 Yamaha ever built, Marchant was visibly rattled and lucky not to have thrown his 350 KTM down the track after several attempts to force the 772 Yamaha team manager out of the way.

Senior open was again another ‘blU crU’ affair with four of the top five overall on the Yamaha 250F’s and Owen Woodhouse being the only non-blue bike to get in there with them. The first moto it was Marshall Smith soaring off into the lead, but it was short lived as he seemed to fade rapidly down the order leaving Josh Greedy to take up the reigns and indeed the win. Behind him Jack Wankling and Tommi Davies were going at it. Davies demoted Wankling mid-race only, to be dogged by him until a last-lap move around the outside in the ‘S’ bend out of view from the spectators put him on the inside for the next corner forcing Davies over the top of the berm and back to third.

The second moto Greedy clearly had the speed advantage passing Wankling and not looking back. Callum Watson for the second time was up with the frontrunners initially, but was soon overhauled by Davies and Woodhouse as the pair of KTM-mounted riders tried to deal with the tide of blue. Woodhouse succumbed to pressure from Smith in the latter stages. The third one was lead away by Wankling, with Smith and Ryan Manly holding down the top three initially. Greedy was all but last around turn two crossing the line on the first lap in eleventh! Manly slipped down the order as the pack started to sort itself and again Smith faded badly letting Woodhouse through to hold second at the line from the charging Greedy in third.

The 125 seniors was a domination from last year’s champion, Callum Beeken, although in the early going of moto one it looked like Liam Gale was going to ride the wheels off his TM to a comfortable win after a very quick starting Ben Watkins had thrown it away after two blistering laps out front. Beeken, coming from behind, overhauled Gale by midway and stamped his authority on the win. James Hanscomb somehow managed to come from nowhere having moved into third and steal second on the last lap. Beeken took a flag-to-flag second moto win with a surprise second place going to Ben White and Hanscomb in third, despite still struggling from injury. The last dry race saw another wire-to-wire win for Beeken but this time Hanscomb had to get past Watkins for second with Watkins again getting out of the gate well along with White. Gale come through for fourth.

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Ady Cowshall

The BW85 class is stacked with talent. Trystan Williams took the overall, but that might well have been different had Ethan Sill not missed the start of the mud race on Sunday! Sills had taken two wins to Williams’ one on Saturday, but they were so close it could of been three to Williams! In the first moto it looked like Billy Duke had found that extra bit of speed lacking to stay with these boys, he had started to reel the pair back in after they initially pulled a small gap on him only to lose grip on the off-cambered sweeper near the finish going down heavily on his shoulder putting him out of contention for the weekend. Jason Down was the main benefactor to Duke’s demise, as he had been sitting in a lonely fourth, now he claimed three thirds. Daniel Arkell improved as the weekend went on, as with a somewhat unusual cornering technique he managed to bag two fourths on Saturday. Charlie Palmer was the first Japanese machine to cross the line netting fifth overall.

The SW85 class was all over the place with results. Turning out to be most consistent and bagging one win was Jake Randall with his trainer lurking about. Dave Watson must have been handing out some good advice to get him on the top step overall. Four different winners from the four races but Randall managed to net a second to go with his win with only one other rider managing two top placings. Tyler Smith has started showing great promise taking another win in the first moto but his lack of consistency is not giving him the overall podium results needed yet. Ben Mustoe lead the first encounter for a while before a spill dropped him and although he didn’t get a win still managed a third overall. Ellis Poole definitely has the speed but like Smith has the lack of consistency for now, but pulled a win out the bag in the second moto following it up in the third with a second but his first race mishap let him down.

The juniors again had a clear winner, taking three comfortable wins was Freddie Gardiner. Although, at times, Harlow Green was showing signs of his old form and kept Gardiner honest. Ollie Bubb managed to take second overall in a tight contest with third placed Joey Benfield. Gardiner took off in the first moto followed by Green and Hayden Yeend, Yeend with Yeend’s final resting place just outside the top five after Benfield and Bubb came through. The next one saw Gardiner again go on without a hitch to win and after Green chucked it away Bubb, Shane Jones, Yeend and a slow starting Benfield completed the top five. Third one and again it was about the placings as FG took another unchallenged win from Green and Bubb with Benfield ousting Yeend on the last lap.

