Round five of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship was pencilled in for Preston Docks but ACU Events have announced today that the series will now head north to Scotland for the July round.
After a successful meeting between ACU Events and RHL Activities representatives, Gareth Hockey and Margaret Steven, an agreement has been reached to hold round five in Scotland at Leuchars on July 3.
The Leuchars round, in the North East of Scotland will be followed by the British Youth National one week later at the same circuit on July 10.
“It’s been quite a while since RHL Activities has promoted a Maxxis British Motocross Championship, the last time being at Pontrilas in 2007,” said Hockey.
Adding: “The team are really looking forward to working with Glenrothes MSC at the fantastic venue of Leuchars. It’s going to be an incredible race weekend as British MX1 champion and new RHL team member Shaun Simpson, who lives local to the venue will be one of many world class riders racing that weekend.”
Commenting on the news, Simpson said: “Leuchars is about 10 mins from where I live so it’s one of the tracks that I grew up on, I did a lot of the laps of my school boy career around there and I had my first ever School boy British championship win there in 2001.
“It’s been a long time coming. I am really positive that The Maxxis have decided to come up north of the border and give it a proper go again and I think Leuchars is the place to do it at as it is central and it is the centre of motocross in Scotland.
“It’s just a good location, there is good access to it from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen – you know those sort of main cities and there is quite a big community there.
“It’s great for all my family and friends who normally have to travel so far to actually watch me. And having a round in Scotland is absolutely excellent for Scottish riders and for Scottish fans in general.”
The ACU Events Championship Manager Stuart Drummond said “Shaun’s input is valuable to us, as is his enthusiasm about the event. He is always encouraging and positive about the prospect of returning to Scotland and what it can do for motocross in general. I look forward to working with him and the RHL Team, it’s always nice to involve the riders and especially one of his calibre.”
When asked about the track Simpson said: “I should probably steer away from talking about the current track because I think they are going to go in there and revamp it which is really exciting because I think it has potential to be an amazing venue.
“It’s black sand, which is cool but it’s just tired right now because it has not had any proper work done to it for a good number of years and you know if they come in and sort it out, then we are looking at possibly one of the best British Motocross Championship events that we could have.
“I am definitely a believer of changing tracks up, you know riders like to come and ride something different and it’s like a new venue and no one would have ridden there.
“It will totally revive the track especially if they can bring the sand that has been pushed out back in and get rid of the holes that have been filled with water.
“With the Maxxis British Championship coming up and preparing one of the best tracks in Scotland, it is great, it has been great in the past, at least from memory in my career anyway and I think doing that will definitely revive Scottish motocross and I can’t wait to head home and promote the event and pump up the Scottish round of the British Motocross Championship
“If they do it well it should be a permanent fixture on the British calendar.”
We asked Drummond for his thoughts on the British series going to Leuchars: “I do believe in the venue and like Shaun said, I think it has a lot of potential to be a fantastic meeting and we will be working with the promoters, RHL Activities, to get the track up to scratch and put it to the standard we require.”
It’s clear that Simpson is really up for round five at Leuchars and with both the ACU Events and RHL Activities on board for a return to Scotland the event should be one to remember and hopefully have the series returning to Scotland for many years to come.
Preston Docks remains on the British championship calendar and fills the TBA round seven slot on August 21.
