Gareth's hopes are Welshed...
By TMX Archives on 17th Jul 09
THIS week editor JD looks at Gareth Hockey's secret' plans for Wales to take over MX, moves on to take a look at the British Trials Championship and ends-up exhorting you to come along to Dirt 3-2-1...
THERE'S always more than one way of looking at any given subject!
This week in his exclusive T+MX blog, promoter Gareth Hockey tells us of his ongoing search for that Holy Grail' of British motocross a 24/7 facility that can cater for everything from grass roots to MXGP and how the Welsh Assembly is keen to help him find it.
I understand why Gareth is keen for this facility to be in south Wales, his organisation is based there, but I genuinely wonder what an MXGP attendance would look like should he ever run there. I have nothing whatsoever against south Wales and I know that the annual World speedway event draws huge crowds at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
But we also know how fickle the MXGP audience is when it comes to location I wouldn't fancy trying to run it in Morecambe either, which is, amazingly, where we produce T+MX!
Then we have a reader, whose letter you can read alongside this very column, asking WHY we need a totally new from the ground-up facility for the MXGP when we already have existing venues such as Hawkstone Park or maybe Foxhill?
For the last couple of years I wouldn't have signed-up for the Hawkstone route, but when I saw what was done to the track for the MX3 this year it really opened my eyes. I now personally believe that Hawkstone still has enormous potential. Which is of course exactly what Stefan Everts said following his final appearance at the venue. Yes, Hawstone does have ongoing problems. I couldn't give a monkeys about hard-standing etc, get over it, but it has got pretty troublesome neighbours and access is an ongoing issue. But as a TRACK, there really is plenty locked in the old sandpit yet...
There's plenty of mileage left in Gareth's search for a permanent facility and I fervently believe that such a facility is a MUST if motocross is to progress in this country. I have in fact said several times that in my opinion the ACU should have been diligently searching for such an animal, be it a farm, a country estate or whatever, to make a permanant home for ALL off-road sport in this country.
But I'm not (yet) convinced that even if Gareth locates a venue it will solve all the ongoing MXGP problems just by existing, as like our letter writing reader, I do believe that WHERE it is, is at least as important as what it is!
lMOVING on to trials I have been studying the entry list for last Sunday's British Championship event in Devon. This is not a beef about the individual event as I know that the Torridge boys and girls put everything into staging their inaugural British Champs meeeting.
I just wonder what the Championship is about and where it is actually going.
The main British Championship class featured just eight riders. One, Jack Challoner, suffered a bad crash on the opening lap but carried on to complete his two subsequent laps, taking fives at every section, because he would be classed as a finisher and collect Championship points for his eighth place. I don't blame him, I would do exactly the same but the situation itself is farcical.
I could, as could you, buy a 50 moped, enter the British Championship, drag that ped through the ins' cards of every section and at the end of the season finish inside the top ten of the British Trials Championship. Maybe someone should...
Next the Expert A class: Again, eight entries for the Torridge trial. Looks like this class has gone the way of the ill-fated Masters class from a few years ago. It's a good idea in theory, effectively a class between Championship and Expert but once again there are 15 places for Expert A points up for grabs and only eight takers.
True, the ACU did its own series no favours by allowing the always excellent Allan Jefferies National to clash with the Brit Champs and off the top of my head Ian Austermuhle, the Hemingway brothers and Dan Thorpe opted to stay in Yorkshire but you can still see which way the wind is blowing.
The biggest class by a country mile of course is Experts B with over 30 takers. I leave it to you to work this all out for yourself but I know what conclusions I come to. Suffice to say that if we are to continue with the elitist, closed circuit British Champs which has seen numbers drop to eight starters then what was wrong with the single alternative Expert class which for several years was by far the most competitive and interesting class to watch?
lFINALLY, we are starting to see the 2010 competition models from many of the factories filtering through onto the pages of T+MX. KTM in fact go one better and are ready to debut the real thing and if you come along to the T+MX/ DBR/ FatCat Dirt 3-2-1 event at FatCat Motoparc (Doncaster) this weekend then you can be FIRST to see the 2010 adult KTM models in the flesh!
And next week T+MX will bring you the first test of 2010 models with the latest Husaberg enduro models, Jonty Edmunds at the controls and working the cameras! He's a clever lad is Jonty...
2010 it's here!