This coming weekend sees the staging of the 6th annual Supermoto of Nations at the fantastic Motorland Race Complex in Alcaniz Aragon Spain where the last round of Moto GP was recently held.
The Olympics of motorcycle sport sees 25 teams from 21 countries compete for the Francesco Zerbi Trophy, a record for the event. Teams from France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Estonia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Latvia, Norway, Lithuania, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Bulgaria and Turkey compete for the honour of being the number one country in this exciting motorcycle sport where riders compete at speeds of up to 120mph on modified dirt bike machines fitted with slick tyres on a mixture of tarmac and off road sections including large jumps.
Team GB have competed at every event but one since the inaugural meeting in Northern Ireland in 2006. Having recorded 2 third places, a fourth and last year a disappointing but battling sixth place, they are looking to get back on the podium in 2011. Again Team GB will be fielding two teams as a junior “under 21” team will compete against all the senior teams. Only France and Finland are running junior teams this year but the ACU is passionate about developing younger riders and the experience is invaluable for them.
Both senior and junior teams have reason to be confident as all the riders are in great form and injury free, none more so than Matt Winstanley. The Wigan rider scored his maiden Grand Prix victory in Portugal on his SHR Honda last weekend and so will be full of confidence for the battle in Spain. Matt will be joined by newly crowned double British Champion Chris Hodgson (Skyzone KTM) from Maryport Cumbria. Both Chris and Matt have ridden in every British team so far. The third rider in the senior team is James Addy from Barnsley. James rides in the MWR KTM team and although this is his first Nations event he is one of the most consistent riders in the UK and is currently second in both British Championships.
The junior team also have 3 riders on top form, Ben Robb from Swanley (Drilltec KTM) is third in the British Elite Championship and Lee Williams from Bootle Merseyside (DCR KTM) is lying third in the British Open championship. Both Ben & Lee have competed previously for Britain and they are joined by newcomer Malachi Mitchell-Thomas from Bolton who rides in the same SHR Honda team as Matt Winstanley. Malachi currently competes in the European open championship where he lies eighth.
Team manager David Dearden said “It’s a great honour to again manage the British Squads for this year’s Supermoto of Nations – the event is now truly a global competition which can only be good for the sport of supermoto as a whole. We have two fantastic teams this year with all the riders in great form. It would be brilliant if the senior team can emulate previous years and climb onto the podium and we want the junior team to qualify for the finals. They will be facing World class opposition but we are quietly confident.”
Team GB would like to thank the following companies and organisations for generous financial support without which it would be impossible to compete.
Billy Holt Nameplate Services www.nameplateservices.co.uk
The Auto Cycle Union www.acu.org.uk
Lee Rudd LR-Designs www.l-rdesigns.co.uk
Toby Taylor Norasport www.norasport.com
Russell Bower Rock Oil www.rockoil.co.uk
SIS Sports Drinks www.scienceinsport.com