Matchams mania!
By TMX Archives on 20th May 05
The first GP on the UK mainland for five years is just three weeks away so better start packing the grill and beer crates! Oh yes, on June 4/5 we're all off to the Hants/Dorset border as absolute top-level motocross returns to Matchams Park for The first GP on the UK mainland for five years is just three weeks away so better start packing the grill and beer crates! Oh yes, on June 4/5 we're all off to the Hants/Dorset border as absolute top-level motocross returns to Matchams Park for the first time in nearly a quarter-of-a-century!Younger readers may not know but from the '60s to the early '80s Matchams was the home of the Hants Grand International, Britain's main motocross event of the year other than the GPs. The great stars of the past battled it out every Good Friday before heading to Belgium for their Easter Trophy, the three days of racing being the dress rehearsal for the world series.For the return of world class action to Matchams the scenario is reversed as the best riders on the planet and their crews face the tiring trip back from Japan, the Sugo GP being just one week earlier on the calendar.A new track - from the pen and bulldozer of Johnny Douglas-Hamilton - is certain to thrill and entertain and the rugged ground (the Hants Grand was always the toughest race of the year) will test men and machine to the limit. Without doubt, an occasion not to be missed...So who will we see there?British interest is high in both MX1 and MX2, a fact that's been confirmed by the early results in the series - and it's not completely out of the question that we could get a British winner in each class!Okay, so the 'Brit' most likely to win in MX1 is a Kiwi but Josh Coppins is our national champion and goes to Matchams as the winner of the 2004 British GP at Gore Basin.It cannot be denied that Matcham's loose surface favours the Belgians - it certainly did in the Hants Grand days - but their ageing stars are not at their best over artificial obstacles and we can be sure that Johnny has integrated plenty of those into his track design. So anything is possible.And 28-year-old Coppins is joined in CAS Honda's MX1 line-up by Jussi Vehvilainen - and the 27-year-old Finn has also been on the podium this year, is a proven force on surfaces like that at Matchams and can holeshot from any gate.Britain has still more top-10 men with Paul Cooper on the Multitek Honda and James Noble who, in his fifth GP season at the age of 24, has already indicated that he's ready to move up into the true elite on the RWJ Honda.Honda's UK effort can also look to Mark Hucklebridge - Monster's having a great season with the newly-formed Innovate Motorsports team - and the always dynamic Chris Burnham, hopefully back to full speed after injury. Motovision Suzuki, after a fabulous first GP season with Tanel Leok, are now making tracks with Japan's Yoshi Atsuta and South African teenager Neville Bradshaw.One man who not only co-promoter Steve Dixon but the entire British crowd will hope can return to his true form at Matchams is Gordon Crockard. The 26-year-old multiple British champ's suffered a traumatic start to the campaign on the Yamaha which Everts steered to the title last year and will be looking to turn things around.Which brings us very nicely to the foreign menace!Everts, the 32-year-old eight-time champion, is again the pace-setter this year and is joined at Rinaldi Yamaha by stylish Dane Brian Jorgensen, himself a GP winner last summer.Their keenest continental rivals are again Mickael Pichon - now partnered at Martin Honda by Spaniard Javier Garcia Vico - and Joel Smets, at 36 the oldest competitor by two years but still a very real threat as he has proved with moto wins at each of the first two GPs.Sadly, Kevin Strijbos - Smets' teenage buddy on the factory Suzukis - may miss Matchams after suffering serious collarbone injuries in Portugal but the list of top names goes on.After his superb rookie season Estonian Tanel Leok, who will turn 20 on the Wednesday before the race, has been signed by Jan De Groot to launch Kawasaki's 450F into world prominence and KTM should be back to full strength by then with Norway's Kenneth Gundersen (23) partnering Ben Townley (20) and Steve Ramon (25) in the youngest team out there.TM's Antti Pyrhonen and Husqvarna's Antoine Meo are also full-factory riders, as is Marko Kovalainen on the whispering Aprilia, while privateers who can play with the big boys include Ken De Dycker on the Sarholz Honda, Pichon protege Pascal Leuret and outrageous Hungarian Kornel Nemeth, an MX3 GP moto winner last summer.But the keenest trackside interest at Matchams will come in the MX2 class where Britain has three native-born potential winners.Stephen Sword has battled as only he can to overcome wretched starts this year and Matchams will probably see the 25-year-old Scot show off the 06 alu-framed KX250F for the first time in Europe after debuting it at Sugo.Carl Nunn is another factory star, the East Anglian having been snapped up by Champ KTM during the off-season. And few perform so well on UK tracks with a loose surface - that first GP win since Y2K could be just around the corner.And then there's Billy MacKenzie! After years of torment the 21-year-old Scot has suddenly shot to world prominence and has already proved with his maiden podium in Portugal that his first GP moto win one week earlier in Spain on Steve Dixon's Yam was no fluke.And perhaps the darkest horse of all among the 'Brits' is RWJ's Erik Eggens, the 27-year-old Dutchman being certain to be at home on the Matchams surface.In Portugal Tom Church joined the 2005 top six club and the 23-year-old should again be a threat - as will his new Molson Kawasaki team-mate Gareth Swanepoel, the South African having returned to racing a fortnight ago.Jason Dougan - who scored in Portugal on his return to the Motovision ranks this year - and Scotland's Shaun Simpson, who has also qualified the Team Lizard Honda this season, are our latest teenage hopes while wildcard hopefuls Wayne Smith and Brad Anderson have already proved their ability at this level.But the foreign menace is also strong in MX2.Leading the way are '04 medallists Tyla Rattray and Antonio Cairoli.The 19-year-old South African set off with a rush and won on his four-stroke GP debut at the opening round in Zolder. But a chain breakage and a dislocated shoulder have cost the KTM MX2 team leader points which he will be desperate to recover. And the Sicilian simply blew the field away in Portugal, having already won a moto one week earlier in Spain on the De Carli Yamaha.Yamaha indeed supply the majority of the potential winners in this class with Australian Andrew McFarlane joining evergreen Chicco Chiodi in the Ricci team, '04 MX1 GP winner Cedric Melotte - who held the red plate after two GPs - on the official Rinaldi entry and ex-champ Mickael Maschio also in blue.Youngsters on YZs who can make their mark include Anthony Boissiere of Team PSM Casola, Rui Goncalves of the Dutch Van Beers outfit, Davide Guarneri from Italy, Nicolas Aubin, Johnny Aubert and Pierre-Alexandre Renet.Over in the red corner SRS Honda field ex-GP winner Patrick Caps and Euro champ Matti Seistola and Matteo Bonini has already put the Martin Honda on the leaderboard.Sebastien Pourcel - who broke his arm after finishing third at round one - is due to return to action at Matchams and kid brother Christophe, still only 16, has held the fort for the Freeman Kawasaki team with top six finishes every week in his absence. And let's not forget the Kosak KTMs of Aigar Leok and Max Nagl who should lap up the UK track on their two-strokes.There are all sorts of sideshow attractions all weekend at the complex so don't get sidetracked by the New Forest ponies or the Bournemouth seafront. Matchams is the place to be on June 4-5!For more details - including travel guides and accommodation info - check out www.britgp.com