Eddie Jay Wade has his eyes set on Arenacross podiums in 2026 after securing a spot with the Dirt Store Triumph Team for the British rounds, while he is also eyeing a team spot for the Motul ACU British Motocross Championship.
The 22-year-old from Sheffield and 2017 World Junior Motocross Champion stormed back onto the British scene in 2024 by signing for the Stark Futures team in the British Arenacross Championship, putting in some solid performances in 2025, where he finished 8th in the World Tour and sixth in the British Championship.
Outdoors, he surprised everyone and himself by showing up at the Duns round of the British Motocross Championship on a loaned stock bike and finishing third in the second moto on the Sunday in the MX2 class, beating the likes of eventual Champion Tommy Searle, Charlie Heyman, Ben Mustoe and Joe Brookes.
“It was a funny story really,” said Eddie on his Duns ride, “I was on a Stag do with K-Tech guys to do some riding and watch the Lommel GP in Belgium and I borrowed a mates bike to ride at it and all the lads were saying “he needs to do the British, he needs to do the British”, so I was like “alright then I will do the British” and then I got home and tried this bike my mate had leant me. I think I rode it twice, and then I entered Duns, and I didn’t do too badly, to be fair.”
“I surprised myself a bit there, to be honest. I knew I would be alright speedwise, but I haven’t done any training for fitness or anything, so I was like, I am probably gonna get gassed in 15 minutes, and I did the four motos, and I was sound in every moto. I woke up on the second day, and I thought this was going to be a long day, but it was the last race of the second day that I did the best.
“I rode well all weekend to be fair, but I had bad starts as I was on a stock bike, so I was struggling. Then, on the last race, I thought, “I will get a start, stay chilled for the first few laps, and after that, I will start going forward and it worked out better.”
“I did it for fun, and I didn’t put any pressure on myself, and I did alright at it. When I have done the Europeans, you put that much pressure on yourself to do well, so when I started doing motocross again, I thought I’m just going to ride because I enjoy it.”
That’s not to say Eddie doesn’t want to get the results, as with two seasons of Arenacross under his belt, his expectations are high for the 2026 AX British Championship. “I want to be on the box most weekends. Even two out of three, I want to be on the podium. They are my goals. It’s on a conventional bike, which I have been riding all of my life, which I am more used to, which will play into my favour as well.”
“The first year of Arenacross was a big learning curve, and the second year I was more used to it and made fewer mistakes. It’s still riding a bik,e but Arenacross and Motocross are completely different and I didn’t know that until I rode it, so it took me a while to get used to it in the first year, and I was a bit hairy and all over the place and in the second year I got more used to it and safer on Track.”
Images courtesy of Dirt Store Triumph – Cult Moto
