Foxhill Motocross Track will host the eighth and final round of the 2016 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship supported by Pro Clean on Sunday September 18th. This iconic venue with its huge jumps and crazy steep climbs and drops meanders around a v-shaped valley that’s hidden in the hills just to the east of Swindon, Wiltshire.
It has been considered to be one of the world’s greatest motocross tracks ever since it shot to prominence in the 1990s. That was the decade Foxhill hosted a plethora of double and even triple-header GPs and has been considerably reworked ahead of this event to ensure it offers up a visual feast for the fans as well as a fair but testing circuit for the racers. And with the title hunt being so close in both the MX1 and MX2 championship that’s really important.
Wilvo Virus KTM’s Adam Sterry enters the final round of the MX2 championship with the most slender of leads and is just one point in front of Apico Husqvarna’s Steven Clarke with two motos and 50 points still on the table. It’s looking likely to be a winner takes all affair between these two aces although Buildbase Honda’s Martin Barr and Clarke’s team-mate Bryan MacKenzie both still have a mathematical chance of clinching the title.
On the subject of MacKenzie this will be his last major race as a full-time pro. The popular Scotsman is hanging his Forma boots up after the event to concentrate on being a father to new born daughter and running the Duns MX facility in Scotland. After a disappointing round seven Irn Bry will no doubt be looking to leave his legacy on the series and although the title looks like it’s just out of reach an overall win would no doubt put a smile on his face.
With an eight point advantage all Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle has to do is follow current MX1 champ Shaun Simpson (Wilvo Virus KTM) home in each race to clinch his first ever major championship title. Sounds easy, right? But, with Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo Husqvarna’s Jake Nicholls on fine form of late – and with a mathematical chance of taking the title – these are going to be two hard fought motos.
Add in hard chargers Graeme Irwin, Tanel Leok and Jake Shipton – who’s found scorching speed as the season winds down – and we’re surely in for an epic couple of races to wrap up the 2016 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship.
It’s probably also worth mentioning that the MX1 class will feature a couple of French wildcards as SR75 Molson Suzuki’s pair of aces – Thomas Ramette and Cyrille Coulon – look to spice things up. Perhaps better known as supercross specialists the stylish duo have ‘tres bien’ MX skills too and are sure to be at the sharp end as they hunt for points, pride and prize money!
Supporting action comes from the ever entertaining MXY2 class. Packed with hard charging 15-to-18 year olds the action will come thick and fast in these two 18-minute plus one lap encounters. Riders to look out for on the day are champion elect James Carpenter, Michael Ellis, Henry Williams and the flying Scotsman Alexander Brown.
All the action kicks off at 9am with practice and qualifying with the first MX2 clash leaving the line at 11:55. Foxhill Motocross Track will be signposted from the Junction 15 of the M4 and Sat Nav users will get where they need to be by entering SN4 0DR into their devices.