All go for the new Red Bull Pro show
By TMX Archives on 16th Apr 09
IF all good things come to those who wait, then finally, this weekend, the waiting is over as the opening round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals bursts onto the British motocross scene proper at Landrake, Cornwall.This exciting new series has been gathering momentum over the winter months.The MC Federation has been working hard with Red Bull to try and elevate the sport of motocross in the UK and with the support of several other partnerships, MCF hopes that this series will do just that.
The six-round series aims to put some sparkle and razzmatazz into national motocross by incorporating three rounds of the Red Bull Elite Youth Cup and three rounds of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Two-stroke Championship as it unites grass roots racing with the Pros to create a festival atmosphere.
To help do that, the MCF realise there needs to be a fun, but informative and well-organised event over the weekend. The focus is on people enjoying themselves away from the track as much as the riders will on it. To help create that festival atmosphere, Red Bull will be bringing along its DJ Urban Assault Vehicle' to pump out some tunes and, with two-days of back-to-back championship racing, the various weekends should be memorable ones.
Round one at Landrake certainly looks set to be memorable, as the majority of Britain's top Pro riders hope to get off to a good start in the quest to become the first Red Bull Pro National champion in the record books.
With the cream of the MX1 and MX2 classes in the same race, the fans will certainly get their money's worth.
Qualifying groups will be chosen by ballot and the fastest 40 riders in qualifying, irrespective of their class, will go through to the main event. Once in the main event, the classes will be scored separately for championship points, so there'll be an MX1 and an MX2 Red Bull Pro National champion at the end of the year with the number one plate hanging on their wall.
Who those champions will be is anyone's guess, but the opening round will give an idea, as it's stacked out with talent.
The Red Bull KTM UK team will be there in force and they're going great at the moment although Stephen Sword could be dragged away to hospital with the imminent arrival of his first child!
The factory Buildbase CCM team will also be making an appearance and will definitely be in the running; Tom Church in particular always performs well on the flowing Cornish circuit. Suzuki will be represented by the MVR-D and Relentless teams and both will want to get off to great start, with riders like Carl Nunn, James Noble, Matiss Karro, Martin Barr, Jamie Law, Scott Probert and Scott Columb they have every opportunity of being in the points lead come the end of the day.
The official Kawasaki UK team of LPE has its sights set on this championship as it focuses on British events only. Look out for Elliott Banks-Browne to make a strong comeback from his recent shoulder injury.
Extreme Kawasaki's Lewis Gregory has impressed so far this year after stepping up to the MX1 class and will be in the mix. The Honda teams are well represented too as they also only focus on the UK scene. PAR Honda look particularly strong for honours in both classes with Brad Anderson and Scott Elderfield, but Scott will have stiff competition in the MX2 class with the DB racing duo of Neville Bradshaw and Michael Phillips.
Proppa STR will be keen to pick up its first domestic title with Jordan Rose and Nathan Parker on the big 450's and finally Twisted 7 will welcome the return of its team leader Bryan MacKenzie after missing the season so far with a badly broken hand from his first turn crash with Gordon Crockard at the Hawkstone International. Team-mate Rickard Sandberg is also going well as he gets to grips with UK motocross.
No matter which way you look at it, with all these riders on the start-line there's going to be some great racing. If that isn't enough to keep the fans and riders entertained, there's also the Proppa Van Slam'! For two insane laps the top 20 qualifiers will go at it bar-to-bar as they battle for the prize of a brand new VW T5 Transporter courtesy of Proppa.com!
With the kids of the Red Bull Elite Youth Cup racing all day Saturday and then again on the Sunday as part of an action packed 12-race program with the Pros, it's going to be bumper weekend as these two cracking series burst into life. With admission prices of only 20 for a family of four you can't go too far wrong for a great weekend of motocross.
Gates open at 10am. Admission prices are 10 per single adult, children under 16 go free, family of four 20.
First race 10.30am, last race 4pm.
Directions to Landrake: Take the A38 to Plymouth, cross the Tamar Bridge and Landrake is approximately two miles past Saltash.
Once in the village of Landrake on the A38, look for the turning into West Lane on the brow of the hill. Look out for the Championship Motocross' signs. Postcode: PL12 5EP.