Weekend rev-up: Hawkstone International, Telford Show and Arenacross

It’s a busy weekend (February 8/9) here in the UK for off-road fans as Telford International Centre hosts The Classic Dirt Bike Show sponsored by Hagon, P&J Live Arena homes the fifth round of the Arenacross ACU British Championship and the Ashbrook Hawkstone International goes off at Hawkstone Park. There’s also British interest in the opening round of the 250SX East series of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship as Max Anstie and Harri Kullas (he’s an ‘onorary Brit by now, surely) get their season underway in Tampa. 

In chronological order, it’s the Classic show that kickstarts the weekend as doors open at 9am for the autojumble on Saturday. The all-inclusive show features classic trials, enduro, motocross, speedway and grass track machines of the two- and three-wheel variety and annually attracts genuine off-road legends who happily blend in with us ordinary folk. If you need a bit for your restoration piece, an item of clothing from a bygone era, a book or two, or perhaps even a subscription to TMX then Telford is the place to be.

Official guests of honour are British motocross icon Graham Noyce and absolute trials legend Mick Andrews who’ll both be interviewed by the man behind the moustache, erm, we mean microphone – Mr John McCrink.

Telford International Centre is right in the middle of the town and can be found at TF3 4JH.

About 400 miles north, Saturday night sees the fifth round of the Arenacross ACU British Championship happen at P&J Live Arena (AB21 9FX) which is definitely the biggest and arguably the jazziest venue on the tour. Not just about racing, a night at Arenacross is a fantastic family experience with the British Championship races for Pros, Youth and Amateurs punctuated by high-flying FMX action, lasers, pyro and a banging soundtrack.

In the Pro class, Scotland’s very own Dean Wilson looks set to secure the title with a round to spare and will no doubt be wanting to seal the deal with a victory in front of his home fans but he won’t have it easy. The points are much tighter in the other classes and some close racing is guaranteed. Tickets are available at www.axwordtour.com.

Over in Florida, the fifth round of the AMA Supercross series will be going off in Tampa’s Raymond James stadium. With Jett Lawrence sidelined, the series is totally wide open with Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac all ready to stamp their authority on the premier 450SX championship.

As we mentioned before, the 250SX East series gets underway with Tom Vialle looking to defend his title. 2024 West Coast winner RJ Hampshire has also committed to the East series as have Levi Kitchen, Austin Forkner, Nate Thrasher, Max Vohland, Chase Hymas, Pierce Brown and Brit Max Anstie who is armed with an extremely potent Star Racing Yamaha. It’s hard to pick a favourite to win but we’ll be rooting for Anstie, Triumph-mounted Forkner and adopted brit Harri Kullas who makes his AMA SX debut at the ripe old age of 32 – he’s less than a month away from his 33rd birthday.

Shropshire hogs all the fun on Sunday as The Classic Dirt Bike Show sponsored by Hagon continues in Telford while 20 miles up the road Hawkstone Park hosts the 2025 edition of the Ashbrook Hawkstone International with a fantastic line-up of MXGP, MX2 and EMX125 talent. World champions Kay de Wolf, Romain Febvre and Maxime Renaux are perhaps the biggest stars but there are plenty of GP winners and national champions who will keep them on their toes around the tricky deep sand circuit that’s situated about 10 miles north of Shrewsbury.

The action at Hawkstone starts at 9am with Practice/Qualifying for the EMX125 riders and continues until the day-ending SuperFinal and awards ceremony. Admission is cash only and costs £40 for adults, £5 for children between 5 and 15 with under fives getting in for free. Camping is available for £40 per pitch and again that’s a cash transaction at the gate. Anyone wanting to stay overnight must arrive before 7pm on Saturday. Hawkstone Park can be found by using the SY4 4NA postcode.