It's Maxxis time!
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 08
JUST seven days after the gruelling Hawkstone Park International whetted our collective appetites, the Maxxis British Motocross Championship bursts into life this Sunday, March 9, with the opening salvo of the 2008 series taking place at the spectacular Donington Park circuit which will host the MXdN this autumn.
After a classic 2007 championship that saw both championships go down to the wire at a nail-biting final round, ending in the favour of Billy MacKenzie and Mike Brown, the 2008 series looks set to be just as entertaining, and with numerous prospective title challengers changing machinery over the winter break, Donington is definitely the place to be on Sunday morning.
CAS Honda may have lost out in the race for the MX1 crown for the first time in seven years last September, but the new Monster Energy backed squad will field both #1 plates after MX1 champ Billy MacKenzie joined the team from Kawasaki in the winter and the Scot will once again start as favourite to retain the crown he fought so hard to get.
After a blistering showing at Hawkstone, MacKenzie looks to be faster, fitter and more hungry for success than ever and that could be an impossible combination to stop around the technical, jumpy circuit situated inside the legendary Leicestershire road-race facility, especially given that his arch rival in 2007, Ken de Dycker will not compete in the UK this year.
Out to stop MacKenzie will be established MX1 contender James Noble, back on a KTM for the first time since his breakthrough year in 2001, and Swift Suzuki's new MX1 hope Brad Anderson. Both look to be adjusting to their new machines well, Anderson in particular and, on home soil, they are capable of running with the best, as they showed repeatedly last year, so will be determined not to let MacKenzie have things all his own way and set the tone for the year.
Molson Kawasaki's graduate to the big-bore class, Tom Church, cannot be discounted either after showing good speed and some very smooth style in the early season internationals, nor too the Wiseco Honda trio of Danny and Jody Smyth and amazing veteran Mark Eastwood.
Throw into the mix the Twisted 7 Kawasaki duo of Rich Lawson and Bryan MacKenzie, Pioneer Yamaha's Wayne Smith, MotoExtreme Kawasaki's Mark Hucklebridge and others and you have the recipe for a great championship chase.
The MX2 class looks an even tastier prospect with a dozen riders capable of mixing it up for top places, and the big news for round one is the one-off appearance of Red Bull KTM's Tommy Searle on the starting grid at a Maxxis round in 2008.
Opting to focus solely on his GP quest this year, Searle will use Donington as final shake-down before Valkenswaard and fans will start as a favourite, as he does everytime he lines-up on a gate.
On evidence from Hawkstone Park, Searle will likely have his work cutout fending-off the challenge of KTM UK's Shaun Simpson though. The Scot was a sensation last weekend, easily winning the opening moto, and his confidence is sky high. And remember, he waxed everybody to win at the series opener last year.
Reigning champ Mike Brown will be sure to show why he is carrying that number one plate for sure too. He did not look great at Hawkstone, but nobody has more experience than Brownie and come race-time you know that he will be in the hunt, as will be former double champ Stephen Sword.
The popular Scot is finally back on track and injury free, and he looked superb at Hawkstone on his way to two classy third place finishes, but will undoubtedly be wanting better than that at Donington and remind everyone just why he has two titles under his belt. It would be a very popular win undoubtedly.
Carl Nunn will be wanting better than he managed at Hawkstone, but after switching to the Suso MVR-D Suzuki there were signs at the Shropshire venue that Nunny is starting to click with the machine and find his undoubted speed. Team-mate Jason Dougan though is sadly unsure of starting after clattering a hand at Hawkstone, which is a real shame after he showed incredible pace at the end of lastseason.
U Tag Yamaha's Martin Barr and Molson Kawasaki's second challenger Gareth Swanepoel both had quiet days at Hawkstone, but will be there or there abouts at Donington, as should be the Swift Suzuki trio of Pascal Leuret, Elliot Banks-Browne and Jake Nicholls.
As you can see it's another class stacked full of talent.
All the action kicks-off at 9am with timed qualification, with the opening championship heat getting underway at 12.15pm.
Donington Park is located right next door to East Midlands Airport, eight miles south of Derby.
For more information and ticket prices visit www.mxgb.co.uk or www.donington-park.co.uk.