The Autos looked to be a Lee Simkiss affair taking three wins from three on Saturday, but the overall ended up in Ollie Waters’ lap. Race one saw a very static top four of Simkiss, Waters, Logan Gardener and Matthew Morgan with the only battle being between Logan Keene and Ollie Truman, trading places a couple of times with Truman edging it. A similar fate befalled the second moto replaced only by Keene grabbing fourth and Bobby Ray Smith netting fifth. A switch in the second and third place was the highlight of race three with Gardener taking Waters mid race and a dramatic fight through the field from dead last for Smith to get up to eighth.

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Ady Cowshall

Sunday’s Slippery Sundae

With conditions worsening as the minutes clicked by, the at times torrential rain that hit the Herefordshire hills took its toll with racing being called after just one block. But, for those who braved the conditions, it looked fun as it was slick as opposed to deep mud thanks to the track maintenance crew. With the first race underway it was big wheeled riders pushing the limits of how far they could go. Williams gated and took off with Sills nowhere to be seen! Arkell and Down made up the top three and as the pack left the start field Sills appeared from the start and took off after the long distant pack! Down moved quickly into second and as the laps counted down Sills was setting fastest laps by over five seconds in a vain attempt to make up ground, unbelievably by the flag he had moved up to fourth salvaging second overall.

It was Sion Evans who gated first in the SW85 class and with relatively-clear vision went unchallenged to take the win from Ben Zeale and Lewis Roden. Poole dumped it on the opening lap putting paid to any hope of the top three while started well but dropped three places by the flag but that was enough for the overall. Joey Benfield came into the second turn neck-and-neck with Jamie Kuehn coming out first, but come lap two he’s demoted and Kuehn had taken over the top spot and held off Benfield’s challenges to take the win. Gardiner was content on keeping it upright and didn’t want to risk throwing it down the track in the slick conditions, his caution allowing Bubb to nip third on the last lap.

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Ady Cowshall

The autos were always going to struggle in these conditions but a few managed to stay upright and the best of those was Waters from Morgan. Ifan Rees moved up through other’s misfortune to grab third. Senior open was a tight run into turn two with Watson just coming out in front and leading the entire race until the last lap when he got caught by Greedy with Marshall Smith getting caught on the last lap also by Woodhouse.

The 125’s where again led from start to finish by Beeken giving him the only maximum of the weekend. Cameron Jackson deserves a mention for a great ride through the pack up to third, giving him his best result of the weekend by far. Vets saw Simon Bracey get the holeshot but by turn two it was Chamberlain who held on to the flag despite repeated attempts by Seldon to take over. Marchant had gone down in turn two and fought gallantly back through to fourth behind Lee Spurr. The final race saw young Lancett take the lead and then stall on the next lap, allowing Cleaver to briefly take the lead, but he fought back, re-took the place and maintained the lead to the end. Timms lost the chance of the overall with an early mishap that left him hovering around the bottom end of the top ten. Harris screamed the two-stroke across the line in third.

Georgie Evans Memorial Cup

The winner being picked as most outstanding performance on the Saturday by Georgie’s parents, Richard and Ann Evans. Quote by Richard: ”It is still very difficult for us and our family coming to terms with the loss of our daughter Georgie, but everyone is so supportive it’s overwhelming. It was a very emotional day, starting with a minutes silence which everyone respected, racing was top draw in every class from the tiny autos to my fellow old boys in the vets! Picking a rider of the day was so difficult, because everyone was giving their all. We narrowed it down to a few before the last block, but I hope you all agree that the BW85 class was lit yesterday! The racing between Ethan Sills and Trystan Williams was fantastic. They were never far apart, but we could only pick one and Ethan edged it.

The final and deciding round is at Culham in Oxfordshire on September 15 and 16.

Words: Ady Cowshall | Lead Image: Ady Cowshall

British MX Nationals

Thank you. It’s been a hell of a ride.

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Since buying back MX Vice in November 2019, it has been challenging. One of those crystal balls would have been handy for navigating some problematic situations. Who would have thought COVID-19 would be a thing?

Those who follow MX Vice know we started from nothing but an idea. A fan who loved the sport created a Facebook page, website, and social media presence that would become disruptive. It has made numerous talented media people who were allowed to run with it for over thirteen years. Being in the UK/Europe has always been difficult; I’ve always believed that if we were a US media company, we would have been embraced and appreciated for our work ethic and the content we produce. We always cast one eye over the US in Europe, and you can’t blame the top European riders for doing the same.

