Little Silver awaits

Friday 04 March: Round 1 of the British Motocross Championship starts this Sunday at Little Silver in Exeter, a superb hillside circuit situated at the end of the M5.

ACU Events first picture of Little Silver in 2011 shows the track in prime condition ahead of the big event on Sunday.

With 50% of the bannering completed by

Wednesday afternoon and the TV Camera Towers all in position, the ACU Events team are making the most of the perfect weather in the South West of England, which is forecast to last for the whole weekend.

The track is still sealed, but the promoting Little Silver MX Club will rip the track late on Friday and then power harrow it, anticipating the need for early morning watering on Saturday when the teams will arrive.

Clerk of the Course, Si Higgins explained, "Such is the nature of the soil here it dries very quickly so we are keeping it sealed as late as possible - until the sun goes down on Friday - to keep the moisture which is currently in the ground in. With the weather forecast being dry and sunny for the whole weekend we will have to put several thousand gallons of water down ahead of the event on Sunday.

Coming into the opening round reigning MX2 champion Zach Osborne has to start the season as favourite to retain his championship with one of his strongest contenders being his new team mate Arnaud Tonus who has already tasted podium success in 2010, during a one off wild card ride at Mallory Park. Twice British vice Champion Jake Nicholls will be coming into the 2011 with a strong focus on making the British MX2 title his own and after spending the last month leading up to the event in New Zealand training with Josh Coppins. Other British front runners looking to make a strong start to the season will be Elliott Banks Browne on his DB Honda, Samsung Yamaha’s Ray Rowson who is returning to the MX2 class after spending the last few years in MX1, whilst riders like Bryan Mackenzie, Steven Clarke and Scott Elderfield will also be looking for strong results to start the year.

In the MX1 class the firm favourite for championship glory has to be CCM’s Stephen Sword after he pushed 2010 champion Bobryshev hard all season long, while at the first two rounds former 2008 MX2 British Champion Shaun Simpson will be competing in preparation for his debut season in MX1 with the Belgium based LS Motors team. This will give the British fans a chance see Shaun in action before he heads off to the GP’s as he continues his quest for World Championship honours. Brad Anderson the 2009 MX1 champion will also be many fans favourite to regain the championship title which he lost last year, as he returns to being the underdog. Stephen Sword’s CCM team mate Tom Church also comes into the season in strong form after recently claiming both the British Open Supercross and Pro SX1 Championship titles over the winter months. Other riders that hope to feature highly in the results are Jason Dougan who will be returning to GP racing in 2011 with the Bike It Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha squad. Martin Barr has made the switch to MX1 with the Proppa KTM team racing the new 350 machine and will be looking for top honours.

Of interest to us in New Zealand is:

MX1
#10   Kieran Scheele        Dirtbike Gym Suzuki
#85   Bjarne Frederiksen Dirtbike Gym Suzuki

MX2
# 75   Kayne Lamont         Maxxis Apico Suzuki

Still no word on John Phillips late entry into MX2 with Dirtbike Gym Suzuki.

Copy and photo courtesy of ACU Events.