THROWBACK THURSDAY: British Championship 2013 – MX1 Class
As part of our Throwback Thursday series, here is a quick look at the 2013 British Motocross Championship, generally called the Maxxis back then due to the orange-branded tyre company’s title sponsorship that really caught on!
Words: Ben Rumbold, Images: MXGB
Ten years ago, the reigning Champion was one Kevin Strijbos, the Belgian having raced for the HM Plant KTM team, but he decided not to defend his title and concentrated again on MXGP, as the 2nd-placed rider in 2012, Shaun Simpson, did likewise and raced mainly in The Netherlands when not on GP duty!
The class of 2013 hit the first corner at Foxhill. Nicolas Aubin and Matiss Karro lead the way, with Brad Anderson making Gary Gibson swerve in the wrong direction!
So that left the men from the Baltic nations, Estonia’s Gert Krestinov and Latvian Matiss Karro, as the top-ranked riders left from 2012, along with Jamie Law, Kristian Whatley, and Alex Snow.
Brad Anderson returned from a year spent chasing glory in Australia, and Dave Thorpe’s Buildbase Honda squad signed two foreign stars with two-time World Champion Steve Ramon and the French one-time GP winner Nicolas Aubin to challenge for the title. Another star attraction was Jonathan Barragan, at that time the most successful Spaniard ever in MXGP, and he was to race for the STR team on familiar KTM machinery. Another GP winner, Tanel Leok, raced for the Route 77 MVRD Honda team alongside Jason Dougan.
The Championship schedule was as follows:
17th March – FatCat
7th April – Lyng
12th May – Milton MX Park, Northampton
2nd June – Foxhill
23rd June – Desertmartin
11th August – Hawkstone Park
6th October – Farleigh Castle
Tommy Searle, about to launch into his first season on a 450 at GP level but still yet to win a British title, tackled the first two rounds of the Championship with great effect, winning four of the five motos at FatCat and Lyng. Leok was the only one to deny Tommy a perfect record, looking typically strong to win the first moto in Norfolk. Barragan and Whatley had also tasted podium success, but Aubin and Ramon were struggling with the unfamiliar 3 x 20 minute moto format that wasn’t keeping GP-level British riders interested in the series. Nico got into the swing of it to win motos later in the year – Steve did not and left the team, and the series, after round three at Milton MX Park.
Tommy Searle, surely with one ‘zero’ missing, dominated the first two rounds before switching his focus to his first year of MX1 Grands Prix.
Barragan won his only round of the year there, and surprisingly didn’t take a moto win all season, but Whatley’s consistency on the MBO Yamaha and the overall win at Foxhill’s fifth round gave him the red plate and he was looking good. Anderson was drafted in to replace Ramon and suitably won the last race of the year, the last ever British Championship moto to be held at Farleigh Castle.
Karro missed two of the opening three rounds, but went on a tear with maximum performances at Desertmartin and Hawkstone, winning more than anyone all year with those six motos. Leok abandoned the series as Shaun Simpson’s TM factory ride came up for grabs in MX1 GPs.
Ultimately, Kristian Whatley sealed the deal with the first two moto wins at Farleigh Castle, clinching the title and becoming the first son of a British Champion, outside of the Banks family that is, to also win a British Motocross crown.
The last top-level British Championship moto ever held at Farleigh Castle gets underway, with new Champion Kristian Whatley already sporting the #1 jersey!
Here’s the final Championship table, and a few nice piccies to jog your memory:
The Estonian Express, Tanel Leok, was in the hunt for the title until TM came calling.
Matiss Karro took six straight moto wins mid-season for the STR KTM team.
Ando leads Jamie Law and Ross Hill at Milton MX Park.
Nico Aubin claimed a pair of moto wins, loving the hard-pack of Foxhill here.
Steve Ramon at Lyng. Even in his favoured sand, “The Bomb” was defused by the British Championship scene.
Jonathan Barragan took second in the series.
Jack Brunell flies high at Foxhill, ten years before he would do so at the VMXdN!
Champagne time for Whatley, Karro, and Barragan!
Despite dealing with an army of foreign riders, good native stock held true with Kristian Whatley emulating his father by becoming a British Champion!
