The Duns Double Header included the penultimate round of the 2025 Motul British Motocross Championship north of the Border, in Scotland. The Apico Honda team made the trip on Friday and had some work to do before getting together to have dinner for Saturday morning’s 6th round of the championship. With Martin Barr having to sit this weekend out, awaiting ankle surgery this Monday, it was up to Tom Grimshaw to get points on the board for Apico Honda.
Qualifying for Rd6, Tom posted 12th fastest on his fourth lap, and for Rd7, Tom went 10th fastest on his seventh lap.
Tom: “The double header was different to the usual schedule, though I was looking forward to it, as I’d not raced Duns since 2018. It felt strange without Martin being there; you don’t realise how much you lean on your teammate until they are not around. That said, I handled it well; it’s a little different when the focus is just on you. It was great to work with James and have Dylan there to support me too”.
Round 6, race 1 went well for Tom, who got a good start in the top 10 and pushed early to pass Carlton Husband, Dan Thornhill, and John Adamson. Tom managed to pass Joel Rizzi and was close to Brad Todd, posting quicker lap times for the last third of the race, though he wasn’t able to pass and finished 7th.
READ MORE: BRITISH MOTOCROSS NEWS
In race 2 Tom had a great start, breaking away with the top 5 for the first couple of laps with Brad Todd in hot pursuit. He was unlucky to have a small tip-off coming down the big hill, where Todd & Adamson passed, putting him back in 8th position. Tom was soon back up and didn’t have any challengers for the rest of that race. This gave Tom 8th overall for round 6 of the Motul British Motocross Championship.
Tom: “I had a good start in race 1 on Sunday. I managed to hold Conrad Mewse off initially, and then Brad Todd was on my rear wheel for nearly the entire race. We traded places in a couple of sections of the track before he managed to pass me towards the end of the race. It was then very close racing between me, Rizzi, and Brad Todd to the flag”.
Tom crossed the line in 9th position and knew he had it all to do in the final race of the meeting. Race 2 of round 7 was where Tom really showed his mettle and racecraft. After Joel Rizzi went down at the top of the start straight, right in front of Tom, who narrowly avoided him, Tom found himself at the back of the pack. Tom soon found his flow and made his way through the back of the pack to 14th as he crossed the line for the first lap.
Over the next 3 laps, Tom went past Kessell, Cole, Husband and Beniston with ease. Tom was in 10th place behind Jed Etchells until lap 6, when he made up a place to 9th after Brad Todd had an incident with John Adamson, which caused him to DNF the race. Tom had a comfortable rest of the race and crossed the line in 9th place.
Dylan: “It was a tough weekend racing back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, not something I can remember doing at British Championship level with Apico Honda before. Tom handled it and rode very well. He was unlucky in a couple of instances and would have been capable of improving on his results, though that’s racing for you. Since returning from injury, Tom has excelled and demonstrated his true professionalism, consistently delivering results. I still think there’s more to come from Tom results-wise, and hopefully we’ll see that at the last round at Cadders Hill, Lyng.
“Martin is currently having surgery on his ankle, and we hope, all being well, that he’ll be back with the team for the last round at the end of the month. Thank you to all the team members and their families for making this season a truly enjoyable experience. I really enjoy our team meals and hearing everyone’s version of the day, as well as the banter when the day is done. It’s a big part of the reason why Anna and I go racing. Thanks to all our sponsors, as we close out the season, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about and watching the racing on both our social channels and on MXGB-TV. We look to the final round of the 2025 Motul British Motocross Championship season at Lyng”.
Words and Images by Apico Honda
