Final round of the 2008 Colin Appleyard British Solo Trials Championship

It will be crunch time for either reigning ACU Trials Champion Graham Jarvis or title contender Michael Brown on Sunday 5th October at exposed and remote Skyrakes Farm, where the Bradford Motor Club stage the final round of the 2008 Colin Appleyard Autowbars British Trials Championship.

A single Championship point separates 33 year old Jarvis from his 21 year old challenger. The presence though of multi-World Champion Dougie Lampkin will without doubt throw a king sized spanner into the trial. Shaun Morris has regained full fitness after his serious eye injury two years ago. Alexz Wigg, Ross Danby and Sam Haslam also check in at Skyrakes after a heavy European sortie in FIM and UEM trials.

See more for expert preview and start list

2008 Dirt Bike Show

13th – 16th November 2008

The annual Dirt Bike Show is once again set to be another spectacular and successful one for the show organisers, Promoto. Now in its ninth year, the Dirt Bike Show staged at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry is looking forward to opening its doors to the public and putting on another fantastic display.

This year there will be over 50 display stands, including 12 specialist bike and quad manufacturers, with more than 66 retail stands in the Hall 3 Retail Zone.

www.dirtbikeshow.co.uk

Future West British Supercross - Sheffield

THE STARS COME OUT FOR SHEFFIELD
www.fwsx.com

A star-studded line-up of international talent has been assembled for round one of the British Supercross Championship on the 25th October at the Sheffield Arena.
 
Tommy Searle has signed up for the opening round and together with former winner Jeff  Alessi confirming to compete at Sheffield add to the impressive line up including the two defending British Supercross Champions Mike Brown and Colton Facciotti among others.
 
Newly crowned Canadian MX1 champion Colton Facciotti will be back at Sheffield on 25th October to defend his British SX2 title. Facciotti dominated the Canadian Motocross Nationals in the premier MX1 class with eight overall wins out of a nine round series despite missing one of the rounds with a broken collarbone. Facciotti will again be competing in two classes at Sheffield taking a shot at SX1 and defending his SX2 championship.
 
Defending SX1 British Supercross Champion Mike Brown will also be back at Sheffield to campaign in both SX1 and SX2 championship battles. Neither Brown nor Facciotti will be eligible to compete in the brand new British Supercross Championship Open class, which is only open to the best of the British regulars, which will make its debut at Sheffield.

2008 Scott trial

The Richmond clubs Scott Trial is on Saturday the 18th October.

Entries are in from Dougie Lampkin looking for his third consecutive win, Takahisa Fujinami experiencing his first Scott, Graham Jarvis hoping to score his eighth win and his first since 2005 together with Wayne Braybrook trying for a second victory and Michael Brown and James Dabill going for their first win, makes for a fascinating Saturday of trial spectating.

The event is organised by the Richmond Motor Club at Swaledale Yorkshire. The Scott trial is a time and observation event run over an off road course of approximately 70 miles. The riders lose marks for "footing" in the 70 or so observed sections and for finishing behind the fastest rider who sets standard time. Marks used to be lost at the rate of 1 mark per minute but this has been relaxed to 1 mark every 2 minutes.

It has been described as the greatest test of man and machine and is an event in which the clubman riders can still compete on the same course as top international stars
The club web site is at

www.richmondmotorclub.com/

Chris Harris at the Bonfire Burn Up

After an absence of several years from the British grasstrack scene Tonbridge & Malling Motorcycle Club are delighted to announce 2007 British GP Winner Chris 'Bomber' Harris has agreed to take part in the 2008 Keith Cornell Bonfire Burn Up at the renowned Boarded Circuit, Collier Street, Yalding in Kent.

This prestigious end of season event which was missing from the grasstrack calendar in 2007 is back with a bang and has arguably the finest collection of riders assembled in the UK during 2008.

TMMCC promoter Kev Still couldn't hide his delight having captured Harris' signature for the 2nd November showdown. "Chris and his manager have been a pleasure to deal with from the outset, he loves his grasstrack and has assured me it will be all out for the win! He's not looking to borrow any machinery for the day and will be building his own especially".

In addition to taking part in the days action Chris will generously be on hand to meet the fans during the traditional Saturday evening entertainment.

