World MX: British Grand Prix Blasts Mallory Park

When it was first announced that the British Motocross Grand Prix was going to Mallory Park in Leicestershire, I was sceptical. Mallory Park is after all recognised more for its road-race circuit than motocross. Of course, there is space for a motocross track because a track already exists, but my concerns were more about the camping and the all-too-notorious traffic. After several phone calls between the promoter RHL Activities and myself, which promised that traffic and camping were taken care of, I felt somewhat more positive. And then, months later, on Saturday the last day of May, I find myself cautiously driving down Kirkby Mallory's Church Road to Mallory Park.

The first thing I notice is the friendly security guy who waves two cars to one side to tell them that they haven't gone the main route into Mallory Park, which is from the northern side, and that they have to turn around. I am simply waved through with a smile. The same occurs on the second checkpoint that leads me onto the hairpin of the road-race track and down towards the paddock. It looks, in one word, magnificent. A neat row of motorhomes lines the track all the way from Stapleton's to just before the John Cooper Esses, while the paddock itself is arranged in several wide avenues by manufacturer. It is still early, but the place is already bustling with activity.

Once upstairs in the media centre, the sheer size of the new Grand Prix track is all too apparent. It stretches itself from the top end near the church to the bottom by Gerrard's Corner. The big triple jump dominates the bottom half of the track, while a series of bomb holes and jumps mark out the top half, all blended together by a sweeping sandy off-camber in the one direction, lined by the trees, and a big finish jump in the other.

This round has been hotly anticipated by the British public, mostly because many were sorely disappointed by the round at Donington Park the previous year. The camping area is sold out and already resembles a caravan park. A fun fair perches itself on the bits of flat ground still available at the top end of the circuit. It also helps that this is round two of the Veterans' World Cup and that several famous British names, amongst them Dave Thorpe, Greg Hanson and Scott Eastwood, will be racing, and that a Legend Lap of Honour is to be held before racing is to start on Sunday morning.

The morning starts with the free practice sessions, and many of the young riders who have made it to their first Grand Prix seem to want to show off their skills, and for the most part it works, but there are several who learn the hard way that in the world championship you have to walk first before you run. Iconic British bike manufacturer CCM, who has been stuck with several injured riders, ends their weekend with their newest signing, Kristian Whatley, injured as well. A mistimed jump over the triple means a broken wrist for the youngster.

The pre-qualifying practice for the MX2 class and the two second free practice sessions for the MX1 and Veteran classes fly by before the first qualifying race for the MX2 class rolls around.

Red Bull De Carli Yamaha's Antonio Cairoli, Red Bull KTM's Rui Gonçalves and Tyla Rattray, and Molson Kawasaki's Stephen Sword are the main protagonists for the first race, and they don't disappoint either. Cairoli ends up at the front of the pack, of course, hotly chased by Gonçalves, Rattray and Sword. In the end it is Rattray and Sword who end second and third. The second race is pretty much a British affair as Red Bull KTM's Tommy Searle and Team KTM UK's Shaun Simpson go head-to-head for the lead, but Searle gets the upper hand and wins. The young Belgian Jeremy van Horebeek for Champ KTM is third.

The MX1 class also has a tough time during their timed qualifying practice. GPKR Kawasaki's Sébastien Pourcel, Martin Honda's Marc de Reuver and Teka Suzuki's Steve Ramon battle for top spot, and they end up together in the top three, with less than a second between them. In the Veterans it is Peter “Ivan the Terrible” Iven who is on pole, followed by Jan Blancquaert and British legend David Thorpe. Iven is clearly the fastest of them all – he's five seconds faster than everyone else.

Around seven the fun fair starts in earnest while some of the riders go for another track walk with their trainers or confidantes. The track crew busies itself with the triple jump, mostly to reshape it. A crash in the second MX2 qualifying race that has left much of the race under yellow flags, has forced the track management to reconsider the safety of the jump. In the end it is flattened to a double jump with a run-off. The camp site is pulsing with the spectators having a good time. And so the party goes on into the early morning.

