Whitby Prepares To Welcome The Championship Contenders
[Posted 28.06.07]
Sunday 8th July will see the Maxxis ACU British Motocross championship make its sixth stop on its scheduled eight round tour, as the series visits the North of England for the first time this season. This will be the third time in as many years that Europe's leading motocross championship has called off at the Whitby circuit . The 2007 series is truly a geographic British championship in the fullest sense, with it including rounds as far afield as Cornwall and Cumbria.
The action on track promises to be even harder and hotter than the previous rounds, with the championship contenders being fully aware that they are now entering the business end of the season, where the title will be won or lost. Although no stranger to success in the youth ranks, Tommy Searle - KTM UK took an important step towards securing his first adult crown, as his main rival Gareth Swanepoel - Molson Kawasaki suffered a nightmare day at the previous round in Ireland.
However far from Searle being handed the title, a new and much more experienced challenger has emerged in the form of the American born Mike Brown - CAS Honda. Brown's return to Europe has gradually gathered momentum as he has begun to adapt to switching between MX1 at World level and riding the MX2 machine for his domestic assualt. Searle will remember only too well how he missed out on the title after a final round showdown with Carl Nunn - Bike It Yamaha last year, and will be doing his best to put a healthy points gap between himself and the chasing pack.
Swanepoels team mate Tom Church - Molson Kawasaki, Shaun Simpson - Wulfsport Kawasaki and Nunn will all be looking to hunt Searle down, with them all having recorded race wins at the earlier meetings. The return of Stephen Sword - Molson Kawasaki adds an exciting extra ingredient to what is already a highly competitive class.
Prior to Desertmartin Billy Mackenzie - DeGroot Kawasaki enjoyed a similar advantage to Searle at the top of the MX1 standings, but with only a mediocre showing in Ireland the young Scott now has the closer attention of reigning champion Ken De Dycker - CAS Honda to deal with. De Dycker's clean sweep at the previous round confirmed that he has no way given up on retaining his crown and will be doing everything within his power to make it two titles for the tall Belgian rider.
Although unable to claim a race win at his home round Gordon Crockard - PAR Honda once again proved that he is back to his best and was by far the fastest rider during the second moto as he was forced to work overtime to make up from one of his trademark poor starts. Crockard alongside the likes of James Noble - Multitek Honda, Brad Anderson - Pioneer Yamaha, Mark Eastwood - Wiseco Honda and Jordan Rose - KTM will ensure that the MX1 title race will be more than a two rider affair, as without exception they all have a point to prove in the final run in.
MX2 qualifying kicks off at 9:30am to set pace for the day, this will be followed up by the first support race at 12:30pm. All the main championship riders will be available for autographs at 11:40am ahead of the first MX2 encounter at 1.05pm.
Series commentators Roger Warren and Paul Malin will be on hand to keep you up to date as the drama unfolds throughout the day.
A full timetable, directions to the circuit, ticket prices and all the very latest series information can be found at the all new official championship website - www.mxgb.co.uk.
