MX British GP preview
 It's finally here, the one event
everyone is looking forward to, the British Grand Prix. Almost matching
World Cup status, the biggest off-road motorcycle racing event in the
United Kingdom takes place this weekend at the newly constructed
Matterley Basin circuit just outside the ancient city of Winchester.
Honda riders will be out in force with
Ken de Dycker looking to continue his fine season which has taken him
to fourth in the MX1 World Championship standings. Pascal Leuret will
be focussed on consolidating his 7th place in the Championship, but
most eyes will be on Kiwi Joshua Coppins.
CAS Honda rider Coppins returns after a
shoulder injury and is raring to go. The 2005 World MX1 runner-up said
“I can’t wait to get back into it”.
Finishing touches to the circuit, which
is expected to house a crowd of more than thirty thousand people over
this coming weekend, will be made in the coming days as more than
thirty teams and eighty riders arrive to contest the British Grand Prix
and the eighth round of the 2006 FIM World Championships.
With brilliant weather expected a large crowd will arrive for the weekend’s action.
Organisers Bike it Promotions are
expecting one of the largest crowds of the Grand Prix series this year
and a typically British noisy atmosphere to cheer on a generous
compliment of home-grown talent.
Pre-event tickets sales have been
extremely healthy and supersede the figures from the 2005 British and
English Grand Prix combined. A thorough PR campaign is taking place
around Winchester and Southampton with local radio ads airing this
week.
Other news emanating from Matterley is
that the forty metre squared TV screen will be showing World Cup
matches on Saturday (Italy vs USA) and Sunday nights (France vs South
Korea). A DJ and live band are booked for Friday and Saturday evenings
while a funfair will also form part of the location. The Trade stand
area is full and there will be a bus service running from Winchester
rail station and the centre of the town to the circuit entrance.
The 807th Mayor of Winchester (England’s
first capital city), Sue Nelmes, will open the Grand Prix and also
present some of the trophies at the riders’ presentation.
"It has been going well but obviously
the intensity of the work increases nearer the date," said Steve Dixon
the organizer of the event. "We had a few setbacks with the weather
initially, so the last few days are going to be flat out. It is great
that the Mayor is going to attend and shows the good level of support
we have from the local government. We have been finalising the track
over the weekend, and most of the marquees have now gone up, and the
security fencing will be erected over the next couple of days ready for
when the event starts. We hope the good weather continues and that it
will be a really exciting weekend."
Tickets are available for purchase on the door and practice gets underway at 10am Saturday morning.
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