Kurt leads Brits into Vets battle
By Sean Lawless on 31st Aug 16
The worlds largest vintage motocross event the Vets MX des Nations takes place this weekend (September 3/4) at Farleigh Castle with British icon Kurt Nicoll as the headline rider.
There's a huge buzz surrounding the attendance of the seven-time British champion and four-time world 500cc vice-champion. Nicoll was lined up to race in 2012 before work commitments got in the way but four years later he's a guaranteed starter on a fully-prepped 1989 CR250.
"It was a question of putting in the effort to do it properly which is what I like to do and I decided this time I could,” he said from his home in Temecula, California. "I've put a fairly high level of preparation in – there's a lot of work been done on the bike although I didn't ride it as much as I'd have liked to before shipping it across.
"I'm assuming that a bike from 1989 can stand up to being ridden in 2016. I did most of the work myself but I wanted to double check everything so Mitch Payton agreed to look at it for me. I've got a Pro Circuit pipe on there and he made sure all the power valves were working properly.
"Another friend of mine who did a lot of work with Hondas back then did the suspension so I'm confident that the bike's pretty good. It doesn't really compare to a 450cc KTM 2016 model but it's good for what it is.”
Nicoll's joined forces with 2001 world 125cc champion Jamie Dobb, Ryan Voase and Jon Barfoot on the defending GB team. The main opposition is likely to come from a strong American quartet featuring John Dowd, Doug Dubach, Jeff Emig and Todd De Hoop.
Other top contenders include South Africa – led by Y2K world 125cc champion Grant Langston – and Belgium which features 2005 world MX3 champion Sven Breugelmans among its four-man squad.
The field is stacked with former GP riders from the '80s, '90s and noughties including Mark Jones, Gordon Crockard, Brian Jorgensen, Ryan Hunt and Werner Dewit.
For Sunday's Legends Laps three-time world 500cc champion Dave Thorpe will be reunited with his 1987 RC 500 factory Honda and Nicoll will ride his 1988 factory SR 500 Kawasaki alongside Jared Smith, John Banks and Dave Nicoll.
There are also four races for the Twinshock Nations event with Germany – last year's winner – again assembling a proven team of Laurent Lacasse, Jurgen Kuppers, Maik Kaltenberg and Frank Jansen-Teitz. GB hopes rest with Terry House, Wayne Butt, Pete Mathia and Ewan Johnston.
Apart from two team races for both Nations competitions each day there are also eight supporting classes with 480 riders making this the biggest motocross gathering in the UK.
Gates open at noon on Thursday with camping available at £25 per pitch. Weekend admission is £25 per adult with the action starting at 9am on both days.
There will be live music in the marquee on Friday and Saturday nights.
Farleigh Castle is just off the A366 at Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset. Postcode is BA2 7RR.