Sunday morning dawns beautifully – Sun, mostly cloudy, but the promise of a fantastic day ahead. The spectators stream in from the day parking and find their spots for the day. Morning practice is over quickly and the paddock is packed with people. FIM and Youthstream hold a ceremony for World Environment Day at the edge of the lake, officials planting symbolic trees. Then, at 10:45, it is time for the first highlight of the day – The British Legends Parade.

Britain is arguably one of the world's nations with the richest motocross history and with some stunning legends still around. A veritable list of various ages, the youngest being Britain's last world champion Jamie Dobb, go out onto the track on their steeds of various ages. Mark Banks, Mike Church, Neil Prince and Keith Ree are still very active in motocross, owning or managing some of Britain's most successful teams today. Church, Banks and Stuart Nunn have their own sons and nephews racing the world championship, while Roger Harvey still represents Honda Europe and Dave Watson runs one of Britain's largest motocross mail-order retailers. Legendary Grand Prix riders Vic Allan, Graham Noyce and Rob Andrews also return to the track for a few laps together with 'scramble' rider Terry Challinor, while the AMCA brings two of its own legends along: Pete Mathia and ex-Radio One DJ Gary Davies.

And then, too soon, they all pull off and the day's racing begins with the first Veterans race. Peter Iven is ultimately the victor, even though Jan Blancquaert, Dave Thorpe and Greg Hanson try their utmost to unseat the man in the lead. It is Thorpe though who is second across the finish line, Hanson third after beating Blancquaert with only three laps to go.

The first MX2 race is an incredibly tough affair. It is the tightest race, the most nerve-racking race in a long time. While Rattray is the one who manages to escape the mêlée of the second corner, he has his work cut out for him as two other KTMs and a Yamaha go after him. Simpson and Searle battle for a lap, after which Searle sets his sights on the leader. Simpson is left to fend for himself against Cairoli. Cairoli is the proverbial freight train; he is annoyed that he has been caught up in the pack after a mistake and that he has let his biggest rivals get away. He attacks Simpson ferociously, then hunts Searle down relentlessly.

Of course, Cairoli's method of beating Searle in the closing laps becomes stuff of much conversation. Cairoli cuts Searle off from the inside, pushes the young Briton wide and, because Searle is unwilling to give up, sends him off the track. Everyone who sees the pass agrees that while it is aggressive, it is perfectly valid and relatively clean compared to some of the passes made by others in previous years. Immediately after there's a big wave of boos travelling around the track as Cairoli passes, the British fans showing their displeasure quite clearly.

With all the passing and commotion behind him, Rattray concentrates on one thing – Staying ahead. Notified by his mechanic, he knows that Cairoli is reeling him in, over one second each lap, and there are seven seconds between them. You do the maths. Soon, with only three laps to go, things are getting awfully close. With two laps to go it is clear that this will be a nail biter. On the last lap, everyone is willing Rattray and Cairoli to win. And then there is the big duel, the last corner, the second last jump, the last one hundred yards. It is oh-so-close. But Rattray wins, by half a bike length. Cairoli goes over to Searle to apologise, but Dobb puts a stop to it, pulling Searle away.

The first MX1 race also turns out to be exciting; the last few minutes certainly get the adrenalin flowing. After a second-corner mêlée that ends Pourcel's race before it even began, the Spaniard Jonathan Barragán goes out front with Monster CAS Honda's Billy MacKenzie in second and Steve Ramon in third. MacKenzie soon falls to the wayside, literally. He crashes and restarts in tenth. And that's where he ends too; out of contention. Ramon takes his place in second, and with over half the race gone, he succeeds in forcing Barragán into second place. Red Bull KTM's Max Nagl and Monster Rinaldi Yamaha's David Philippaerts are ready to pounce, and it certainly looks like Philippaerts will take the win, but he makes a mistake and goes down. He restarts in fifth, too late to do anything.

The dark horse that comes roaring out of the pack though is Ramon's team mate Ken de Dycker. Stuck in mid-pack on the start, he soon finds himself in fifth, where he has Nagl and then Barragán to contend with. The crowd, egged on by the commentators, start paying a lot more attention to the young Belgian who has certainly built up a good fan base over the two years he has raced here for CAS Honda. After beating Barragán and Philippaerts' crash, de Dycker suddenly finds himself in second, not too far off Ramon either. And then, in the last few corners, it becomes clear that it will be a duel again – Ramon vs de Dycker.

