British Motocross fans are in for another treat this Sunday when the Sidcup Club hosts the opening round of the 2007 ACU Maxxis British Motocross Championship at the famous Canada Heights circuit in Kent. Not only have all of the top British riders entered, the club are also pleased to announce they have used the wildcard rule to the limit with the full allocation of four being used in the MX1 class.
Obviously heading the entry and looking for his second championship title is Belgian Ken De Dycker. However, the tall CAS rider will have his work cut out with Gordon Crockard, James Noble and Billy MacKenzie all wanting to get off to a good start in the series opener which finishes in September. Four wildcards, Danny Theybers, Marco Kovalainen, Jussi Vehvilainen and Jurgen Van Nooton will also be jostling for podium positions and could well take vital points from the four favourites if mistakes are made. Brad Anderson, Mark Hucklebridge, Jordon Rose now riding for the Albion KTM team who have been absent for two years, Mark Jones making his championship debut on a Wulfsport Kawasaki and Neville Bradshaw will all be hoping to spoil the party for the rest.
The MX2 class is even more open. With a change of team to the Bike It Optoma Loans Yamaha, Carl Nunn will want to make a good start in defending the title he narrowly won last year at the final race of the season. On paper his main challenge is likely to come from either Mike Brown with CAS Honda backing in the MX2 class for the first time, or Tommy Searle who has picked up Nunn's vacated KTM seat. Apart from these three, Gareth Swanepoel also has the speed to run at the top together with Tom Church, Sean Hamblin, Shaun Simpson and Martin Barr. It will also be a baptism of fire for current BYMX champion Luke Remmer who rides for the high profile Pioneer Yamaha Team. On their day, Wayne Smith, Martin Kohut and Lewis Gregory are all capable of taking a podium position and all are contesting the whole eight round series.
During the winter months the Sidcup Club, who actually own the circuit, have changed it considerably. Apart from reversing the direction of racing they have linked it together differently and introduced a new loop just above the lagoon, which was built twelve months ago. Two new spectator tunnels have been added which now allows spectators access to the centre of the circuit whilst racing is taking place so the opportunity to watch each race from a couple of different vantage points also exist.
Re introduced this year, the top riders will be presented to spectators on the podium at 11.45am when you can be sure ace commentator Roger Warren will want to get an update on how timed training went for each of them. Obviously, this will also be a good time for fans to grab an autograph before settling down to watch the action that begins with a support race for the non-qualified riders at 12.30pm. The first of four championship races starts at 1.05pm with the MX2 class and from here on its non-stop action right through to the final MX1 race at 4.30pm.
Canada Heights is situated adjacent to the M25 motorway at Swanley in Kent. For fans wishing to make a full day the action starts with MX2 timed training at 9.30am. Unlike most motor sports, entrance to the paddock is included in the admission price and the chance to get close to the riders exists. Admission prices are £20 for adults and concessions are available through the clubs own website which is linked to the www.mxgb.co.uk site.
