Skye's limit for Brits blast
By TMX Archives on 11th Mar 15
The 2015 ACU British Championship powered by Skye Energy kicks off this Sunday (March 15) with a debut visit to the Hilton Park circuit near Wolverhampton.
There's been plenty of hype surrounding the sand circuit but the real hype concerns the entry that despite missing a couple of big names is still pretty damn stellar.
Defending MX1 champion Shaun Simpson (Hitachi Revo KTM UK) has got to start favourite for a couple of reasons.
The first is, obviously, he's very fast and very consistent. The second is it's a sand track and we all know how he excels in the soft stuff.
With Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Suzuki) a casualty of the arenacross series and Jake Nicholls (Wilvo Forkrent KTM) claimed by a French international the most likely challenge is going to come from a pair of newcomers plus a handful of series regulars.
Looking at last year's form book you'd put Steven Frossard (Wilvo Forkrent KTM) at the top of the list.
The Frenchman finished fifth in last year's MXGP championship but has had a stinker of a start to the 2015 world series and currently wallows back in 18th.
Estonian Express Tanel Leok (LPE Kawasaki Racing) is back for more Maxxis action this time around after finishing sixth in 2013 and he'll be lining up against countryman Gert Krestinov (Buildbase Honda), another top-flight sand rider.
Krestinov's team-mate Kristian Whatley was the 2013 champion and after a solid pre-season racing the Italian championship the charismatic 25-year-old will be fully dialled-in on his new machine.
Brad Anderson (EMBO Power ASA Yamaha) is another former champ who should figure and you can't rule out Northern Ireland's Graeme Irwin (Heads & All Threads Suzuki) who is loving his 2015 RM-Z450.
With defending MX2 champion Matiss Karro (Route 77 Energy MVR-D Honda) forced to sit out the opening few rounds with an injury the small-bore class is there for the taking.
The class act is Max Anstie (Monster DRT Kawasaki) but a question mark hangs over him after a cut foot he sustained at the opening GP in Qatar became infected.
If Max isn't there look to his team-mate Mel Pocock to run at the front.
As always with the MX2 class there's a lot of hungry young talent coming through – led this season by Ben Watson (Hitachi Revo KTM UK) and Adam Sterry (Wilvo Forkrent KTM) – and let's not forget the more ‘seasoned' stars like Bryan MacKenzie (Pendrich Kawasaki), Neville Bradshaw (272 Raceschool Husqvarna), Steven Lenoir (Dyer & Butler KTM) and Euro 250cc champion Steven Clarke (Apico Husqvarna).
The Vets class will also be in action on Sunday and with the age limit lowered to 35 former British champ Carl Nunn's gearing up to take on reigning champ Phil Mercer and big Brian Wheeler.
Over recent weeks the circuit has undergone some major changes to bring it up to Maxxis standard and should provide some exciting and close racing.
Hilton Park is just off the M54 motorway at J1. Postcode is WV11 2BE. The action starts at 9.30am with Vets qualifying. MX2 and MX1 quali starts at 10.05am and 10.50am.
Admission is £20 for adults and £5 for children under 15 with no charge for under fives. Family tickets are available at £45.
For more information about the championship point your PC at www.mxgb.co.uk
FOR MORE MX STORIES SEE TMX NEWS, March 12, 2015 (ISSUE 1962)