Two corners to go, de Dycker tests Ramon and goes for it in the bowl turn right-hander before the last jump. And he takes the lead! There, two hundred yards from the finish, Ramon has to relinquish the lead to de Dycker.

The second Veterans race is again Iven in the lead with Thorpe in second and this time Regis Simon in third. Terry House soon beats Simon for third, while Blancquaert, in eighth off the start and then in fifth, works his way closer to Toine van Dijk in fourth. In the final lap, Blancquaert leapfrogs to third, switching places with House. Hanson finds himself starting to go sideways across the big double jump early in the race and high sides across the jump after, ending the race black, blue and bruised. The day overall is, predictably, Iven, Thorpe and Blancquaert.

Cairoli vows to not make mistakes in the second MX2 race, and he keeps his word. His start is practically flawless and he beats Searle into the lead in the first lap. He leaves the rest of the pack in the dust, only shadowed by Searle and half a minute behind, CLS Racing Kawasaki's Steven Frossard. Simpson is in fourth, threatening to take Frossard's place and nearly succeeding, but at the halfway point he has to make way for Rattray instead who is coming through like a scalded cat. Two laps later, Simpson slips to fifth, making way for fellow Scotsman Stephen Sword on his way through.

Rattray has had to make up an incredible disadvantage; after running into and over his fellow countryman Shannon Terreblanche in the first lap, he is mid-pack and will have to hustle to keep his second place on the podium. He does too, barely. He reduces the distance between himself and Frossard to twenty seconds, fifteen seconds, thirteen seconds... and the time runs out.

The day podium ends with the Sicilian on the top step, Rattray beating Searle to second by a point. Searle is not pleased with his result, his frowning face spells out clearly how he feels. He still smarts at having been beaten at home by the Yamaha. Although Rattray is on the podium, he loses the championship lead to Cairoli, also by a miserable point, and even though his efforts to retain his podium spot earn him a lot of praise, he is not happy with the fact that he's lost that red plate.

The final race of the day, the second MX1 race, looks to be all Marc de Reuver. His start is much improved over the first, in which he tangled with Philippaerts and went down. This time though he is out front, Barragán in second and his team-mate Julien Bill in third. However, it is not to be for de Reuver. He crashes, loses twelve places and restarts in the middle of the pack. That's his dream of a win gone. Barragán slides into first, Bill is in second but is soon replaced by Ramon, who hopes to redeem his last-lap loss to take the win. Pourcel has also made a good start in seventh, although he makes way for Philippaerts, he haunts the Italian and then, just over half the race gone, makes his pass to take second. Ramon unceremoniously slides into fourth, then sixth and ends in seventh, his hopes for a podium shattered.

MacKenzie makes good on his own mistake in the first race; he rises to third early on, but he has to concede his spot to Pourcel and Philippaerts, running in fourth to the end. De Dycker ends the race in sixth, having pushed a little too hard in the first race and running out of reserves in the second. Even with his second race result, de Dycker finds himself on the podium in second. On the top step stands Barragán, celebrating his first-ever Grand Prix win, in third is Philippaerts, who extends his lead over championship runner-up Ramon.

With all the pomp and ceremony over, the rain, which has encircled the track throughout the day, starts. It is the soft, drizzly version first, changing into a proper rain later in the evening. But for once, there is no mud to contend with in the paddock, everyone can wash up, clean up and not have to make themselves more work later in the week.

The verdict at the end of the day is 41,000 spectators over the weekend. It is not a bad figure, translating to around 17,000 people on the Sunday itself. The traffic plan works flawlessly, allowing people to get away quicker than they have ever before at a British Grand Prix, and leaving the promoter, RHL, looking a little satisfied. There have been things that went wrong, and they are to be addressed, and there are things that Gareth Hockey has every reason to be proud of, amongst them seeing off his critics, including myself, with a well-organised event.

Results:

Championship Standings:

www.mallorypark.co.uk
www.motocrossmx1.com

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