Motocourse 2008 - 2009

Receive 25% of the latest Motocourse annual and calendars courtesy of the ACU

Now in it's 33rd year, Motocourse continues to go from strength to strength as the fortunes of MotoGP continue to flourish.  Compiled by leading motorcycle journalist Michael Scott, Motocourse is not simply a lavish document of the MotoGP and Superbike seasons, it is a highly collectable resource respected by all within the industry.  The annual is bought by many teams and riders and is widely recognised as the leading in this exciting sport.  Motocourse is packed full with detailed race reports, in-depth analysis, rider profiles and outstanding photography that brings to life the excitement of this massively popular sport.

Order at www.motocourse.com/acu or call 0870 3505044 and quote code ACU

Offer ends 19th December 2008

Putoline Oils Hafren Trail Bike Rally

Regs are now available for Hafren Dirt Bike Club’s Hafren Rally to be held Sunday 5th October, this year kindly sponsored by Putoline oils. This years event will be very similar to last years with a few improvements to the 45 mile lap, and 3 special stages with the usual rally format. This course will be a mix of fire road, forest tracks and open hill, with plenty of spectacular Mid Wales countryside.

Entry fee is £60 and there will be separate classes for both trail and enduro bikes (no MX bikes) and a beginners for the new comers/less confident riders, following the huge success of the new beginners class over the last couple years. The beginners class will do the same course, but will be expected to complete a lap less and will start at the back of the entry so they are not riding amongst the quicker riders. As this is a fun social event, there will be a social get together on the Saturday evening in Llanidloes (venue to be confirmed) where a buffet and quiz will be laid on and give everybody a chance to have a chat and a few beers, not too many mind! Hafren Dirt Bike club would like to thank Putoline for kindly sponsoring this years event. 

www.hafrendbc.co.uk/

FIM Individual World Long Track Championship

The ACU’s Track Racing Committee is delighted to congratulate both ACU licence holders competing in the World Long Track Championship at Vechta, Germany on Sunday 13th September 2008.

The 2008 Championship has seen only two Britons competing and Vechta was the last of four Finals taking place across Europe, Final 1, Czech Republic and France holding Finals 2 & 3.  Going into the event 4 Glen Phillips was lying 3rd and Andrew Appleton 4th in the Overall standings, a superb performance against the best 20 Long Track racers in World. 

After finishing 3rd in his first heat Andrew Appleton stepped up another gear for the remaining three heats, with lightning starts in each he was first across the line on all three occasions, including a convincing victory over Dirk Fabriek, who before this final was second in the Championships standings. This ensured Andrew’s place in the A Final.

Glen Phillips’ also made it through to the A Final, but he certainly had to fight very hard for his place after mechanical problems in Heat 1.  Unfortunately, he was up against Appleton in Heat 2 and had to concede to the stronger rider on the day, coming across the line in second.  If Heat 2 wasn’t hard enough the remaining two heats pitted Phillips against the Championship leader Gerd Riss,but he recorded 2nd and 3rd place and his qualifying points gave him last choice for the A Final starting positions.

In the A Final, Phillips made the best start, but unfortunately his earlier mechanical problems returned, thwarting his progress. As they came out of the second turn he had been passed by the overall winner Theo Pijper with Appleton trying desperately to find a way past into the lead.  Although no further changes were made between these three riders the action was very tight and by the flag they had managed to pull well ahead of the other three riders in the A Final.

The Overall standings for the event put Appleton, 2nd and Phillips, 3rd, giving Phillips the Runner Up position in the 2008 FIM World Long Track Championship standings with Appleton in fourth place.

World Long Track Championship Final Standings
1st Riss, 79 pts; 2nd Glen Phillips, 66; 3rd Fabriek, 65; 4th Andrew Appleton, 62 

Tony Noel, Chairman, ACU Track Racing Committee, said, “This was the best individual FIM World Long Track Championship result for many years and follows the third place by the ACU Team in the 2008 World Team Long Track Championship achieved by Glen Phillips, Mitchell Godden, Richard Hall and Vincent Kinchin in Germany.

British Supercross Update

3 nights for the price of 2 at selected Holiday Inn hotels in the UK until 26th Dec 2008.

For further details on this Holiday Inns ACU members special offer please click here.

The offer is in place from September 1st to December 26th.