The natural arena of Matterley Basin near Winchester provided the perfect scenery as the biggest event in the Motocross calendar return to the UK for the first time since 2008 and eleven years after the Motocross of Nations took place at Matterley Basin previously.
2017 saw Mark Chamberlain take over the position as Team Manager for Team GB and with a strong team selection of Max Anstie, Tommy Searle and Dean Wilson, a large and passionate crowd arrived full of hope for a great result on home soil.
Even with the typical English weather the track produced some fantastic racing with Team GB qualifying in fifth place on the Saturday and looking in good form ready for the Sunday.
After more rain during Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday the track conditions were more challenging, but the weather didn’t deter the fans from getting behind their country.
The day was one to remembered as Max Anstie had the British fans hanging over the fence after taking the lead of the opening race of the day in the second corner and never looking back as he went on to take the race win to the delight of the fans. Unfortunately a retirement by Tommy Searle placed the team under pressure to perform in the two remaining races.
In the second race Dean Wilson and Tommy Searle produce some solid results that would see Wilson cross the line in seventh place with Searle in fifteenth place after recovering from a bad start.
Going into the final race the team had moved up to fifth place in the standings and knew that two good results could see them moving into a podium position. When the gate dropped Max Anstie fired into the first turn in the lead and took the holeshot. Even a mid race slip off couldn’t stop Anstie from reclaiming the lead and taking the race win and overall victory in the MXGP class. With Wilson crossing the line in eighth it was enough to see Team GB mount the podium in third place for the first time in 20 years.
Speaking of the Teams achievement Mark Chamberlain commented
"I'm incredibly proud of our achievement this weekend. Max, Tommy and Dean have put in a Team performance not just on Sunday but all week. I couldn't have asked for more from them and the British fans should be proud. I'd like to thank the ACU for giving me the opportunity!"