MX Vice has always tried to give people a voice, especially the riders who are not in the limelight and the teams that put so much into the sport. We love people’s passion and sacrifice to improve and challenge themselves. That, for me, was the natural pull, not the money but the passion and sacrifice. We all know we would not be in motocross if it were about the money. I always considered MX Vice the media version of Steve Dixon’s team in MXGP (which I have a huge amount of respect for), where we have always tried to challenge without the factory budgets.

We knew it would be tough this year with so many businesses and brands cutting marketing budgets and reducing costs; this was never going to be good for us. We have just had two incredible months of stats, with January and February bringing in over 1 million people to the website, which is quite bittersweet. As much as the funds are low, so is my energy and health. COVID impacted me more than I could ever envisaged. My health has deteriorated ever since I caught COVID; my immune system is not in a great place, and when I try and work to the standard I set myself, my body breaks on me, and it takes me days to recover. Ed Stratmann has been a revelation since he took the editorial reigns and has pushed MX Vice to new heights, which is incredible given the lack of resources he has had to work with and support from myself. I have been missing from the podcast show to reduce my time, as I am now self-employed and working for two companies to pay the bills.

Every journey ends, and that’s not what we want. Over the past 13 years, we have given it everything, leaving no stone unturned. We’re proud of how we have disrupted, challenged decisions, held organisations accountable, and illuminated incredible stories.

We will have an auction for signed shirts donated by riders, podcast equipment, and memorabilia to pay off the invoices of some contributors. If, however, you want to see MX Vice continue, you can donate here: https://ko-fi.com/mxvice or purchase a shirt or memorabilia. If we meet our target of £25,000, which is currently outstanding to run this year, then Ed and I will continue. However, we fully expect this won’t happen due to the large sum required.

It’s hard out there at the moment. Take care of your health and family, and never lose your passion for the most fantastic sport in the world.

Burf.

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British MX Nationals

All six rounds are to be contested in the UK, with the Netherlands on hold until 2025

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The team behind the NPC have been viewing multiple sites in the UK that will host the 2024 Championship. Much time has been spent analysing sites for the best combination of track layout, public parking, location, access and activation areas. We are excited to show you what we have been working on.

We have received much feedback from people worried about the rising costs in 2024 and how it will affect them and their racing. Living expenses and uncertainty in the motocross industry have increased and further caused caution. We don’t want to put extra pressure on motocross families; we’re trying to do the opposite. With this in mind, and after much deliberation, we will delay our European involvement until 2025 when inflation, living costs and, more importantly, our riders are excited rather than concerned about European expenses.

Although we are disappointed to put this on hold for twelve months after having two outstanding tracks in the Netherlands, it does mean we will double down on our commitment to bring you the best and most challenging tracks in the UK that you can only ride in the NPC. It is a fascinating time for British Motocross, with some absolute gems being found that will help challenge UK motocross riders to race tracks similar in style and toughness to those at a GP race.

Although a wheel has yet to turn in this Championship, we have shown we are willing to listen and change accordingly to ensure we do what is suitable for British motocross. The Championship was launched to help push and elevate British motocross, and since September, when we announced our decision to run, every other organisation and series has stepped up. We are committed to ensuring the foundations are there for the next British World Champion since Jamie Dobb in 2001.

Whether you are a rider at the front looking to gain valuable race craft to take into EMX races next year or looking to improve by riding the best and most challenging tracks in the UK, this series is for you. We’ll also provide a spotlight for you to shine in front of brands, teams and companies around the World.

Our calendar of tracks is starting to take shape, with Oakhanger and Oxford Moto Parc being two of the six already named. We are committed to ensuring every track offers excellent value for our riders and the NPC so we can keep registration and race fees at a minimum whilst providing nearly £100,000 in prize money. The tracks we choose will also offer some of the best racing for spectators at our events and live on the TV. We have tweaked the times and format of the event to provide the optimum environment for great action-packed racing. Forty riders in MX1 and MX2 classes will give everything to provide an exhilarating 20-minute performance.

In year two, we aim to bring a mainstream TV partner to televise the Championship alongside the live stream to increase the exposure to sponsors entering our series further.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and can’t wait to share more information in the new year.

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British MX Nationals

Has British Motocross turned a corner?

Read now.

