The fifth round of the 2025 Motul British Motocross Championship took place down in Cornwall at the iconic Landrake Moto Parc, which is one of the longest trips the Apico Honda team and its riders have had to make this year. This reflected with a low-key set-up, operating from the race van for the weekend with key members of the team making the journey.
Both Tom Grimshaw and Martin Barr managed to put their fastest qualifying times in on their first lap, with Tom posting 6th quickest and Martin 9th in the Apico MX1 Class.
In race 1, Tom made a good start inside the top 10 and continued to move forward, passing Joel Rizzi and Dan Thornhill before engaging in some close racing with John Adamson, whom he managed to pass for 6th at the halfway point. Tom’s lap times remained consistent, and he rode out the rest of the race for 6th at the line.
Martin didn’t have a great start, though he kept the inside line around the first corner to stay inside the top 10. He struggled with the track and had a couple of rear brake issues during the moto. It was only a couple of laps before the end of the race that Martin went down, damaging the front fork leg in the process. He carried on with the front brake locking over the jumps and was passed by Louie Kessel and only just made 10th with the hard-charging Stuart Edmonds 2 thousandths of a second behind as they crossed the line!
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In race 2, Tom had another good start inside the top 10 and pushed early, passing Knight, Taylor, Thornhill and Putnam by the second lap and then came close to John Adamson throughout the race, though he wasn’t able to make the pass. 6th again for Tom after returning from injury was still a great result and his best to date in the Apico MX1 Class.
Tom: “It was a day of 6’s for me, 6th in qualifying was a great start to the day, I got a feel for the track straight away, which is unusual for me as it normally takes a bit of time for me to settle in. I then went 6/6 in the races for 6th overall. All things considered, with this being my second round of the Championship since my injury, I am happy with where I am in the races. It’s a track I enjoy riding and conditions that suit me, so I was looking for a good result and I capitalised on it. I’m really happy with my results and look to better them as we finish off the season”.
Race 2 for Martin was more of the same as with his first race; he didn’t get the start, and the first few laps were difficult. Martin was riding on the edge and didn’t feel comfortable pushing on the hardpack. After watching Tristan Purdon riding on the limit and going down hard in front of him, Martin knew that maintaining his pace and crossing the line 11th was still a reasonable result.
Martin: “It was one of those weekends, a tough one. I found the track wasn’t the usual Landrake, hard and dusty. I seemed to struggle all day; I couldn’t get comfortable. After the crash in the first race, I couldn’t push on as the bike was damaged and did my best to finish the race. The first couple of laps of the second race were difficult with the dust, though that was the same for everybody. I felt I was riding on the edge all day and didn’t want to end up upside down. I did what I could to finish 11th and 10th overall in the Apico MX1 Championship on the day. I was very disappointed, it was not what I wanted or what the team deserved, it’s just one of those days I didn’t click with the track, and I got through it. The only positive I can take from it is that I moved up to 6th in the Apico MX1 Championship with 3 rounds to go. We’ll regroup and go again for Duns in a few weeks”.
Dylan: “It was an up-and-down weekend for the team. It’s nice to see Tom coming back from injury and improving on his results. I hope this continues and he gets a top 5 finish before the end of the season. Martin had a tough start to the weekend and getting to the track due to van issues, and with Landrake not being his favourite track, I was glad to see him come through the weekend without any injuries and with a respectable finish, moving up the championship.
We look forward to moving on to the 2 Strokes in a couple of weeks, to defend the VMXdN Wright Engineering Class Title with the addition of ex-team rider Jamie Law. Thanks to all the team and sponsors for their continued support of Apico Honda”.
