2023 Farleigh Castle Vets MX Event Preview
By Team TMX on 6th Sep 23
For retro motocross fans around the world there’s only one place to be this weekend (September 9/10) and that’s the iconic grassland circuit of Farleigh Castle in Somerset as over 500 riders will flock to the southwest of England for what remains to be one of the most important events on the vintage motocross calendar – the Farleigh Castle Vets MX.
The iconic circuit has hosted an MXdN-style team event for riders of a certain age since 2009 and this September is no different. As well as the international team contest, there are additional classes featuring Twinshock, Evo and Super Evo machines from what many refer to as the golden age of motocross. With up to 60 racers in each moto, there’s never a shortage of action…
Starting with the team contest, defending champions, Belgium, have confirmed that last year’s hero twinshock team hero Laurent Lacasse will lead them into battle and he’ll be joined by Patrick Caps, Wim Couwberghs and David Segers. A very strong team but they might have their hands full containing Team England.
The home side stars two of last year’s fastest riders – Brad Anderson and Ryan Voase who’ll both be Honda-mounted on Evo machines. The Twinshock spots are filled by Jamie Law and Kris Winder who are both super quick on the old air-cooled machines.
Team USA is also looking strong with Keith Johnson, Tim Ferry, Cody Williams and Regis Harrington signed up for the Stars n’ Bars A Team while the second team of four will feature Robbie Horton, Chad Kimball and Andrew Trail – the fourth rider remains to be confirmed but the promoters are chasing some big names.
The Welsh squad will consist of Glen Phillips – who was super-quick in 2022 – who’ll lead Andrew Gillett, Adam Cook and Nathan Davies across the Severn Bridge to do battle at Farleigh Castle. These lads always race – and party – hard which is what the Farleigh Castle Vets MX is all about.
Team Great Britain also has a real shot at claiming a place on the podium with Jamie Skuse, Phil Mercer, Terry House and Ben Milward ready to represent King and Country. Northern Ireland has some fast lads too with Tommy Merton, Trevor Cubitt, Chris Lappin and Richard Bird representing.
There are plenty of quick riders signed up for the team races and they’re sure to be a real treat. Grab a good spot on the fence and get ready to make some noise for your favourites.
Moving on to the other classes and it’s the Super Evo riders who’ll hit the track first on Saturday for their combined practice/qualifying session. British Championship runner Josh Spinks looks set to be the pacesetter on paper but there are plenty more fast riders in the mix too including US star Heath Harrison, last year’s runner-up James Barnwell and third-placed Paul Burn. Also in the line-up are Ulsterman Richard Bird and Alex Hornsby who are very likely to challenge for the podium too. It’s a stacked class that’s for sure.
The Evo 250 group are next and there’s no shortage of talent in this one including overseas entrants Tim ‘Red Dog’ Ferry and Hollywood stunt double Regis Harrington. Jamie Skuse stands out as the quick local lad on the list but how will former GP runner and four-stroke British Champion Craig Pratley fare?
Moving to the Evo Over 50s one has to be split into A and B qualifying groups. Each group will race two qualifying motos on Saturday with the top 30 from each battling it out twice on Sunday with everyone else headed to a support class.
Last year’s champ, Gary Hoptrough is back to defend his crown with 2022 runner-up and semi-professional Yorkshireman Danny Blakely looking to dethrone the Fakenham Flyer. There were some great battles between these two last year but they’ll both need to look out for US import Keith Johnson. Last year’s top-six runners Danny Scheers, Sean Smith and Paul Aldridge are also back so it’s pretty much wide open.
As well as an Evo Over 50 group, there’s also an all-new Super Evo Over 50 class for the half-century heroes and their mostly 1990 to 1997 machines. Like all the other classes there are some quick lads in this one including local lad Richard Cuff who is a three-time AMCA champ and former British Championship runners Paul Coward, Paul Gaylard, Mr KX500 Steve Wells, speedway star Robbie Kessler, enduro ace Chris Koch and SC Sporthomes head honcho Shaun Copeman. 53 more riders haven’t been mentioned and are now highly motivated to prove us wrong!
The All 125s are next and this is literally what it says on the tin – a class for all 125cc machines (and probably some a little larger, allegedly) of all ages. The sound of 60 125s singing away at Farleigh Castle is always something to behold and there’s always a stack of close racing in the eighth-litre class.
The majority of 2022’s top 10 are back this year including perennial contenders John May, Tom Church, Ben Griffith, Shane Holmes, Jack Bas, Scott Mathia and Glen Bixby. Multiple DEP 125 champ Jim Davies, and 53 others, have also got a spot on the line but spare a thought for the fastest reserves list in the history of motocross – Welshman Alan Pearce, enduro ace Daryl Bolter and Terrafirma 3 alumni Robbie Horton are all left hoping that someone doesn’t turn up!
There’s just one purely twinshock class in 2023 and that’s the Over 40 Twinshocks which is sure to be a treat. Working through the entry list there are a cavalcade of legends from former GP star Werner Dewit, through to British Speedway and World Longtrack Champion Kelvin Tatum, Husqvarna Man Lee Perry and Wulfsport supremo Bill Brown. Then other riders with remarkable racing careers who are now stars of the twinshock scene are Willie Burgess, Alan Bott, Howard Standfield, Danny Scheers, Adrian Lappin, Matt Wells, Mark Slade and, well, you get the idea…
And that leads us to the half-litre beasts in the Evo Open division – the 500cc two-strokes that take most of us back on a nostalgia trip to the late eighties when men were men, bikes barked and burgers were served from a double-decker bus. Farleigh Castle is the iconic eighties British 500 GP venue having hosted the then premier class no fewer than six times across the space of a decade as well as the MXdN in 1980 n’all.
Like many of the classes, a fair few of last year’s stars will line up for this one including runner-up Michael Ogden and top-10 runners Arran Poolman, Paul ‘Jonty’ Johnston, Martyn Tucker and Nicky Jones. Also in the mix are former British Championship front-runner Jon Barfoot and that man Heath Harrison who has some solid AMA Pro Motocross results on his resume. So that’s all the classes – and some possible front runners – covered so let’s talk more about the event itself.
Gates open at noon on Thursday before the official event business starts at 10am on Friday with Technical Inspection that is split into two sessions – 10 until 1pm and 2pm until 6pm. For any latecomers, there will also be an hour on Saturday morning from 7:30 onwards.
On-track action starts at 9am pn Saturday with the Super Evo class breaking the hallowed turf. There are combined 10-minute practice/qualifying sessions for each of the eight support groups – Super Evo, Evo 250, Evo Over 50 Group A, Super Evo Over 50, All 125, Evo Over 50 Group B, Twinshock Over 40 and Evo Open – while the Vets MXdN Team riders get 10-minutes of Free Practice between the Evo Over 50 Group A and Super Evo Over 50 sessions followed by Timed Qualifying to wrap up the practice period.
Racing starts just after noon on Saturday and bright and early on Sunday morning – 9am! With three-hour blocks envisaged, the whole shebang should be over by 4:30pm when the awards ceremony and rider interviews will wrap up the weekend.
Farleigh Castle is very easy to find and is about nine miles southeast of Bath and three miles west of Trowbridge. The motocross circuit sits right opposite the ruins of the 14th-century castle across the A366. The postcode is BA2 7RR.
For more information and full entry lists, visit farleighcastlevetsmx.co.uk.
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