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British Motocross is a subject I’m very passionate about. It’s the sole reason MX Vice was created back in 2011. At that time there were a few magazines out there, but not many websites. One defining moment for me was seeing Gordon Crockard sit exhausted in a small setup in Denver at the 2010 Motocross of Nations. Ireland had done their usual B final shenanigans, where Crockard finished second to Martin Davalos, Martin Barr third and Stuart Edmonds fifth in a very hot Denver. It took a colossal effort by them, but most notably by Crockard, who was a little older than the young guns of Barr and Edmonds on the team. Watching from afar I could see that Gordon didn’t leave anything on the track on Sunday September 26th, he was spent.


Words: James Burfield | Lead Image: Supplied


I’d never spoken to Gordon before but I felt I needed to go over and speak to him because the amount of respect I had for him that weekend and the Irish team was on another level. The MXDN has a way of bringing out the passion from the fans just as much as the riders and I was totally wrapped up in it as a fan. The best I could offer was ‘that was an amazing effort’ that probably didn’t mean much at the time (Crockard finished 15th overall in MX Open). He smiled, was super polite and talked to me for five minutes before getting changed.

The next day we were in a shopping mall in Denver, I just bought a coffee for myself, my wife and godson, and lo and behold Gordon was sitting down in the mall. He looked up and said “hey how are you?” So I sat down with Gordon, my godson and we spoke about the previous day, what it took for him to achieve what he did that weekend in the heat and altitude of Denver.

When I got back the next few weeks I scoured the internet and magazines and the little that was covered I felt didn’t give the team and Gordon justice. I had been going to the MXDN since 2006 and tried to get to as many GPs as possible from 2006 to 2010, and after buying a bike back in 2005, my bug was firmly back.

Although I have regressed about why I’m passionate about British Motocross I feel like I need to add some context to how I got there. I approached DBR back in 2010 about MX Vice being a possible motocross website to Sean Lawless, as DBR then didn’t do much online. As you would have figured I was turned down, for good reason. I was just a fan, although I had masses of digital knowledge, it didn’t mean anything to the motocross world back then. Whenever I picked up my monthly copies of MotoMag and DBR the stories were tailored around the stars of the sport. I wanted to hear about the journeymen, the riders that work in the week and the epic stories about making it to the line against the best in Britain.

At that time in the UK, Ashley Wilde, Jake Millward, Alan Keet, Adam Sterry, Luke Norris, Lewis Tombs, Josh Waterman, Ross Rutherford, Matthew Moffat, Ross Hill, Rob Davidson, Jordan Divall and Ross Keyworth were among some of the riders that wouldn’t get any coverage. No one was telling their stories or interviewing them. That’s when I knew MX Vice was needed.

For those that have been on this journey with MX Vice you will know the ins and outs of my love affair with British Motocross. So much has happened in those twelve years. I have seen two ACU chairmen come and go, helped form a championship called the MX Nationals, ran two race teams and spent hundreds of thousands on this sport I love. What I have realised in those twelve years is you have to have tough skin, because if you are going to have an opinion that is not shared by people who have a financial interest, then they will go to whatever level they need to go to to protect that interest. So when I started to ask questions that everyone wanted to know the answers to, you were tarnished with being disruptive and toxic.

The UK is a small community of the same people and if you fuck around in their playground you find out, as pressure is applied to business not to work with you. I have been on this constant journey with British motocross, going round in circles.

The opportunity to go to MXGP in 2015 was a breath of fresh air for MX Vice and myself. We felt welcomed and they appreciated the impact we made online and through our social channels, even when our opinion differed we didn’t get alienated, or advertising pulled from us due to pressure.

Weirdly they welcomed the challenge to be better, in fact they were open to hearing if we saw any opportunities to help them improve. This freaked us out for a while and part of us thought, “what’s the catch?” Going to MXGP felt like we moved from primary school to university and skipped secondary with the way people accepted and worked with us. That credit goes down to David Luongo who came in with new ideas and Samanta Gelli who understood our potential from day one.

When you look back to 2008 to 2014 and see the amount of GP riders that were regulars in the British Championship, maybe we were spoiled? Maybe it skewed our vision, but it just wasn’t just us, GP riders and fans were interested in the British scene. What has happened since that time is that the Dutch, German, French, Italian and Spanish championships have evolved, their federations have invested and been very successful with their programs.

