The 2026 AMCA British Motocross Championship, supported by Rokit Tyres, kicks off this coming weekend, April 11th/12th and what a series it promises to be! Hosting the opener are the Ollerton MXC at their Bevercotes circuit, and it’s certainly great to see this club back on Championship promotion duty after a break of several years.
Words and Images by Mike Wood
The 2026 title chase has attracted very high entry levels, and looking through the list of riders, it should certainly produce plenty of fast, furious and highly competitive action. After lining up as a joint class in the past couple of seasons or so, Open and MX2 will now enjoy separate motos after generating sufficient numbers. In the Open class, current Champion and FUS Marsh MX Honda star James Dodd defends his crown whilst Jayden Ashwell, Will Hughes, James Bates, Adam Wells, Joshua Fletcher-Williams and Liam Gale, all final top ten finishers in 2025, go again. After winning the last three rounds in 2025, Ashwell is sure to be a major contender for honours whilst the likes of Jaydon Murphy, Ben White, McKenzie Marshall, Josh Waterman the 2025 MX2 runner-up, Corey Hockey and Tommy Alba amongst others join the title chase and in doing so just raise the quality bar even higher, this looks to be a very tough Open class in 2026!
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Looking equally outstanding is the 2026 MX2 title-chasing entry list, which is also overflowing with quality! As per the Open class, the 2025 MX2 Champion Henry Williams, also a member of the FUS Marsh team, is out to defend his title, but there are plenty of other riders looking ready and willing to challenge for glory this time around! Luke Dean, Luke Meredith, Yarin Evans and Tim Burrows, all top ten in the 2025 Championship table, along with double AMCA 125cc Champion Jimmy Margetson, will all come under starter orders. Also, on the start line will be 2017 former IMBA European and AMCA MX2 Champion, the very experienced Ray Rowson, the always competitive CPMX Racing rider Lee Truman and SevenSeven2 Ride Kawasaki pilot Jack Lindsay, but the main threat to Williams hopes of retaining the MX2 crown could well come from one of the young, rising stars. Looking to hit the headlines will be Wyatt McGregor, Jack Evans and the very talented Yorkshire ace Tyla Hooley, but watch out for Jayden Jones! The Wulfsport Meredith MX Rock Oil Suzuki rider is in simply stunning form, having already scored overall victories at both Preston Docks and Fatcat Moto Parc in early-season National events!
With both Jimmy Margetson and Wyatt McGregor having moved up into MX2 for 2026, Aaron Colley on the Holab Overflow Yamaha is the top-ranked rider from the 2025 125cc standings to start at Bevercotes. Aaron will be joined by his teammate, Charlie Palmer, whilst 125cc title-chasing top ten finishers in 2025, Luke Newman, Will Turner, Luke Phillips, Scott Corfield and Connor Challinor have all entered the 2026 series. Other riders in the main 125cc series to also possibly look out for include 2025 125cc Youth runner-up Linc Hasted, Oakley Skinner and LRT Yamaha pilot Jordan Wright. In this class, which also incorporates the 125cc Youth, big performers in 2025, Oliver Bebb, Ted Bullen and Arley Marshall will look to move further up the standings this time around. The 2026 Youth class is boosted by the top three from the 2025 AMCA BW85cc Championships, winner Stanley Siebert, Sean Smout and Finn Fitzgerald, all moving up to now race 125cc machinery, as do Ryan Tilley, Ioan Lloyd and Harry Pollitt.
With the above-mentioned lads now performing in 125cc racing, Jimmy Whiston is the remaining top-ranked BW85cc pilot going for glory in this year’s contest. Combined with SW85cc and 65cc classes, this contest currently displays the smallest entry but is sure to be boosted by a big influx of wildcard riders at each round!
Once again, the Veterans Over 40’s, 50’s and 60’s are combined, and this year it also incorporates the Women’s Championship, so with that mixture of talent, it promises to produce an abundance of interesting racing! In the Vets Over 40’s, the 2025 top three of defending Champion James Lane, Jamie Dobson and Sam Callow all start again in 2026. Along with Lee Martin, who was 5th in 2025, there are also going to be some new names to throw in the hat of contention this year, as the likes of Dain Traylor and Matthew Chaplin, amongst others, join the fun. Returning from a serious injury in 2025, LRT Yamaha boss Simon Lane is out to defend his AMCA Vet’s Over 50’s but he will face some quality opposition in the shape of riders such as Sean Smith, Stephen Clarke, Matt Ryder, Ste Marlow, former Champion Phil Mercer and Aaron Crowder, a rider making a welcome return to racing having previously competed in every capacity AMCA Championship class available. Five-time AMCA Champion Brian Staples tops the Vets Over 60’s entry, but looking to defend his crown won in 2025, this time around, one of his rivals will be none other than Greg Hanson, the former ACU 125cc British Champion. As already mentioned, the Vets also incorporates the 2026 AMCA Women’s Championship. Midwest Racing’s Amber McGregor, the 2025 winner, looks to defend her title with Holly Williams, Hannah Jones, Erin Howes, Jaymee Garrood, Caitlin Newman, and Hollie Roberts all featuring.
With 2025 Seniors Clubman Champion Michael Harbage and runner-up Billy Mcgillvray moving into the MX2 and 125cc classes respectively can Ricky Ryder take advantage and move on up to claim the available crown? This time around, Ryder will face the likes of Lloyd Clarke and Oliver Parry, along with a whole host of very capable challengers, including Callum Radford, Tyler Lane and the runaway 2025 Juniors Clubman Champion Leighton Price. With Price contesting the 2026 Seniors competition, Benjamin Prosser is the only surviving 2025 top ten finisher entering the Juniors Clubman class this time around.
So, will one of the many names mentioned in this article produce the goods and earn AMCA Championship glory in 2026 or will someone else rise to stardom? The only way to find out the outcome of episode one in a seven-part thriller is to be at Bevercotes, near Newark in Nottinghamshire, NG22 0PS this weekend as the series blasts into action, racing commencing at around 10.30am on both Saturday and Sunday!
