The southernmost round of the 2026 Motul ACU British Motocross Championship takes place this Sunday, 17th May, at the fantastic hard-pack, hillside Landrake circuit in Cornwall, and once it’s complete, so will half of the series, as the year already seems to be flying by.
Images courtesy of MXGB – Insight Media
Following his overall victory last time out at Lyng, Dirt Store Triumph’s Ben Watson holds the Red Plate in MX1, having eked out a slender five-point gap over reigning champ Conrad Mewse of the Crendon Tru7 Honda team and Oriol Oliver, who has impressed on his Gabriel SS24 KTM. It’s been a while since Watson raced at Lyng, while Mewse is almost on home turf, so could this sway in the Honda riders’ favour, or will Oliver, who rode the circuit in MX2 last year, put a spanner in the works? Either way, the fight for the title between these three could rage on all season long.
One rider who is desperate to get in the mix and taste a slice of MX1 podium pie is the DRT Kawasaki rider Taylor Hammal, who has been edging ever closer to the coveted box and is gaining in confidence every time he takes to the track. He has good form at Landrake, and his starts are good, so could this be the day he breaks the top three?
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The injury list in MX1 is long, with local favourites Josh Gilbert and Louie Kessell, Chambers Racing’s Adam Sterry and Brad Todd out of the running, which has made the fight for fifth spicy. That fifth spot is currently held by South African racer Tristan Purdon, who this week has changed teams to the SevenSeven2 Ride Kawasaki squad, and will look to keep the ball rolling as part of Team Green. Next on the scorecard in sixth is Crendon Tru7 Honda’s Jamie Carpenter, who had a big crash at Lyng and will be looking to rebound with a strong result at his local round. Bobby Bruce and Asbsolute KTM’s Ben Edwards both had good results in the Scottish MX Champs, with the latter taking the overall ahead of the former, so both descend on the south with good confidence, as will Apico Honda’s Tom Grimshaw, who led Jeffrey Herlings at the Mecca-X meeting at Oxford Moto Park last week.
Other riders looking to close in on the top ten are Phoenix Tools Fantic Racing rider Carlton Husband, Motocycle racing’s Jason Meara, Eastern centre star Bayliss Utting and SevenSeven2 Ride Kawasaki’s Charlie Cole. Another South African rider, Cameron Durow, has also impressed in his two meetings with the Chambers Racing team in the last couple of weeks and will be looking at a top-five finish in Cornwall.
A rider who could well, be a challenger for a podium position is three times World Sand Races Champion Todd Kellett, who although a master in the soft stuff, is also well honed on the local hard pack circuits which he grew up racing and is more than capable of mixing it at the sharp end as he makes his UK race debut with his new team, SR Motoblouz Honda.
MX2 is a vertiable feast of unknowns and variables, but conquering the carnage so far this year is SC Sporthomes Husqvarna’s Charlie Heyman, who put in a sublime career best 1-1 performance at Lyng last time out and now holds a chunky 32 point lead over his closest rival, who is Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Gyan Doensen. Doensen had a day to forget in Lyng and will be hoping for redemption in Cornwall, and that also applies to current champ Tommy Searle of the Dirt Store Triumph team after a Moto 1 crash saw him fail to score in that race before he bounced back with a second in race two. With the margin hefty, everyone knows they need to bring their A game and some to the remaining rounds if they are going to reel in a calm and collected Heyman.
ASA United GasGas’s Ben Mustoe took his first pro race win at Landrake last year, although his day did end in injury. Lyng saw him gain his first Pro overall podium, and he has his sights on more glory at Landrake this weekend, a track he knows well. Joe Brookes sits in fifth in the standings and has changed machinery to Honda for the remainder of the season. Will this hamper his blistering speed, or will it be the icing on the cake for the talented young gun?
Charlie Richmond has been doing a great job for the Crendon Tru7 Honda team, and will be keen to edge closer to the podium as the season progresses, as will the Phoenix Tools Fantic Racing rider, Josh Vail. Starts could be the key for both of these young racers.
Dirt Store Triumphs Billy Askew is starting to come into a stunning run of form both home and abroad, with third at Lyng and a victory in the MX2 class at Oxford Moto Park last week. All he needs now is to top it off with a victory in the British, and this could well be the day he does it. SevenSeven2 Ride Kawasaki’s Joel Rizzi showed good speed at Lyng and will be hoping to revisit the podium again this weekend after standing on the third step at the Hawkstone opener.
The dynamic and entertaining Jamie Keith sits 10th in the standings, which nowhere does justice to his season so far, which included a maiden Pro race win at Hawkstone back in March. He is not short of confidence, or is he scared to ruffle a few feathers, and he will have his eagle eyes on taking the chequers in Cornwall.
Chambers Racing’s Ollie Colmer has been hampered by his starts, but as his first moto second place at Hawkstone shows, if he can make one, he has the speed to be a front runner, and he will be keen to put the hammer down early and show what he is made of in Cornwall. His teammate Glenn McCormick is always there or thereabouts, and will be keen to edge closer to the sharp end, as will new Absolute KTM signing Freddie Bartlett, and the Garland Motorsports pair of Liam Knight and Liam Garland.
One thing is certain about MX2: it’s impossible to predict a result, but we predict great racing and plenty of drama at Landrake.
In the 125cc class, JK Racing Yamaha’s Drew Stock has so far been close to unbeatable, although a few chinks in his armour did start to show at Lyng last time out when a last bend fall cost him his unbeaten run, with Brian Gyles managing to remount from the fall quicker to take the win. We have also seen Harley Marczak, who is second in the standings on his S Briggs Commercial machine, show great speed, and with 29 points to claw back, expect him to go all out to beat Stock in Cornwall. Stock, though, is made of tough stuff and knows how to manage a race, and when he needs to, he can turn his speed up a notch. Can Marczak break the deadlock in Cornwall?
A whole host of other riders are queing up behind Marczak to try and take Stock’s crown and leading that charge at the moment is Joel Winstanley Dawson who sits in third in the standings, while the likes of Archie Stapely, Christopher Brindlay, Lucas Moncreiff, Alfie Herron, Olly Waters, Alfie Geddes Green, Leo Wilson an Arthur Moore have all shown they have what it takes to be challenging for podiums and possibly higher.
So get yourself down to Landrake Lyng this Sunday for what is set to be another day of epic MXGB racing. If you can, get there in person; if not, tune into the live stream on MXGB.TV’s YouTube channel.
The Venue
Landrake Moto Park
Saltash
Cornwall
PL12 5EP
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased Online >>HERE<< or on the gate
Prices on the gate are below but are discounted on the above link for advance sales.
Adults £25
Children 5-15 £5
Family ticket (2 adults & 2 Children) £60
Spectator Camping Ticket for Saturday evening £20
Entry Lists
Check out the Entry Lists >>HERE<<
Live Streaming
The event is to be streamed via the MXGB TV channel on YouTube and on FIM TV
Timetable
The timetable has not been released yet.