Again this has not helped with the perception when looking at British Motocross. Since 2014 I feel there has been glimpses of effort, but in comparison we have become complacent. When you are complacent then other people will see an opportunity, just like MX Vice did with MotoMag and DBR in 2011. Those two juggernauts at the time possibly looked and laughed at the thought of someone like MX Vice passing them.

I want those days back when you were excited to see riders like Arnaud Tonus, Zach Osborne and Christophe Pourcel in MX2 and Matiss Karro, Kevin Strijbos, Shaun Simpson, Stephen Sword, Marc de Reuver in MX1 and you would travel the length of the UK on a Sunday not to miss a round.

Yes we have had COVID, Brexit and now we are in a recession, it’s a difficult time for everyone. The British championship is doing its best given the resources they have along with the MX Nationals. Tracks are charging in the region of £15,000 – £20,000, and gone are the days of volunteer marshalls. The cost to run a national event is around £30,000 to £40,000 per round. Add in to this the industry is spending less on events and marketing to promote their products, services and business, and you can recognise the struggle.

Both championships are run under the ACU, who are the leading federation in the UK, and that won’t possibly change in our lifetime. So as much as people want to moan about what they are not doing, then remember they are not going anywhere either. As the federation for both championships, they are always going to be the target for those people who feel disenfranchised with how the sport is going and it doesn’t help when people perceive other countries are progressing and new organisations like Nora92 are investing back into the sport with an incredible youth program and reduced licence and riding fees.

I believe that the ACU have recognised that things need to change and have understood that the licence fee subscribers are the life force behind their business. The appointment of Tim Lightfoot as chair of the ACU has been a positive one, someone who seems to truly understand that a united British motocross is beneficial to the ACU.

There are some great people within UK motocross who all believe that they know what it needs and when they are not listened to they then decide to adopt the mantra of I’ll just go and do it myself. Tim Lightfoot has the biggest job in motocross right now, and everything to play for.

With the right foresight and understanding what is required from key stakeholders that are jaded he could unite the British motocross scene, skyrocket ACU licences and drive the industry forward. A lot of pressure for one person, but if he can unite the rest of the ACU behind him, then things will change. So a glimmer of hope has happened for the ACU and the national championship, but there will be many who would have heard this all before.

But the hook that got me engaged with British motocross once more was when I heard of the possibility of a new Championship being started for 2024, but with two rounds being run in Europe. As an outsider looking in I would one hundred percent be that guy to say, “Jesus yet another championship” – just what the UK needs. That would have been the general sentiment towards someone starting another championship in the UK. So I needed to know more to understand if this would be a success or not.

Clinton Putnam is the guy who is looking to challenge British motocross to be better, to set a new bar in the hope it will shake it up and take it forward. Clinton was behind the very successful GT Cup and came onboard the MX National series supporting with tracks, infrastructure and vehicles. The same guy who has been behind the explosion of quality new motocross tracks in the UK over the past two years, something that the UK is in dire need of. I spoke to Clinton initially to understand more about the series and what his approach to media would be and see if I could help in any way. His vision is to offer a championship that feels like a GP when you arrive, an emphasis on the pros, along with world class tracks for them to ride on.

A few months ago this was made even more impressive by the fact that Clinton would be running with or without support from the industry, luckily for Clinton there are people, businesses and brands that also share and welcome that vision.

For the past eighteen months I have stayed out of the UK scene thanks to having COVID for five months, which kicked my ass, and then focussing on MXGP to fulfil our contracts. With Arenacross offering £140,000, NPC £98,700, MX Nationals and the British Championship there is finally some good money for pros to earn in 2024 when the economy is struggling! So is this the wind of change that we needed?

Since the new Nora Pro Championship (NPC) was announced it seems to have lifted the industry, federations have upped their game, other championships have got a second wind and the purse strings are a little looser from brands and manufacturers. Who knows where British motocross will be by the end of 2024?

We could be looking back five years from now saying where we would be without Clinton Putnam starting the NPC, and it being a driving force for not only the UK and six rounds in the UK and six rounds in Europe.

One thing is for sure, British motocross is a lot like the political landscape. There is a lot of talk about requiring people to work together, but it will always be difficult when egos and money get in the way of progress. Hawkstone International and VMXDN Foxhills have shown that if the product is what people want then they will support it, the challenge is to offer that level six times a year, not just the once.

Strap in because we have a lot to look forward to over the next thirty six months.

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