Bradshaw calls time
By TMX Archives on 6th May 15
Neville Bradshaw is taking a step back from top-flight motocross in the UK.
Following a tough start to his Maxxis championship campaign the final straw came when his Yamaha blew up in the second race at Canada Heights.
The South African was treating 2015 as a retirement year but has now decided to pull out of British championship competition completely and dramatically scale down his racing programme.
Nev, a three-time Red Bull Pro Nationals MX2 champion, started the season racing Husqvarnas,
But after failing to get to grips with the European machines he bought a YZ250F, fitted suspension and ignition provided by Motovision and rocked up at Canada Heights.
"I only rode it a few times before Canada Heights and felt awesome on it from day one,” he said.
"I knew it would be under-powered against all the other guys – especially off the start – and in the first race I had to come from outside the top 20 on the first lap to ninth.
"As the day wore on and the track got rougher I was confident my fitness and line choice would come into play and in the second race I was sixth and running the same speed as the two guys in front.
"A couple of laps before it blew up I heard the crank knocking and when the two-lap board came out it seized and I knew straight away I was done.”
Nev bought the Yamaha after trying – and failing – to get a set-up that worked for him with the Husqvarna.
"The Husky is a really good bike – it's so fast but things just didn't gel for me after growing up racing Japanese bikes.
"It didn't suit my riding style and I couldn't get comfortable.
"We did a lot of work on set-up but I was only riding at 70 per cent. My arms kept pumping up and I didn't feel safe.
"At 31 years old I'm not about to start trying to change my riding style. I figured that it was my last year and I wanted to at least enjoy racing.”
The good news for his fans is that alongside his #272 Race School activities Nev is still planning to do a few centre events and may even race a couple of MX Nationals.
There's also a possibility of him riding the remaining rounds of the South African national championship.
But without a team and parts budget the bottom line is that Nev can't afford to keep racing at British championship level, especially in the MX2 class where machines have to be super-tuned to be competitive.
"I just don't have the finances or support structure to keep racing at that level. I can't keep spending money on parts and it sucks to go out like that but at least I've proved I've still got the fitness and speed to run top-five in the British championship.
"It's been a good ride for 10 years and I've met some amazing people and accomplished a lot more than I ever imagined.”
