Into the Breach'
By TMX Archives on 18th Feb 10
THE United Motocross Series (UMX) is a very well supported championship based in the south of England. It began in 2003 when South Hants SC, Winchester MCC, Waterlooville MCC and Eastleigh and District MCC all got together to form a championship primarily for juniors. Since then the UMX has proved a very successful series attracting full line-ups.
In 2005, the Sidecar class was split into Expert and Junior categories meaning that, although both classes race together, they score points separately. This is the only ACU-affiliated sidecar series that offers both Experts and Juniors the chance of racing for a championship title. Once a Junior driver has won the title he, or she, becomes an Expert for the following season. In theory the race could contain the British Champions and a novice team, which may mean a baptism of fire for the ‘newbies' but they also know they are racing for a different title.
For sidecars, the 2009 season proved as popular as ever with the action kicking off on March 1 at Swanmore, with 31 outfits on the line.
The start line contained a number of familiar faces, some with new passengers/ drivers, new bikes and a few with some very different colours.
The team to attract the most attention was Stickle Jarvis and Josh Chamberlain, who'd chosen pink as their 2009 colour-scheme! There were also some unfamiliar faces, two of which were not new to sidecars as they had come over from the AMCA ranks, but for others it was either their very first season or they had not raced for a very, very long time! The season got underway with some excellent racing in all three races. The Expert win went to Paul Pelling/ Colin Dunkley, although unfortunately after an injury sustained at the first British Championship round the following weekend, that proved to be the only 2009 UMX round the team competed in. The Junior class saw Brett Wilkinson/ Ryan Humphrey take the overall in only their second ever sidecar race. Hopefully this was the start of a good year.
FOR FULL STORY, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Josh and Dan Chamberlain formed a new team towards the end of the season in preparation for 2010.