MX Diary: AMCA titles on the line
By Mike Wood on 27th Apr 16
Its time to stretch the throttle wire and drop the clutch as the 2016 AMCA British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop kicks off this Sunday (May 1) at Lower Drayton, Staffordshire.
With arguably the strongest ever line-up in AMCA history, the talent in depth across both classes is incredible and picking an eventual winner at this stage is just about an impossible task!
Luke Dean is back to defend his MX1 title but just look at some of the opposition. For starters there's hard-charging regulars Richard Cannings, Clinton Barrs, Luke Meredith, Scott Bates, Ed Briscoe, Andrew Smart and – returning from injury – the very fast Jack Cox.
Moving up from MX2 you have reigning AMCA champion Luke Burton who has already bagged the early season Superclass crown, Matt Ridgeway and young Ryan Crowder. Four-time AMCA Two-stroke champion Adam Harris will also be mixing it up on his fast YZ250.
The main threat to Dean's hopes of retaining the crown could well come from the new riders joining the AMCA series which include Shane Carless, John May, James Dodd, Curtis Blamey and Gary Gibson.
Over in MX2 it's Josh Waterman, Lewis King, Zac Stealey, Jack Gardner, Jansen Day, Lewis Meadows, Adam Cook, Cory McShane, James Wainwright, Paul Neale and Bradley Tranter topping the entry list. Joining them after dropping down from MX1 will be the likes of Elliot Barrs, Luke Mellows, Brandon Benjamin and Shaun Pearce.
Leading the charge of riders from the MX2 Qualifiers are Adam Wells, Luke Blanchard, Ben Hunt, Josh Broadway, Chris Shallcross and Will Hughes, all looking to join the race for 2016 honours.
On what promises to be a very busy day of top-class action, Sunday's event also includes the opening round of the AMCA Two-stroke and Vets championships along with the final bash in the early season AMCA Youth 85cc/150cc series.
With Harris having moved into MX1 there will be a new two-stroke champion. Leading the entry is 2014 AMCA MX2 champ Ben Saunders with his possible closest challenge likely to be provided by the likes of James Lane, Jamie Powell, Jack Waterman, Matthew Bath and Rian Warren.
Over in the Vets, Simon Lane will be after title number three with all the usual suspects such as Brian Staples, Garry J Williams, Gary Jones, Matt Ryder, Sean Smith, Shaun Hayles and Martin Atherton on duty. Joining the 2016 Vets chase are a couple of very interesting contenders in former top ACU runner Matt ‘Flash' Gordon and Danny Blakeley.
After two completed rounds of the Youth 85cc/150cc title race, James Hanscomb leads the way with a perfect unbeaten score.
The circuit will be signposted from junction 13 of the M6 and Penkridge town centre. The closest postcode is ST19 5RE with the action under way by 11am.
